One more try

Hello

A few years ago, whilst on a course I took on ‘Contemporary Composition Techniques’, I wrote a short piece for piano which I later revised and titled ‘One more try’.

Recently, I had the idea of orchestrating it.

It is written in a free, non-functional, chromatic style.

The score isn’t condensed because the instruments that come in pairs often have very different or distant lines. It’s in concert pitch.

Below is a video of the piano version.

One more try orch.pdf

Honestly, on a personal opinion, I don't find this style rather enjoyable to listen to, however, I will say, it reminds me of the old Tom & Jerry, Looney Toons / WB Cartoon play along tracks that would interact with the characters on screen as the show played 😅

Anyway... There are moments where my ear is enjoying the music, while there are many other moments where I wonder what the point of the development is, what purpose the dissonance serves, and what story is being told by the composition... I find myself lost while listening to this, and unfortunately, not in the best way, I'm afraid. However, moments of harmony that are done very well, for example, would be the opening chord, just to name one. Those sort of textures, when put in the right places, are very lovely :)

- Unc

@UncleRed99

OK, thanks – that’s an understandable reaction.

Hi Luis,

To those familiar with my work - and indeed myself - the words, "free, non-functional, chromatic style" might be thought to ring disaster to my ears. Although this is not quite true. I am particularly fond of Ligeti's work (his Six Bagatelles for winds), for example, as well as some early work by Arvo Pärt (see his Pro et Contra). Even madness has its place in my world of listening.

For me, what matters most is producing something of character in a way that somehow embodies the human experience in a convincing narrative. I felt you did this quite well, actually. I recognize that the decisions behind the atonal approach, while seemingly devoid of foundational theory, can be intentional rather than a mere free for all. You should develop it more. Will keep a look out ☺️

Edited 11 hours ago11 hr by Markus Boyd

10 hours ago, Markus Boyd said:

For me, what matters most is producing something of character in a way that somehow embodies the human experience in a convincing narrative. I felt you did this quite well, actually. I recognize that the decisions behind the atonal approach, while seemingly devoid of foundational theory, can be intentional rather than a mere free for all. You should develop it more. Will keep a look out ☺️

Hello, thank you for listening.

I agree with what you say on these two points:

1) that a piece of music is worth more or less (to each person) depending on whether it ‘speaks’ to them. It’s just like when you read a poem. I understand that many people feel comfortable listening to and making more traditional music. And one of the ‘mistakes’ I often notice is trying to apply patterns, structures or whatever from pre-20th-century music to music that aims to have a different, contemporary style.

And I’m not just referring to dissonance, which for me isn’t really dissonance at all. It’s a question of tension and release, achieved through many different mechanisms.

2) Of course, from experience I know that there’s nothing random about making music of this kind. Or at least that’s the intention.

The form isn’t traditional either. I’ve always liked writing music of this kind in a mosaic format, or as units or blocks that follow one another as one sees fit (as Stravinsky or Cage did).

I’ll probably revise this in due course. Not necessarily to make it longer, but to refine certain transitions.

Edited 27 minutes ago27 min by Luis Hernández