Second Concerto in E Moll

https://musescore.com/user/96214813/scores/28405348

This is my second concerto, written in e minor for piano and orchestra. It consists of three movements.

Mov. 1 E Moll

Mov. 2 B Dur-E Dur

Mov. 3 E Moll.

My Internet is low so I won't bother with the details.

Thx! Byeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee.

-TristanTheTristan

Hi Tristan!

I really like this piece! There are definitely a variety of textures in the music and all instruments are utilised in their own unique way. The range also keeps the music flowing, which many pieces do not include (even I am sometimes a victim!!)

Something to keep in mind is in the winds. There is a solo flute line of semiquavers which as a whole I really like. Just remember that real flutists would have to tongue very fast at that tempo to hit them accurately! Adding a few slurs can help immensely! You can leave some semiquavers, about two thirds, detached, but us fellow wind players’ tongues get tired when they are working that hard!

Two more quick things:

The viola plays an incredibly high note (relative to the normal range) at one point. Remember the alto clef is lower, so instead of placing a load of ledger lines, it’s no harm to change to treble!

And near the beginning, the violin, again, plays a high note. I couldn’t exactly tell because of the ledger lines, so maybe edit this to an 8va?

Overall, I really love this, although take my advice with a grain of salt. I’m no ensemble expert!

gooberro

7 minutes ago, gooberro said:

Hi Tristan!

I really like this piece! There are definitely a variety of textures in the music and all instruments are utilised in their own unique way. The range also keeps the music flowing, which many pieces do not include (even I am sometimes a victim!!)

Something to keep in mind is in the winds. There is a solo flute line of semiquavers which as a whole I really like. Just remember that real flutists would have to tongue very fast at that tempo to hit them accurately! Adding a few slurs can help immensely! You can leave some semiquavers, about two thirds, detached, but us fellow wind players’ tongues get tired when they are working that hard!

Two more quick things:

The viola plays an incredibly high note (relative to the normal range) at one point. Remember the alto clef is lower, so instead of placing a load of ledger lines, it’s no harm to change to treble!

And near the beginning, the violin, again, plays a high note. I couldn’t exactly tell because of the ledger lines, so maybe edit this to an 8va?

Overall, I really love this, although take my advice with a grain of salt. I’m no ensemble expert!

gooberro

Thank you very much for the detailed and extensive feedback! Cheers.

5 hours ago, TristanTheTristan said:

https://musescore.com/user/96214813/scores/28405348

This is my second concerto, written in e minor for piano and orchestra. It consists of three movements.

Mov. 1 E Moll

Mov. 2 B Dur-E Dur

Mov. 3 E Moll.

My Internet is low so I won't bother with the details.

Thx! Byeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee.

-TristanTheTristan

Hey Tristan, I will admit that I had some reservations going in to this concerto. I recall commenting on previous piano works of yours and being critical of engraving and individual playability with the piano instrument. This time however, I was genuinely pleased with the musical content of this work.

So much so, I wish to dissuade any critical notion I had and provide a comment and analysis beneficial to you. I like to annotate on PDFs and I wish to do so for the entirety of this work. However, I cannot do so in a quick manner and in the current state of this concerto. Here are my first thoughts and quick amends I wish for you to do:

PAGE LAYOUT (using MuseScore Studio 4)

1. Your overall page and score layout is... to be blunt, Bad. Only 1-3 measures per page (maybe four or five)... for almost 18 minutes? The page is too small for the ensemble size, or the measures are too big. In Musescore, you can fix this by going to the top of the editor and pressing Format>>Page Settings.

2. Even if you do not expect this to be performed, there is ALWAYS a chance it will be one day. Thus, I think it best to always treat your music as practical versus theoretical. Specifically, think about how a conductor, someone who has NEVER seen your work, will see it and try to understand it. What about the players? Everything you write will have an effect on those who see it.

3. Conductors. Conductors will have to control the score and turn the pages. You have 287 pages worth of music... This is very ineffective for a conductor and if a director was looking for music to program, even the length of the document can be a deciding factor.

MUSESCORE

1. Musescore has a feature to end movements properly. Go to your Palettes tab>>Layout>>Section Break. This will allow you to end a movement, have a pause, and redisplay the full instrument names for the next movement. It is essential to use this in multi-movement works. (In hindsight, I see you have done this, good job!)

2. Use the Frames to create extra pages. Nowhere on the score does it state the size of the ensemble... aka how many performers. You can use vertical frames and page breaks to add extra pages.

3. Front Matter. Use Frames and page breaks to create extra pages before the first page of music. (what is called the front matter) Then, to add text and custom text fields, click the frame you wish to add text, go to the top of your screen and hit Add>>Text>> Title, Subtitle, etc.

I would like to do a proper analysis at another time, however I cannot promise when as it will be a large task for me. In the meantime, to make it easier for others, please amend the page layout and measure spacing. Good work!

3 hours ago, MK_Piano said:

Hey Tristan, I will admit that I had some reservations going in to this concerto. I recall commenting on previous piano works of yours and being critical of engraving and individual playability with the piano instrument. This time however, I was genuinely pleased with the musical content of this work.

So much so, I wish to dissuade any critical notion I had and provide a comment and analysis beneficial to you. I like to annotate on PDFs and I wish to do so for the entirety of this work. However, I cannot do so in a quick manner and in the current state of this concerto. Here are my first thoughts and quick amends I wish for you to do:

PAGE LAYOUT (using MuseScore Studio 4)

1. Your overall page and score layout is... to be blunt, Bad. Only 1-3 measures per page (maybe four or five)... for almost 18 minutes? The page is too small for the ensemble size, or the measures are too big. In Musescore, you can fix this by going to the top of the editor and pressing Format>>Page Settings.

2. Even if you do not expect this to be performed, there is ALWAYS a chance it will be one day. Thus, I think it best to always treat your music as practical versus theoretical. Specifically, think about how a conductor, someone who has NEVER seen your work, will see it and try to understand it. What about the players? Everything you write will have an effect on those who see it.

3. Conductors. Conductors will have to control the score and turn the pages. You have 287 pages worth of music... This is very ineffective for a conductor and if a director was looking for music to program, even the length of the document can be a deciding factor.

MUSESCORE

1. Musescore has a feature to end movements properly. Go to your Palettes tab>>Layout>>Section Break. This will allow you to end a movement, have a pause, and redisplay the full instrument names for the next movement. It is essential to use this in multi-movement works. (In hindsight, I see you have done this, good job!)

2. Use the Frames to create extra pages. Nowhere on the score does it state the size of the ensemble... aka how many performers. You can use vertical frames and page breaks to add extra pages.

3. Front Matter. Use Frames and page breaks to create extra pages before the first page of music. (what is called the front matter) Then, to add text and custom text fields, click the frame you wish to add text, go to the top of your screen and hit Add>>Text>> Title, Subtitle, etc.

I would like to do a proper analysis at another time, however I cannot promise when as it will be a large task for me. In the meantime, to make it easier for others, please amend the page layout and measure spacing. Good work!

I am not at home, so I will do it as soon as I get back.

I am pretty sure I had section breaks...