Adagio for friend's funeral

Hi everyone,

With great sadness I learned that one of my closest friends passed away this morning. It has been an emotional day to say the least :whistling:

I have composed this adagio piano piece in her memory. While I had some ideas for the piece earlier, most of the work on it was done all afternoon and evening. The piece is in a ternary form, D-flat major with a stormy minor middle section leading to the return of the A theme, transfigured (as though she is in heaven). I tried to make it a "tight" composition motivically, and also sustain harmonic interest. I really hope I pulled it off, but if I didn't I want to know.

Since I am not a pianist, I would truly appreciate any comments about phrasing, slurring, pedaling, and figurations. Most importantly I need to know how realistic it would be to expect a professional pianist to be able to play this in a couple days at the funeral. Do you think this piece would work in a funeral service? Any and all comments are welcome! As the funeral is going to be a couple days I will try to revise it immediately tomorrow afternoon and then try to get it performed.

I am also having problems with page layout in Finale and making rests in other layers disappear. Any remedies for these problems would be great!

Here is the piece:

http://www.fileden.com/files/2007/1/29/711325/Adagio%20for%20piano.mp3

Adagio for piano YC.pdf

All I can say right now is... WOW.

Michael, I am sorry to hear of the loss of your friend. I hope you all find

comfort in her now being with the Lord, where He'll no doubt wipe all her

tears away. Where she'll walk with Him in eternal bliss forever.

The piece is very beautiful. Very passionate and well written. I love it.

The difficulty of the performance of this will depend on the pianist. If its

a fairly skilled pianist, then I think they could pull it off. The faster middle

section is the most challenging part to play. It looks playable for a decent

pianist though.

In the future you may want to make it a more full piece. Adding more harmony

in the work. Its definately a work worth holding on to and even refining later.

Perhaps as the second movement of a Sonata dedicated to Meghan.

Great piece, and again I pray for comfort for all who knew and loved her.

Jeremy

Hi, a very moving memorial piece there. I liked it a lot and it reminded me of the late Beethoven Sonata's in particular. My only warning with the piece is that there are passages that sound very, very similar to other classical pieces that I have heard, so just be careful not to neglect your own voice too much.

I think it all looks playable and idiomatic and maybe one day you will upload a live performance?

Very beautiful work though, and my condolences for your loss.

Best

Ryan

Hello. I am very sorry for your loss. What you have created is not only a very beautiful piece of music but also a very beautiful gesture for commemorating your friend. It's a wonderful idea. It looks very playable for a professional pianist, which is also very impressive seeing as you said you don't play piano. It would be very appropriate for a funeral service but you'd want to make sure the pianist had seen it and practised it first, of course.

Sorry, I don't use Finale and so can't help you there. Try the Finale help forum.

Well done and again I offer my condolances.

That was absolutely beautiful, and I don't mind telling you I shed a tear or two while listening.

It was very well proportioned, harmonically interesting, and the voice-leading was good from my first impression.

Your pianist definitely will need to practise this, as a sight-reading will probably ruin it. It is fairly pianistic though, although the L.H. jumps in the middle section will probably engender a fair bit of rubato.

Thank you all for your condolences! It is indeed a very sad time. I am trying now to polish the score of the piece so I can find a professional pianist in the Boston area to get it played. Any Finale hints would be greatly appreciated!! Any other suggestions about the composition would also be welcome.

As far as my own voice is concerned, I am still developing my style and since I've listened to a lot of music sometimes I do find myself influenced by other pieces. This is not intentional though. Hopefully with time this will change as my own individual style emerges.

A very beautiful piece, conveying a real sense of loss. However, if I had a piece composed for my funeral I would want the piece, or at least a section, to convey my personality. I have never met her so I don't know whether you have done this, but that's how I would have liked it done at my funeral;)

Otherwise this is a really emotional and well written piece.

Gorgeous work.

I have expressed before and I'll express again my sincerest condolences for your loss; you are truly a strong person to have so brilliantly translated grief into music.

The piece is harmonically fascinating and very unique while still sounding very much like a traditional Beethoven sonata, as HymnSpace suggested.

I honestly have no negative comments about this piece because it cannot be negatively analyzed. The reason for this stems from its very nature; as a piece written to commemorate someone in a moment of grief, it is a pure representation of that person in music - your thoughts and feelings given form. Thus, having never met the person in question, I am far from qualified to even attempt a negative commentary. Being that she was so close to you, I doubt many could.

For playability, a professional pianist will have no troubles with it so just find a good one in the area and spend a few minutes reading over it with them and everything will be fine. I would recommend a more modern classical pianist so that he/she does not end up performing your piece too mechanically.

About the Finale problems, I am more than willing to help you with any that you may be having; just PM me with specifics and I'll reply in kind. I already answered your question about the rests - to hide them in other layers simply highlight the offending rest and hit "h" and Finale will make them translucent on your screen and they will no longer print.

Good work and good luck, friend.

I really have nothing to say except this-

It takes a true genius to express their emotions well enough to make the audience feel that emotion at the time the piece is played.

This piece brought me to tears. It is beautiful. My deepest condolences.

I have no notes to make; this piece is truly beautiful. You are a true musician. You have my deepest condolences for you loss.

Fantastic work. I also recently lost someone close, a family member, so this piece did strike a chord with me. You have both my condolences and my congratulations.

This is a lovely piece of music. What is there to say? Probably one of the most intrinsically emotional newly composed pieces of music I've heard in a long time. And rightfully so. My advice to you about style is: don't waste your time worrying about whether your voice is 'your own' or not. This piece obviously came from a deeply intuitive place in you, and in that sense it is completely 'your style' and there is no need to worry if it sounds like a combination of a Beethoven slow movement and the last movement of Mahler's 9th (though I'd say you're in some damn good company!). It is your style, and as you grow, so too will it grow.

My condolences for your loss. I hope you find a pianist to play this well for you. Your friend deserves it, and you as the composer deserve it, too.