Next Mvmt of String Quartet (On the Cusp of Insanity)

I think this Mvmt is more upbeat than the the last I posted, so This will likely be the 2nd Movement with the other one being the 3rd. For those who have not listened to the other one , This is the story:

I was married to my wife for 10 years until she finally left me. She was manic depressive and a horrible wife (not that I was a great husband). For 10 years I was not allowed to play guitar or piano. This put me at the point of insanity(hence the name of the piece).

The peak of insanity will be reached in the last movement and I fear it will be one of the darkest pieces I will ever write.

It is very difficult to think about my marriage without thinking horror. Few here would believe much of what happened in those years. I envision this to be in 4-5 movements which is why there is no climax in this part.

For those you have listened to both of these, Which is the Happier, (more upbeat)? This will help me to order these.

Any and all comments are welcome and encouraged.

I have made some changes which are reflected here

Here is the mp3

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On the Cusp of Insanity 2.mid

On the Cusp of Insanity 2.sib

Hi there, I enjoyed this although I feel it needs a little more polishing. I think your musical ideas are good but I would experiment with more dynamic shadings with much more crescendo and diminuendo. This will give more shape to the lines, particularly when you have passages that are shared throughout the quartet.

Have you checked that all your double stops are playable? I was looking at the second violin part around bar 12ish and some of those look unplayable. Are you familiar with double stopping and how they are achieved?

You have some nice textures, with the pizz accompaniment working well but you don't indicate any bowing, or is that still to come? You can get all kinds of great effects just by how you write your bowing, bringing out certain parts of a melodic phrase. And don't be afraid to use tremolo or even sul pont to vary the texture.

I think I would like to hear the opening build up slower, with more use of solo parts rather than everybody playing at the same time. I think it would really effective to have a solo violin start with a reflective melody and then gradually layer the parts on top, to give it a more organic feel rather than a rushed quality.

There were some moments where the voice leading seemed a little odd, and some of the harmony became very dissonant for maybe just 1 bar which kind of came out of the blue. I would maybe work on thet harmony a little more and give it some more shape.

Still, nice work and look forward to the final proof.

HymnSpace: Thank you for your reply. I was hoping you would get to one of my pieces. I have commented on your work and really enjoy it.

I think I posted this before it was ready. I was dead tired when I listened to it last night and thought it was ready. After going over it again today, I see a number of places that still need refinement.

Have you checked that all your double stops are playable? I was looking at the second violin part around bar 12ish and some of those look unplayable. Are you familiar with double stopping and how they are achieved?

QUOTE]

Usually I refrain from putting in double stops because of my lack of knowledge of what can and can not be achieved. I am searching for free ways to find out this info.

Bowing always goes in last for me because I change things too much as I progress thru the work and find it slows me down to be moving and/or deleting bow marks.

I agree with you concerning the opening (which I will redo this evening). It is much more rushed then what I had in mind.

I know of at least one place where the dissonace is not prepared for properly. I worked on that last night and it still is not right. Another job for this evening.

If you get the chance to listen to the other movement of this, I am curious as to which one you think should go 2nd and 3rd. The first and last mvmts which I have yet to write will be happy and carefree for the 1st, while the rest will become darker thru tyhe movements with the last being the climax of insanity and dark as the blackness of empty space.

This is the story:

I was married to my wife for 10 years until she finally left me. She was manic depressive and a horrible wife (not that I was a great husband). For 10 years I was not allowed to play guitar or piano. This put me at the point of insanity(hence the name of the piece)...

..It is very difficult to think about my marriage without thinking horror. Few here would believe much of what happened in those years. I envision this to be in 4-5 movements which is why there is no climax in this part.

Ouch. I'm sorry this has been your experience.

For those you have listened to both of these, Which is the Happier, (more upbeat)? This will help me to order these.

I'm only seeing one file. I listened to the one posted on Box net. The music floats a bit, loosely connected - and I'll admit I do prefer a bit more rigid form, regular repeats with variation etc. I heard some imitative counterpoint that I liked. The beginning of the peice was simple and enjoyable - and throughout I get the impression of a despair, or depression, a wandering - expressed in linear form as well as horizontal through your choice of harmony.

As hymnspace suggested - some more dynamics would increase the interest of sections.

I'll be looking forward to the last movement.

I am a bit limited due to a slow computer in using a lot of dynamics. I have them in the score, but due to my computer's speed, they do not seem to make it to the mp3.

The impression you got of the music is exactly what I am looking for. So I guess I am doing something right.

The other movement is in another thread in chamber music. I guess I should put the link to the other one as well.

Here is the other movement

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Hey, sorry it has taken me so long to get to your music, but I have just come out of a really busy period. I have a bit of time on my hands so will try and comment to you other movements.

If you would like some help with double stopping and other string techniques, I am more than happy to advise you. Just drop me a message with any queries you have and I will get back to you as I have written a lot for strings.

All the best