Fantasy for Cello and Clarinet in E Flat Minor, Opus 8

Fantasy for Cello and Clarinet in E Flat Minor, Opus 8 (Copyright: 2007, by M. Bulteau, a.k.a. Berlioz)

Composed with Finale 2006.

About 3 days of actual working time (except with the previous week reading thoroughly about each instrument's abilities, although I think there might one or other impossibility).

I'd like to open with a statement:

For every extra 5 to 10 minutes wasted on checking a cello fingering chart to see if a certain chord is possible, I just want to say:

DAMN ALL CELLISTS TO HELL!!!!

(Although I'd like to learn how to play it some day :))

Now for the real thing.

This Fantasy is more like a story.

Imagine two people that are initially alone, then they get involved and get closer, but they eventually separate, getting closer a bit after, then separating again, then getting closer, then separating, each time with more strength.

Until when all seems to be going a certain way, it simply turns the other way around (with the sound of the wooden part of the bow hitting the cello's body).

To those who found the second movement of my piano and flute sonata to be too "choppy", well, you're in for "extra-choppiness"... ;)

The digital sound is disgusting compared to what I expect it to sound in real life. Goddamned finale has no rubato, the tempi are marked like a hammering fist, and there is no humanity (logically). Such things take a lot from this, which is supposed to sound much deeper as I can imagine it to be, live.

Here it is.

(Score removed for attachment space issues, do send me a PM if you're interested in seeing it)

Yummy lucious sounding cello sounds. Me like chords. :toothygrin:

Jesus how long is it?

About 14 minutes.

Wow, the first review in weeks; this is going to be fun :)

Since you said that this is like a story, I tried interpreting you motives, ambiance and instrumentation as events in the story.

I like the way your introduce the listener to your piece and how you manage to carry the listeners interest, by changing the overall mood, having different type of dialogues between the instruments, sometimes nice and sweet and sometimes bad tempered - like an awful fight. I really get a feeling of a relation between two people; this relationship being tested by exterior factors.

I like your idea behind the piece, really interesting to see how it would turn out. I found it really awesome, like viewing parts of someone's life, there is however one problem. This piece is a bit long and by the time the listener is halfway through the piece, one starts thinking "Uhm, ok now where are we in the story?" Either this relationship, getting close and separating, could be shortened a bit or just re-write a bit to make it like a life-span. One life long relationship, it would fit perfectly with the bang somewhere in the piece :D

I love this piece however, it could be better if this history had more varied events, it would really help the listener :)

Great Job!

P.S A score would be wonderful to have :D

Ok, here's my honest opinion, although I am not sure how much you'll like it.

To begin with, you should have included a score to the piece. Anyway, here's what I think, without the score:

I think the piece is pretty good for a game. And I am not talking about games like Morrowind or Knights of the Old Republic. It sounds more like the music games such as Zelda have, jumpy, happy, simple.

About simple: you use some pretty clich

Saiming, thanks for your comment.

jujimufu, thanks for yours too. ^^

I only believe that this is not fitting for a game at all. It does lack the emotion I want it to have, digital sound can really ruin a piece.

In terms of story, I actually rely more on what you said it seemed, question/reply. That in my opinion can build up a story, a dialogue. It's like it's totally focused on two elements, without describing anything around them.

About the 14 minutes, I won't be able to answer that until I actually hear it performed, as I said before, there are many nuances that are not audible and become boring with such a poor quality sound.

Harsh criticism is needed and a good thing. ^^

Well....I have a few questions.

Have you studied orchestration at all? Most of the chords you have written on the cello part are pretty much if not totally impossible.

And are you Italian? You aren't a native speaker if you are. And your last name is French. In is "en." And Cello is Violoncello, with two L's. It won't make your music sound or look any better to write the title in Italian.

I liked this piece a lot, but the middle part where it gets faster needs to go. There is this time warp that goes on in this piece. You need to cut the classical mock up themes in there, and then there is this burst of ragtime and jazz that comes out of nowhere, then it suddenly sounds like the theme of some pop song. It happens near the end. I like it, but it doesn't belong in this piece. I suggest writing another piece, but dividing the jazzy/classical/pop stuff. And honestly, I think you should divide the cello part up, and make it a clarinet quartet, for clarinet, violin, viola, and cello. The chords would work better because they can't be played on one cello. Nice piece. Loved the neo-romantic feel of it. Hated the fast parts that came out of nowhere, but c'est la vie. (That's French. LOL.)

I have to agree with jujimufu for the most part...

1) The piece gets very predictable and uninteresting after a while.

2) Some good ideas in there (melodically), but they were lost in the 14 minutes...

3) I couldn't read the score to ascertain whether the cello chords are playable or not...why not post a pdf file?

4) The tempo changes were very abrupt and confused me more than contribute to the variety of the piece.

Sorry if I sound harsh, but I prefer being honest.

Cheers!

I have posted a PDF of the score.

Well....I have a few questions.

Have you studied orchestration at all? Most of the chords you have written on the cello part are pretty much if not totally impossible.

And are you Italian? You aren't a native speaker if you are. And your last name is French. In is "en." And Cello is Violoncello, with two L's. It won't make your music sound or look any better to write the title in Italian.

I liked this piece a lot, but the middle part where it gets faster needs to go. There is this time warp that goes on in this piece. You need to cut the classical mock up themes in there, and then there is this burst of ragtime and jazz that comes out of nowhere, then it suddenly sounds like the theme of some pop song. It happens near the end. I like it, but it doesn't belong in this piece. I suggest writing another piece, but dividing the jazzy/classical/pop stuff. And honestly, I think you should divide the cello part up, and make it a clarinet quartet, for clarinet, violin, viola, and cello. The chords would work better because they can't be played on one cello. Nice piece. Loved the neo-romantic feel of it. Hated the fast parts that came out of nowhere, but c'est la vie. (That's French. LOL.)

Meh, I did read about the instrument and had a fingering chart to help me write it, I thought all of them were possible... :huh:

Is it because you can't stop two adjacent strings with the same finger? If yes, then I did a couple of those, but if not, I can't see what's impossible... Please explain.

And no, hehe, it's all in portuguese except for the tempo markings, I believe those are correct. :P

You can attach the pdf directly. All I see is a link to some esnips website in which I don't care to register.

Hmm. My bad. But, if you are Portuguese/Brazilian, then I think it's great that you are choosing to title your piece in that language. I kind of get offended when people use the Italian language when they aren't Italian, because I'm Italian-American, and I don't write in Italian, but that's a long personal story about culture theft that I won't get into right now haha. Anyways, the cello has four strings. C, G, D, and A. Each string can only play notes higher than iit, and itself. The C can play a Db, The G can play a Bb, and so on. But The D can't play a Db. And It is extremely difficult to change three of the strings' notes at once, which you did in a number of instances. Usually, when playing more than 2 notes on a stringed instrument, a composer will incorporate open strings into the chord. And it should be advised that only two strings can be sustained together. Three cannot. You would have to sound the bottom not, then sustain the top two, or sound the bottom two, then sound the top two, and so on.

Hmm. My bad. But, if you are Portuguese/Brazilian, then I think it's great that you are choosing to title your piece in that language. I kind of get offended when people use the Italian language when they aren't Italian, because I'm Italian-American, and I don't write in Italian, but that's a long personal story about culture theft that I won't get into right now haha. Anyways, the cello has four strings. C, G, D, and A. Each string can only play notes higher than iit, and itself. The C can play a Db, The G can play a Bb, and so on. But The D can't play a Db. And It is extremely difficult to change three of the strings' notes at once, which you did in a number of instances. Usually, when playing more than 2 notes on a stringed instrument, a composer will incorporate open strings into the chord. And it should be advised that only two strings can be sustained together. Three cannot. You would have to sound the bottom not, then sustain the top two, or sound the bottom two, then sound the top two, and so on.

Brazilian? Nope, he's Franco-Portuguese. Or is it Luso-French? :(

Either one works, but I was born in Portugal. :o

Anyway, manossq, sorry. Now I've uploaded the score correctly. :D

Hmm. My bad. But, if you are Portuguese/Brazilian, then I think it's great that you are choosing to title your piece in that language. I kind of get offended when people use the Italian language when they aren't Italian, because I'm Italian-American, and I don't write in Italian, but that's a long personal story about culture theft that I won't get into right now haha. Anyways, the cello has four strings. C, G, D, and A. Each string can only play notes higher than iit, and itself. The C can play a Db, The G can play a Bb, and so on. But The D can't play a Db. And It is extremely difficult to change three of the strings' notes at once, which you did in a number of instances. Usually, when playing more than 2 notes on a stringed instrument, a composer will incorporate open strings into the chord. And it should be advised that only two strings can be sustained together. Three cannot. You would have to sound the bottom not, then sustain the top two, or sound the bottom two, then sound the top two, and so on.

Ohhhh... Only two strings to be sustained, thanks for that one. ^^

I'll rewrite the chords as soon as I am able to.

Most of the double stops are playable...not all are easy, but definitely only some of them are impossible (m. 48, for example).

That one is impossible because the fingers are too far apart, correct?

Here:

http://img522.imageshack.us/img522/6960/cellochartfingeringexamdp9.jpg

Exactly, unless you're Cthulhu or something with tentacles instead of fingers.

:P

I bet your cellist isn't.

Then five half-tones is always the maximum distance?

Depends on the anatomy of the player and the position on the violoncello. On the first position you would need a giant. I wouldn't call it a 'safe' distance always, for all players. Check with your local cellist!

:P

If I had one. :P

You can always ask here. PM me, if need arises.

Thanks. ^^

I won't give much technical comment since other people have and I don't play the cello or flute (played the recorder but that's not the same). However, I listened through all of it and followed along in the score and I thought you had some nice melodic ideas.

However, there probably could be a heightened sense of direction in the composition as a whole. I can't really recall a particular climactic moment that the music was building to.

I listened to the first five minutes or so, and enjoyed it. However, I was looking over the score... As a cellist, I'll disagree slightly with oboehazzard and say that in some instances, triple stops are sustainable, as long as at least one note is an open string. But, typically, one would roll the bow across and split the chord. And, like manossq said, most of the cello chords are quite playable, but not necessarily ones you'd want to play. Any piece with six flats in a pain, anyway. M. 48 is the only impossible one I see, glancing through quickly, as manossq said.

I'd also be happy to offer my assistance for cello orchestration, along with manossq's, if you ever want it.

Actually, probably what I would do, if you wanted to have those chords played, is divide the part between two cellists.

I look forward to hearing more!

David G.

Thanks for all your help, I will consult you when the need arises to modify the orchestration a bit.

David, I would split it between two cellists if there wasn't supposed to be the simbolism I want to convey of two different instruments in a sort of "unpredictable and fraccioned dialogue".

Berlioz,

Do you have a midi of this cello-clarinet fantasy?

I'd really like to listen to the piece, but a 14 minute mp3 file is way beyond the ability of my crippled dial-up technology to download.