Arabian Suite

:)Hello Everyone! This is my first posting:toothygrin:- and my best work to date. I thought I'd start out with a bang.

My 'Suite' began as an untitled work for wind ensemble. As the first movement- Bedouin March- began to unfold, it sounded more and more exotic. It reminds me of dusty winds and rolling sand dunes, rocky ridges littered with scraggly vegetation. As soon as I knew I wanted to paint a picture of the Middle East, I got going. This is, essentially, a depiction of the Middle-Eastern idea as far as my uneducated guess will go.

Although it took me only a few hours to initially 'place the notes down', I spent a three years of 'pecking' it to death, editing, reediting, revising, rerevising, and cutting, pasting, and editing some more.

I conducted a bit of research into the music of the Middle East while writing these. Recurring themes in each website were an evenly tempered scale, with close intervals, favoring western equivalent seconds and fifths, with very harsh chords and tones in general. Also, rhythmic dissonance, or excessive counterpoint, was a key element to the form and structure. Often, one lead voice would dominate, sometimes improvising, while two or three others would support with differing rhythms 'underneath'.

Enough banter. Now, the three tunes are Bedouin March, Arabian Twilight, and Rub' al Khali. They were originally written for wind ensemble, but I'm trying to make it adaptable for concert band and marching band.

Enjoy!

Bedouin March.MUS

Bedouin March.MID

Arabian Twilight ballad.MUS

Arabian Twilight ballad.MID

Rub al'Khali- the Sea of Flames.MUS

Rub al'Khali- the Sea of Flames.MID

Can you post a link to a MP3?

I wish I could...

I may be able to convert them- We may be getting Cakewalk soon.

The midi files don't really give the full-body sound- many parts are covered up or missing, or even distorted.

I'll see what I can do. I probably won't be posting for a while, but I'll work on it.

I just finished listening to the .MUS files with Finale. You have some promising Middle Eastern flair here, but I am not convinced yet that you have done all that can be done with this work. Not that I don't enjoy the music, but I think there are weaknesses that can be addressed.

You start each of the three movements of the suite with a short percussion section that does not always seem to be terribly relevant to the music. Or at least, it does not strike me as this way. They each sound nice individually, but considering that the music rarely ever lightens to the point that you hear just the percussion again, I do not understand its purpose.

The first movement, stands at merely 53 measures, yet we do not hear a true theme until measure 10. The opening material never reappears in a cogent form. The material after measure 10 is definitely Middle Eastern in flavor, and that is your best material in the movement. However, the music for this movement appears to be a full tutti throughout. The brevity of the movement thus is a saving grace because it would grow tiresome to the listener fairly quickly. Now, my other issue is that you do not spend any great deal of time developing your one theme. You have a very brief slower section which hints at a development around measure 40, but then you immediately return to the material at measure 10 before bringing the piece to a close that sounds like the flick of a wrist. I felt cheated, as I expected a bit more thematic development inside the first movement.

The second movement begins more hopefully, as I can see you are allowing individual instruments to sound, providing us with more color. I really do not understand the mallet roll in measure 4. Why? It does not seem to serve any purpose. Your theme in the flute is nice and gives us a cool air to enjoy after the frenetic activity of the first movement. And then in measure 18 when you turn the idea over to the brass, I had the impression we were beginning a B section that would provide some development. But then only two measures later, we are in a full tutti that just slouches towards an abrupt end. This movement is way too short! The Adagio should be the heart and soul of a work. You should give us far more than you do. Bring back the solo flute melody. Allow this tune to gracefully fade away, as if blown off by the shifting desert winds.

The third movement strikes me as the most mature of the three pieces. Instead of opening with a mysterious percussion solo, you proceed straight into some very intense material that definitely has a Middle Easter Flavor. And in measure 34 you assured me that you weren't planning on living in a tutti the whole way with the brief respite from the brass. Good move there. Giving the Flutes the melody in measures 57(?) was a good move too. Finally, you show us some real development of your ideas. This piece moves at a very fast pace, but I can feel your theme being constantly transformed and represented in various ways. This is what I've been wanting to hear the entire time! Measures 123-124, though I know they are a reprisal from the first movement, are very clumsy coming right after the section with full quavers. I'd try to find another way to pull that off.

So, while I think you definitely need to expand on both the first two movements, you do have all the good musical ideas you need to do this. And I too understand how it can take a very long time to write music. I'm still only occasionally adding measures to my big pieces. Keep at it, and you'll do fine. :-)

Matusleo

Thanks Matusleo.

I have a hard time writing when the only comments I get are "Yeah, it's good".

This forum really helps to iron out the issues, and to put my work in front of those whose opinions are genuine, who know what they are talking about.

I'll rework it and see how it goes.

Thanks again!

This definately has a different flavor which is great!

I do think that there is so much more you can do with this. If I may bring up a weakness...it's that every measure in each movement seems to feel the same and you use the same rythmns over and over.

So much more can be done with the second movement....

Have you had this performed or sightread by a band? If you haven't it's imperative that you do that. You will hear what you have done both wrong and right when you put your music to some live players.

It's very apparent that you worked really hard on this...so I give you a round of applause. *claps hands around and around in a circular motion*

Keep composing!

Thanks again.

Yes, it does seem a bit- irritable- at times.

However, true to form, it is a quite different flavor and cultural style.

Yes I admit I am not 'proficient' nor 'gifted' when it comes to composing.

Yet in my defense, it is supposed to sound very harsh, loud, lots of conflicting rhythms and many, many voices all fighting against each other to become dominant. Really, the dynamics aren't accentuated enough.

Anyway, I'll work it through. Thanks for your help!

AO

I overhauled Arabian Twilight- it is still kind of sporadic, but much longer.

Let's see what you think...

Arabian Twilight ballad new.MID

Arabian Twilight ballad.MUS