Leaderboard

It seems I have been summoned.... Unfortunately it's difficult to explain the ins and outs of violin writing in any reasonable span of text, especially virtuoso writing. The more difficult you want to make your part, the more nuanced of an understanding of the instrument you must have, and this comes with actual hands-on experience playing the instrument at that level. Of course that isn't to say you can't still write virtuoso music. Saint-Saens was hardly a violinist, after all, but many such non-violinist composers seeking to write difficult violin music did seek the advice and feedback of violinists in their compositional process, often sending them drafts and allowing them to make edits. They employed what is most likely the best approach to such things: write whatever you want, and worry about whether it's playable later. Violins are probably more agile than you may think they are. I'd heavily advise against just trying to create virtuoso writing purely for its own sake. That is a surefire way to heavily compromise the musical integrity of what you're writing and it can really destroy any musical inspiration you may have. Concentrate on writing a nice tune first, then try to develop it with flowery embellishments calling for virtuoso technique. Not only will the fundamental idea underlying the piece be clearer to the audience, since its first appearance will be clean and unornamented, but I honestly even think the virtuoso writing will come easier after that. Interestingly, something I wrote a while back comes surprisingly close to fitting the profile of what you seem to want to write: my Romance in D (2020). It's monothematic (i.e. there is no "B theme" to speak of) and a little longer than your target, but it is still steeped in romantic-era conventions and is basically in ternary form with a coda (the middle section is bookended by the double bars). The accompaniment is fairly simple throughout (mostly block chords and arpeggios); you don't need to spend a lot of time fretting about making something super novel or complicated. The only real secret is an attempt to adhere to good voice leading, particularly with the bassline, though you may also hear some somewhat melodic-sounding lines in the right hand as well, which makes it sound interesting, even if it's very simplistic at a fundamental level. (This is why we study Baroque counterpoint -- its principles are universally applicable to all common-practice tonal music.) You'll notice I used many of the strategies I promote here, such as presenting a relatively unadorned melody at first before embellishing it the next time around. Like I was saying, the exact strategies for achieving good virtuoso violin writing are hard to put into a small number of words, but obviously everything I wrote here in this piece is playable (since both me and my accompanist played it), so similar-looking techniques in your piece should also be playable. I took a listen to your previous work, and it seems you already have the ability to write a good melody based on a motivic cell, so I won't go into that much, but I do want to reiterate that it is a very powerful compositional technique that I also use in my Romance. (My main motivic cell is a rising triad in quarter notes.) It lends the piece a great sense of unity and forms powerful recall associations in the listener's mind that keep them believing that whatever material you're showing them now really does belong in the same piece with what they heard before. Just be careful to avoid writing anything that is impossible on an elementary level, such as double-stops in which both notes can only be played on the G-string. Otherwise, focus on compositional integrity, substance, and sound first. The explicit aims for virtuosity come later.

Hello! In my portion of the US we've been hit with some pretty hefty snow. As the snow fell last night, I decided to make a song to reflect it. As well as a little video accompaniment that I also filmed. I wanted to make something to reflect the cold and dreary snow as it fell in the darkness of night. This piece is for piano and string. The VSTs I used are LABS Glass Piano and Spitfire Audio's Intimate Strings. Hope you enjoy the video, song, and am looking forward to your feedback!

Well, after parting with a bit of money, I now have recordings of two of the six duets I've written (and posted here over the years) for flute and oboe, courtesy of the company Supreme Tracks. I've done a preliminary mix of this one and still have to do that with the other. Some of the duet is a bit technically challenging, and this is by no means a very polished performance, especially in the third movement. But given that I was only paying for one short rehearsal and the recording session, that's not a surprise. I touched up a few of the flubbed notes but didn't want to edit too heavily. I'm not 100% sure about the level of reverb I've used or about the stereo panning, and I'd appreciate any thoughts on that. Or, of course, any other comments. Thanks!

Thx so much for responding to my summon!!! I really really appreciate this!!! You are the absolute violin virtuosic here on YC. Henry

Agreed. The opening I think would be more vast if that were in say flute and clarinet with marimba or xylo? But then again, this is really a concertino for piano. It's a great idea. I am sad you forsaken brass. I think it would add even more for this composition. Since it would be for Christmas, the brass is going to be there, USE THEM!! I didn't get the of "Scherzo" being jokingly at all. It's gorgeous, but the Scherzo is a mislabel. I just also saw that @Henry Ng Tsz Kiu said the same thing about the Rondo that I'm about to say. Your "Rondo" is more Scherzo in nature and for me, "Lilt" is liltish 😃. I know you picked the title but to me seems more Vivacissimo, Allegro Vivace in nature. Also, the last five minutes of the piece were some very very fine writing. The stretch in some of the harmonic vocabulary was intriguing. I would have love to hear more of that in some of the middle passages. Some of the tradition resolutions could be possibly could be switched with other possibilities and still give a sense of repose. Overall, this was a massive undertaking and continue to take risks in your composition journeys. Two thumbs up!

Let see will they reply to this thread haha! Yeah that would be great, as violin is more expressive than piano in terms of shaping the melody and it will catch more eyeballs if it's reserved until the end!! Henry

I see that from your profile you don't play the violin (me too). What kind of difficulty you have in your mind? I think there are many violin experts here like @Aria Donn, @ComposaBoi, @expert21 and they may answer your question better. From my own experience the slurs and taking care of which strings play which notes will be crucial to violin writing (which is useless comment LoL!). For piano writing, it's usually the piano to fill up the space when violin is playing the melody. You can definitely try different rhythmic patterns for example triplets, semiquavers, having polyrhythms with the violin as in Brahms's violin sonatas e.g. I also strongly suggest the piano has its own pianistic version of the violin theme to vary it a bit more! Henry

Hi there A couple of things you could try for movement 2: - watch enharmonics: for example, bar 5 violin is Db, it should be C# (part of A chord) - the melody is always in the violin, maybe toss that to another instrument. Possibly give it some harmony using a counter melody or something (your other instruments are mainly playing block chords. - use slurs! It'll really help with your phrasing, as well as articulating the notes differently. Do you want any of this to sound legato? Hope that helps! Feel free to share some insight for other composers here, they'd love to hear what you have to say, even if it's just a "hi, I don't know what to say other than I really enjoyed this."

Yo Vince, Replies from you always boost my motivation! First I have to thank you publicly (doing the Leo thing). Without your idea of “writing a dense fugue” and “little playing of counterpoint” in your review of my first movement of the Sextet I would NEVER think of writing a six voice fugue here. Thx SO MUCH for your idea. Yeah I think so too, but it’s my own fault, as I shouldn’t assume other people will know what’s happening on my brain with my plan of the work! Of course for me the fugue works reasonably with the plan, but maybe not so to others. I am so happy you feel the pain!! (I am not a sadist LoL!) It’s painful writing both in terms of the counterpoint rule and the content itself. Strangely I feel nothing during the writing of it, except for twice after I heard of my friend’s illness and I burst out crying composing while thinking of my friend’s illness, combining the tragic power of the piece itself. My friend is a hero, he’s the one who is comforting us on his illness. I have never met a braver person than he is in my real life. I write this for my friend, but also for the pain I feel during these few months with wars and sadness everywhere. I cannot ignore them in my writing even though I was emotionless in my writing process. Yeah! I feel like every time I write I am learning through the writing progress. I have to get used to the texture and rules first before I can fully write without having those rules constraining me later. The same works for the Clarinet Quintet in C minor! But it also gives a sense of growth throughout the fugue which I love. The music becomes more and more fluid to the end in my opinion. Yes! Actually all three subjects come from the first movement, but in around 7 minute it becomes more apparent when pentatonic is reintroduced! I am so happy you find the hidden connection! Sigh, it will be a long long way to run before the finishing line. It’s agonising but it definitely worths it. Hopefully I won’t ruin this fugue and the first movement while completing the remaining passages. I still yet to think of how to end the whole piece together conVINCEingly, luckily you give me some idea for that though!! I am so lucky to have you as my guidance and friend Vince. You always give me inspirations and ideas to work on. I have yet to use up all your ideas concerning the remaining parts of the movements and stay tuned!! Thx bro Vince, Henry

Hey @Layne, The opening double bass passage is very well written which prepares the scene. The playing of B and Bb is interesting for me, with a funny occasional Eb minor chord. The next section with the glockenspiel is lovely with the timbre, and the ending on the struggle between Eb and D is well crafted. If I am going to suggest something I think you can change the harmony more! It’s more or less G major, g minor and Eb minor here and I think different chords like B minor/major or C sharp minor/major would be great! Thx for sharing! Henry