Sojar Voglar

I don't know what is that score on the top of the file, it is not associated with this work... 😕

This is one of my recent compositions, created for the 25th artistic anniversary of well known Slovene duo ClariPiano. It is a large scale work, the description of the piece is in the video, so I will spare you from repeating myself. 🙂 I know I have not been active lately but I will certainly come back for some more reviews of your works. Cheers!

As always, your compositions are done with total perfection but I never hear Simen N in these works, rather a full-blooded imitation of baroque music of late 17th and early 18th century. I was really hoping you'd get bored by now and try to find your own personal language so listeners may say: This is definitely Simen N, not Corelli for example. I know you will probably berate me for writing this (as you have done it before) but I can't help myself, I find it a shame for such a talented composer like you to be satisfied with pastiche.

The piano part is too much repetitive, you should really try to use more different chords (not harmonies) or piano progress (counterpoints, thematic material, more varied rhythm, motivic variation and development etc...) As far as you address the use of high register: actually, it's not the highest register at all - cello can relatively confortably play up to d6. It is accesible to most players with about 6-8 years of cello playing.

I am hoping for a live premiere in autumn... Yes, you are right, the choirs will be among the last ensembles to regain liberty to perform live again...

I am a quite poor philosopher. 😋

She did. 🙂 We listened to it together for six times in a row. I also did not hear the preview before it was released so it was fresh to me as well. 🙂

It is more creative to find melody first and later harmonize it, but the opposite may prove to be an interesting challenge. 😉

All this conversation gives me headache. Did you guys ever considered the fact how much wonderful music you could have composed throughout all this time you were spending posting these replies and doing all this bickering? 🙂 You will not find similar answers between each other anyway. 🙂

This choral piece was composed in April 2020 and it was designed to celebrate my 15th anniversary since me and my wife became the couple. 🙂 Hence the premiere took place on social media on 30th May. Due to quarantine 16 students of Conservatoire for Music and Ballet Ljubljana accepted this "mission impossible" and recorded the composition throughout the May and put all separate recordings together. It was probably a heck of a challenge but the result is quite impressive. The choral sound is very unique though... 😉 It is one of my most inspired choral works in recent years and it has a special emotional component. 🙂 The musical language is generally tonal, with frequent add of lydian augmented fourth and sudden surprise chromaticism. This is also prominent at the end of composition when the harmony seems to be content resting on A flat major chord but it ends with sudden C major (I simply heard it to be appropriate).

It's a shame that you don't plan to continue this piece in more movements to make it a real sonata. This diatonic minimalism works perfectly since the duration is just right. Any longer and it would be like "when is it going to end already?". The end seems a bit hasty, a few more final chords would make it better. And I agree with previous comment, I am not sure about the final cello chord. Yet, Stravinsky's first chord in the violin concerto was also ankward at first, but there were two empty strings to help. Here there are none...

Here is my short three movement Suite for an attractive instrumental cast. At first I intended to compose a five-movement suite but I became father for the third time and I was not able to complete fourth and fifth movement until the deadline...

Cute music, in style more akin to Tchaikovsky rather than Johann Strauss.

Nice composition in neoclassical style akin to Hindemith.

If you are in an early stage of your development as an orchestral composer, it is not bad at all. But you should avoid so much repetition of similar chords. At least you can divide basses and other strings into various patterns, even though it can still be the same G major chord. The formal approach is completely adequate though.