SaepesGenistae

Yay! Another Bach fan! :closedeyes: I've never heard of Piston, but in the UK the ABRSM books by Eric Taylor are excellent, as is "Harmony in Practice" by Anna Butterworth. "The Study of Counterpoint" by J J Fux is excellent (if a little quirky) for learning counterpoint, and I would avoid technical stuff like Schoenberg's book or Bach: Chorale Harmonization etc like the plague. Later you might find "The Study of Orchestration" by Samuel Adler interesting.

I agree - whilst it was fine for Glass to produce works like "Two Pages" (21 minutes of a repeated A minor chord on an electric organ) in the early '60s, now it would just seem lazy: minimalism has evolved into something much more interesting, and to produce the equivalents of these early "stasis" works would be a little like backtracking, IMHO.

What do people think about minimalism? Personally, I don't think the early works of Glass, Reich, Young etc were much to write home about (stasis seems to be exactly what it says - static!). But the modern works of Glass and Reich I find extremely interesting: my personal favourite is the "You Are" Variations by Reich (2003). If I had to choose I'd take minimalism over serialism, any day.

Here are sibelius versions. Movements I and II have been shortened. Ia.sib IIa.sib IV.sib V.sib

Well the first movement is better, but still just ok, unless your aim is early minimalist, electronic music in stasis - in which case it's great! The other movements do not seem to ever move away from the same key, and whilst this is fine if you always want to write in the early minimalist style, if you want it to sound better you should include more modulation. You should get your hands on some recent Reich, eg "You Are" Variations or Music for 18 Musicians - these show modern minimalism which never gets boring.

Yes, I'll probably only use modes with the trio solo (oboe, cor, piano).

Thank you so much for your comments! :rolleyes: How could I fill out the mid-range as you describe? Should I add another instrument, or replace some of the oboe and french horn sections with more melodic interest?

Ok, thanks.

Here's a midi version. The rather pathetic sounding thuds in the solo section are meant to be gongs... I - Introduzione - Tema.mid

What do people think about using modes? Would it be too weird for a first variation?

To me this absolutely screams minimalism: it sounds like one of Glass or Reich's primordial, rather Spartan works for electric organ.

Here's a midi version. Elegy.mid

I take it, since no one has replied, that most people here don't like minimalism...

Ok, here is an overture I wrote which could be played before the suite (see here), but not necessarily. Binary form; scored for: -Flute -Oboe -French Horn -Percussion (snare drum, woodblocks) -Vibraphone -Bass guitar -Synth -Organ (man. & ped.) -4 Violas -4 Cellos -2 Double Basses Don't know if this should really be classed as "minimalism" as such, but it is a piece based on repetition and simple key changes. Minimalist Overture.sib

Thank you all for the advice, I'll have a look at Graham's course.