RadonUlzer

When you try to figure out the ryhthm, think subdivisions. If you can't figure it out counting quarters, half the tempo and count eighths. If you still can't get it, quarter the tempo and count sixteenths. I don't usually use a metronome, but it could definitely help for complex rhythms. And timbre is just the sound quality of a particular note - the reason an oboe sounds different from a clarinet.

They're pretty good, as far as I can tell. The only thing I can say is you tend to use a lot of large leaps. I think it would sound better (and be easier to play) if you used more stepwise motion and kept the sevenths and octaves to a minimum. Nice overall!

The cello parts at 22 aren't too high...but write them in treble clef!

It totally depends what kind of sound you want. Horn and viola is good, but you'll hear much more horn than viola. I don't particularly like clarinet and viola, but english horn and viola is cool. A bassoon in its high register will also sound good, but viola + bassoon versus full strings and winds will probably not be heard. And finally, trombone could work in certain situations, and could certainly be heard. Use whatever fits the passage. One other thought - if you doubled the violas with cellos, that would give them much more power. I know you said the rest of the strings were playing something else, so what about half the cellos (divisi)?

PDF score, please. My Finale is an earlier version and lots of people here use Sibelius or something else.

http://www.youngcomposers.com/articles/Violin-Double-Stops In terms of farthest interval...I wouldn't go above an octave. A good violinist could probably stretch a bit further if they really had to.

Vista has a ton of graphics that can really slow your computer down sometimes. Turning them off might help your problem. Start -> Control Panel -> System -> Advanced System Settings (in the bar on the left) -> the first Settings button (in the Performance frame) Just uncheck everything.

A long, long, time. I think I've only finished one complete piece for a student orchestra, which probably took me about two months working mostly on weekends. Usually by the time I've written a few pages, I decide that what I've written is so horrible that I just can't go further, so I've started lots of works, but rarely finish them.

Cool! There's no hurry though, I'll be out of town with no internet this week.

As long as we're getting technical, I supposed I'll put my numbers down: 93% hard work 7% talent But yeah, music is competitive, so if you're talking about really being good, it's the seven percent that matters. Also, if you want to be a professional composer, throw in an extra 20% of luck. If you're just composing for fun, then who cares if you're talented?

If you're talking to me, which I'm never quite sure about on internet forums, yeah, that would be great!

I really like it - I think it's very strong harmonically, especially in the A section. None of the melodies really drew me in, however. I really liked the rythmic motif of two sixteenths followed by an eighth - I though it helped draw the piece together. I couldn't quite get a grasp on the fanfares at the beginning and end - they seemed unnecessarily dissonant. The A section was my favorite - there was good interplay between instruments and a good driving force through the whole thing. The B section didn't keep my interest as much - It didn't seem to develop very well, but I've always liked bangy parts better than calm parts. I liked the buildup back to the A section, and I thought the rhythmic buildup to bar 169 was very cool. I'm not sure why you marked the strings detache at 169, maybe I missed something earlier. Having been rather critical up there, I should mention that it's way, way, way, better than what I could do. Overall, I though the piece was great!

Yeah, that annoyed me too at first. But after playing it for a couple months and hearing my teacher refer to it, it's stuck as the "Handel Concerto" for me, at least.

Well yeah, there will always be exceptions...

A lot of stuff!? Here I was thinking only 20 pieces for viola had been written in the history of the world. ;) Is any of it on IMSLP? It's probably worth taking a look at, but I'm somewhat short on cash at the moment.