Musicthor

Thanks for the response. I didn't particularly want climaxes but rather a sense that each section connected to the next with varying degrees of tension. The theme starts with the horn in 11. I created the intro by taking the motives I used through the piece and trying to create a despairing line that would tie into the theme. A second melody starting in the flute at 21 is really just important for the first four notes :P, I use that motive a bit, especially at the ending. Your comment about the dissonance surprised me. I think what you are referring to is beat 2 in m. 38 (39 has no G). The chord is Ab major 7th chord with a Bb for color. I love major and minor 7th chords and used them throughout; I do not hear the dissonance that you speak of, but we all have different ears. Thanks for your reply. All comments appreciated :).

The easy way to make C-score in Finale is to use the staff tool. Double click on the staff you want to change, next to 'transposition' click the select button, and then select chromatic instead of key signature. The staff will now be in C in concert and written pitch displays.

I enjoyed this piece; I like the mood and the flow (slow motion is good!). Now for some sticky things. Two technical writing things: Your first system is in C-score and the second has transposed signatures for the horn and clarinet. Please pick one. I got really confused the first time reading through because of it. Also, if writing in C-score, it's good to make a note in the score whether or not the parts are transposed (okay I forget, but if someone was looking at my music w/o being able to ask me questions, would they always be able to figure it out?) For this piece I would prefer C-score. Secondly, use sim. instead of all of those crescendo/decrescendo markings in the horn ostinato. They clutter the score and horn players are actually quite intelligent... Okay now to music. I love this piece because it is modal (why C-score would be nice). You are kind of in minor, but really you are in Phrygian mode (add b2), and then you are in Locrian (add b2 b5); yet you still use diatonic 2 and 5 against the flatted tones which creates very cool dissonances. But, sometimes I wish you would have used more of the color tones, for example, I could have really used a d-flat in the oboe solo in m. 20. Overall, I really enjoyed this piece, as in, I wouldn't mind if it was on a Naxos CD I bought and ended up on my iPod. It flows very naturally and the slowly building intro is quite nice. I loved the horn line starting at m. 32 (I play so I enjoy those 'heroic' leaps :P). Thank you for this contribution.

Hello all, I've been meaning to get somethings uploaded for a long time, but have been having massive internet problems for the last 6-8 months :(. Anyhow, this is most recent composition. I would love comments and will respond to any questions as soon as possible. Link to wav file for reading with PDF: The Stars Revealed for Wind Quintet P.S. Score is in concert pitch. The Stars Revealed.MUS The Stars Revealed.pdf

Sorry for not replying quickly, I had a graduation party to prepare for :). I really enjoy the feel of this piece put have a few questions. Why are you writing for quartet instead of quintet? I believe quintets are much more common and the inclusion of the horn would allow greater timbre possibilities. I love how you pass around the melody line and the addition of the horn would allow you to pass around the accompaniment figures. Also, the clarinet and bassoon can do more than harmonic percussion ;). I don't know what type of sonorities you want in measure 10. My ears were confused by your break with traditional harmony. It's not that the sonorities you have built aren't usable, they just don't fit with what you previously stated. The sextuplet figures in the flute don't make sense to me. You have them slured but with repeated notes. Do you want them to be tounged? Every other? Clarify your notation. Also remember that a computer can do things that humans can't. Possibly this passage could work flutter tounged... Please extend the coda! It just doesn't sound done to me. Lots of V-I! Thanks for sharing this piece.

I've been reading a wonderful book entitled "Music and Mathematics" edited by Fauvel, Flood, and Wilson. There first chapter deals with tuning and temperament. These split sharp keyboards were apparently created to facilitate the playing in distant keys, because when using just tuning, your Bb must be different than your A# to keep the ratios between the intervals constant. This continuing process of having different frequencies for enharmonics is called the spiral of the temperament and the distance between the enharmonics is called the comma. The different pitches for Bb and A# in such a system are not really microtones, because the music of the period never would have wrote for the music to switch between the two close frequencies abruptly. The 12-tone scale still was king with the minor second with the ratio of 16:15 being the smallest used. By the way, the book has a cool diagram of Mersenne's 31 note octave which has two keys each for F, F-sharp, G-flat, and G. Handel actually played an organ built with such a design in the Netherlands; just imagine how many additional pipes were needed!

Go download CutePDF. It allows you to print files to a pdf. Posting a Finale file would be great as well though.

Please post a score.

Right on! I have a recording of Luther College playing Brahms that I can't listen to for more than 90 seconds. Granted, the strings are on the correct pitch for brief moments in their out-of-tune vibrato, but...

Just a few notes: Firstly, the horn line generally is placed above the bassoon in a woodwind quintet. Not that this is a huge deal, but the bassoon generally plays the lowest material/bass line, so it makes more sense visually on the bottom. Secondly, be careful on some of the registration of your instruments. Once the flute gets down between C4 and C5, it is easily covered up by more dominant sounds. Also, the horn line becomes much more difficult in measure 22 and 35 than the general piece. The concert D is starting to get quite high for many players, and considering the relative ease of the woodwind lines, it might be out of place. Thirdly, I really enjoy the imitation in the second section. Perhaps consider taking a favorite motive and developing it. You have already said a lot; try saying it in new ways instead of saying something else. This piece really reminds me of a fugue written by J.S. Bach. Thanks for sharing it with us.

Don't forget Children's March by Grainger; wonderful variation writing that explores the color's of the wind symphony.

Every score written by Mozart is now online at: NMA Online Neue Mozart-Ausgabe: Digitized Version This should be the English version of the site.

I find this comment very interesting, ablyth, because we regularly discuss neo-classical, neo-romantic, and even neo-baroque music. These styles have been around much longer that serialism or atonality, yet they still have possibilities to be explored. A lot of these possibilities include fusions of styles, mixing past with present. Furthermore, the styles and "rules" of atonality are constantly changing as well. An example in another style would be Adams's Short Ride in a Fast Machine. This piece is a lot more active and "interesting" than some of the more strictly minimalist pieces by Glass (esp. the earlier works). I do believe there is life for atonality and serialism, just like any other style.

What is your favorite symphony of Beethoven's nine and why? My favorite is number 6, particularly the first movement. I like the wonderful romanticism of it and the fact that Beethoven titled the movements with vivid phrases.

Wonderful! Extremely fun to listen to. 2 questions: What exactly are the tubular bells you called for; are they a mallet instrument? Did you know someone, I can't remember his name, wrote a "Pluto" to complete his set once the then ninth planet was discovered? (Personally, I'm glad Pluto was removed from the list of planets. It makes Holst's set complete.) Thanks for sharing this piece.