Soliloquy for Violin No. 28

This piece of mine - Soliloquy for Violin No. 28: A Personal Reflection on Shakespeare's "To Be or Not to Be" Question (Hamlet) ('Mi'* Be; Do Be; 'Mi' Be) - was inspired in response to the competition on the theme of Shakespeare that is currently being held in this website. However, it falls short of one of the criteria of the the competition in being less than five minutes long. I consider it to be one of my good pieces and so wanted to still share it. I hope you enjoy it.

As for the extra-musical associations of the piece, I have already explained in the score via asterisks which I reproduce below:

Mi ('մի') means "Don't" in Armenian. Therefore the beginning 3 measures "E B C B E B" translate to "Mi B Do B Mi B" and then to "Don't Be; Do Be; Don't Be", like an obsessive question haunting its victim.

Regarding the last two notes of the piece, B & E, these last two notes end the piece, after four bars asserting "Do B(e)" again and again, by the note-word combination "Be Me", thus giving us a reason to choose to be, the notes at the same time spelling/commanding "BE"!

I have tried as much as I can not to let the extramusical associations effect the quality of the music, even thought the music itself arises largely from them! To be sure, the music, in translating notes into words and words into notes, etc, might be taking the "To be or not to be" question a little to literally, but I hope that the music itself also gives some sense of the issues that the question deals with. It is for you to decide how far it has succeeded. I look forward to your feedback.

Very nice piece! This hidden meaning, once explained it's a plus.

Everytime I listen to one of your soliloquies I find a crossroad in front of me: on one hand I think their simpli great, as hyperconcentrated ideas; on the other hand I think they could be the start point of something bigger.

But they're your creation.

Are those tempo jump places actually in those tempos? Or is it rubato. Those two places are very very difficult for violinists to play accurately, especially with the infrequent jumps. Also might want to add slurs to your main rhythm, since some people will instinctively make one more bow than the other.

Idea-wise, it's really cool! Sorry it couldn't make the time limit.

Very good !

Like Luis, I like that you explain the hidden meaning of the piece.

I find this to be beautiful, in a way, I never experienced before, in your compositions.

Thanks Luis, Monarcheon and Kimoworld for your reviews.

On 7/24/2016 at 7:26 PM, Monarcheon said:

Are those tempo jump places actually in those tempos? Or is it rubato. Those two places are very very difficult for violinists to play accurately, especially with the infrequent jumps.

 

I might have been a bit optimistic with the tempo indications. Let's say that the indicated tempo is the ideal one, failing which some rubato would be acceptable.