We Don't Ride for Victory

Hi!
This is a piece that I've recently written (It's one of my first). I'd really appreciate any feedback from you. (especially regarding structure and form... Is it too repetitive? Is it not repetitive enoough? And also about orchestration and other topics in general... )

Thanks a lot for your reply!  

To give you an accurate opinion on the form it would be nice to see the score. Anyway, since the piece is constructed on a repetition of a phrase, there is no complex structure here.

Apart from the ending, perhaps, as a coda, from 4:00, the phrase repeats on and on in a sort of A1 A2 A3 A4, etc... What happens is that every exposition changes by means of the orchestration, or the chorus, or the sopran voice, or the rhythm.

The arrangement is good, for me, I like it. Yes, of course it is repetitive. For the time it takes it's not boring, but .... almost.

I think this work would improve a lot if you write a second theme, different and contrasting, just to build a basic ABA form.

I always say that studying the classic Forms is easy and funny, and it allows us to make better pieces. For example, a modulation here would have been an interesting change, too.

13 hours ago, Luis Hernández said:

To give you an accurate opinion on the form it would be nice to see the score. Anyway, since the piece is constructed on a repetition of a phrase, there is no complex structure here.

Apart from the ending, perhaps, as a coda, from 4:00, the phrase repeats on and on in a sort of A1 A2 A3 A4, etc... What happens is that every exposition changes by means of the orchestration, or the chorus, or the sopran voice, or the rhythm.

The arrangement is good, for me, I like it. Yes, of course it is repetitive. For the time it takes it's not boring, but .... almost.

I think this work would improve a lot if you write a second theme, different and contrasting, just to build a basic ABA form.

I always say that studying the classic Forms is easy and funny, and it allows us to make better pieces. For example, a modulation here would have been an interesting change, too.

 

Hi, Luis :)
Thanks for your feedback. Very helpful. I guess the piece really is a bit too repetitive (I was so determined to keep it simple that I eventually reached the other extreme). Maybe checking traditional musical forms would not be a bad idea at all. I guess it's somehow like a guarantee that you repeat themes in moderation. 

Thanks again for your reply!

Yes, classical forms (that can be used in any style) teach us how to balance repetition and variation. And that's the clue. Music, as we know it, must repeat parts to fix the melody and harmony in our brain, but should include variation in the repeated parts. There are many ways to achieve it, and that's what Forms deal with.