Violin Stream No. 2

A long break after my first violin stream - almost 3 years - here comes the 2nd! I think this one achieves a great degree of coherence throughout its short duration, despite momentary "breaks" in the seamless course of its stream. Perhaps I might have waited a little more before posting it, but I wanted to share it "hot off the press" to retain it's spontaneity and not risk subsequently tinkering with it.

Here is the link to the first one:

http://www.youngcomposers.com/archive/music/listen/5792/violin-stream-no-1/

This is very nice I think. I agree that it is coherent and and flows as well as any work you've done before.

Regarding the bowing: Do you intend for the violin to play the majority of the piece detached? If so, that's fine, but I imagine the music being smoother, with most of the notes slurred. If that is your intention, I think it would be extremely helpful to mark where you would want the slurs to be.

Also, a few questions regarding the final measure: Is it normal to have an accented note in the middle of a slur like that? Seems a little awkward to me. Might the violinist have a difficult time with slurred double stops in quick succession? What is the fermata there meaning exactly? If it is to elongate the final note, why not use the empty bar space in front of it to make that a little clearer.

The double stops in here, friend... daunting, especially in rapid succession like that. 
@fishyfry the piece sounds pretty okay with a martelé or detached stroke. I tried it. I believe the composer thought so too.
The final measure is quite strange for the reasons fishfry pointed out. It also really stops the flow of the piece right at the end, which isn't particularly enjoyable.
It's pretty good, I just think it by itself functions more like a bagatelle where development is scarce, which has its ups and downs...

Thanks Monarcheon and fishyfry for your reviews and comments.

@fishyfry :

19 hours ago, fishyfry said:

This is very nice I think. I agree that it is coherent and and flows as well as any work you've done before.

Thanks for the compliment and feedback about my assessment regarding the coherence of the piece.

@fishyfry & @Monarcheon:  

19 hours ago, fishyfry said:

Regarding the bowing: Do you intend for the violin to play the majority of the piece detached? If so, that's fine, but I imagine the music being smoother, with most of the notes slurred. If that is your intention, I think it would be extremely helpful to mark where you would want the slurs to be.

18 hours ago, Monarcheon said:

@fishyfry the piece sounds pretty okay with a martelé or detached stroke. I tried it. I believe the composer thought so too.

 

Yes, that's how I intended it fishyfry, as Monarcheon has already said. I think with short bowstrokes it would work well. Good to hear that you have tried it Monarcheon! It would have been nice to have heard how it sounded in your interpretation!

@Monarcheon: I tried to keep double stops to a minimum with exactly that fear. I am sorry that you find them daunting. Is there a way to objectively assess their difficulty which I might follow as a guide in composing for the violin and other stringed instruments in the future?

@fishyfry & @Monarcheon:

Regarding the final measure, that's the way I intended for it to be interpreted. I think that with the reduced tempo the slurs between double stops should not be a problem. The fermata on the final note is left to the discretion of the performer. That's why I used a fermata as opposed to lengthening the duration of the note. The accented note in the middle of the slur is I believe possible to execute, even though it might not be normal.

4 minutes ago, luderart said:

I think that with the reduced tempo the slurs between double stops should not be a problem.

Each of those double stops requires a shift to get to the next one, unless you want to stretch the last two notes, which I guess is possible, but would take an uncharacteristically long time to practice, since it spans a seventh with other notes in the middle. 16th notes under beat 80 isn't slow, you know.

7 minutes ago, luderart said:

Is there a way to objectively assess their difficulty which I might follow as a guide in composing for the violin and other stringed instruments in the future?

Mmm... kind of, but generally no. Double stops involving at least one open string adjacent to the string that a fingered note is being played will generally be okay (at moderate tempo). If they're in succession, perhaps keep them on the same two strings and the same position... Repeated double stops in the same position are also typically okay because you can settle there before moving to the next position. Slow thirds are fine, but not too many of them; same with sixths. Fourths can be more awkward.

Honestly, it's very case by case and there's too many possible scenarios to list them all. Learn by doing is probably better than anything I just wrote up above.