Piano Sonata No.2 in F major

A few days ago I shared my Concertino for Alto Saxophone - which was my first post here - and received very useful feedback. So useful that I am planning to share more!

Piano Sonata No.2 in F major, Opus 16.

As the title already explains, the composition is for solo piano. Beethoven's and other classical composers' music has had a huge influence on this piece and me. I think (so this is just an opinion) the best way to master composition is by imitating the various styles of composers and then develop your own style of writing. Only then you can understand why music is how it is and how to compose it.

Feedback would be very nice!

Kind regards,

Maarten Bauer

Your sonata has a very Mozart-ian mischief to it, coupled with some Beethoven-esque textures and rhythmic patterns, especially the third movement. It's an interesting piece of work, although I must admit that the second movement feels more like a loose 'Berceuse' than a 'Romanza'. Maybe some variations on the repeats could help develop the piece better. Other than that, good work. 

It almost seems like a classical concerto based on where your highs and lows are. Not a criticism, but interesting how you handled a sonata...
Main thing; your writing is very thin. There are a lot of places where the orchestration could be a lot more dense because it doesn't have those inner tonal workings that, say, the first Beethoven Piano Concerto has.
A lot of it... sounds the same. I feel like it could be mistaken for different speeds on the same piece. They go different places but they don't have those shifts that makes the movement a unique piece.

It's overall quite good. Just keep in mind the both the whole and the parts!

6 hours ago, francis94 said:

Your sonata has a very Mozart-ian mischief to it, coupled with some Beethoven-esque textures and rhythmic patterns, especially the third movement. It's an interesting piece of work, although I must admit that the second movement feels more like a loose 'Berceuse' than a 'Romanza'. Maybe some variations on the repeats could help develop the piece better. Other than that, good work. 

 

Thank you for listening.

I have never heard of a Berceuse before, but now I know what it is and understand . The second movement is a bit repetitive indeed, so I will look at it again.

6 hours ago, Monarcheon said:

It almost seems like a classical concerto based on where your highs and lows are. Not a criticism, but interesting how you handled a sonata...
Main thing; your writing is very thin. There are a lot of places where the orchestration could be a lot more dense because it doesn't have those inner tonal workings that, say, the first Beethoven Piano Concerto has.
A lot of it... sounds the same. I feel like it could be mistaken for different speeds on the same piece. They go different places but they don't have those shifts that makes the movement a unique piece.

It's overall quite good. Just keep in mind the both the whole and the parts!

 

Hi Monarcheon,

Thank you for listening.

Orchestration for an orchestra or an ensemble is, in my opinion, a lot easier than orchestrating for solo piano. Could you suggest me some methods to improve the density of the piece?

''A lot of it... sounds the same. I feel like it could be mistaken for different speeds on the same piece.'' 

Oh, I think there is enough contrast between the movements. However, the first and third movement share many similarities. Can you tell me how to make those shifts?

I am glad you enjoyed it.

Hi Maarten,

I can hear the influences you were talking about and you obviously have talent, the piece has lots to like, but I want to just put in my 2 penneth worth in regards to your statement about imitating the masters.  While I agree that listening to your favorites and trying to deconstruct what they do and how they achieve their goals, I don't ever think you should "imitate" them, always try to do what you do in your own voice.  My stuff is very tonal, and not really modern at all, but I started very much like you, trying to imitate what I heard and in the end, that's all my pieces were, imitations.

I do like what you've done here, it is very musical and nice to listen to, but I'm not sure that I'm hearing YOUR voice if you know what I mean.

Hope you don't mind too much my comments.

Best regards

Mark

On 4-1-2017 at 9:00 PM, Mark101 said:

Hi Maarten,

I can hear the influences you were talking about and you obviously have talent, the piece has lots to like, but I want to just put in my 2 penneth worth in regards to your statement about imitating the masters.  While I agree that listening to your favorites and trying to deconstruct what they do and how they achieve their goals, I don't ever think you should "imitate" them, always try to do what you do in your own voice.  My stuff is very tonal, and not really modern at all, but I started very much like you, trying to imitate what I heard and in the end, that's all my pieces were, imitations.

I do like what you've done here, it is very musical and nice to listen to, but I'm not sure that I'm hearing YOUR voice if you know what I mean.

Hope you don't mind too much my comments.

Best regards

Mark

 

Hi Mark,

Thank you for that compliment! I am glad you liked it.

Actually, I completely agree with you about 'developing' one's own voice. The word, I used (imitating) is indeed actually not well chosen by me. With imitating I rather mean that it is not wrong to peek at works of other composers.

I am still developing 'my voice' and I will always keep developing it.

I do not mind your comments at all. On the opposite, I like talking about compositions and sharing opinions.

Kind regards,

Maarten

A Berceuse is a lullaby which your second piece is more of than Romanza as @francis94 stated.

I'm going to put a spin on what every else has said. It's obvious you have a knowledge of repertoire and listen to the works of the masters.    It's obvious you listened to Mozart and Beethoven.  These pieces seem like a homage How about stretch your range and some of voicings.  Take a risk!

4 hours ago, maestrowick said:

A Berceuse is a lullaby which your second piece is more of than Romanza as @francis94 stated.

I'm going to put a spin on what every else has said. It's obvious you have a knowledge of repertoire and listen to the works of the masters.    It's obvious you listened to Mozart and Beethoven.  These pieces seem like a homage How about stretch your range and some of voicings.  Take a risk!

 

 

Hi Maestrowick,

Thank you for giving me the definition of a Berceuse.

I am already experimenting with atonal composition and writing in other genres than the classical period, as you probably heard in my 3 Melodies for Saxophone and Piano.

Thank you for commenting and stimilating me to take more risk!