Life of a Star

I'd greatly appreciate any feedback

Hey there:

• Big E major at 9 is kind of out of left field.
• Oboe sync. at 13 needs to be a quarter note, not two tied eighths. Same with picc. 
• m. 28, harp chords are really hard, since they need to stretch at a 5th or more than fifth in one finger space, which is hard.
• That first big section could have been a little longer, no?
• With the wind triplets, I might add a voice or two to make it seem like more of a unit.
• The timp solo is cool, but I found it to be a bit out of place.
• Weird to have your last big chord in the first inversion.

Anyway, it was overall very good. You really know how to nail modulations. Some of the sections could have been a bit more expended in my eyes with some nitpick things along the way, but you have a good version here.

I was intrigued by the title of this piece, so I gave it a listen, and I'm glad I did!  This is fantastic, in all pertinent senses of the word.  

I too thought that some of the harp chords seemed a little broad.  It's true that a harpist can stretch a lot farther than a pianist can, but with all the filled-in chords, such as around m. 28-29, it may be a bit of a problem for the player - especially since most harpists these days are women.  The chords are nice though, so you might consider solving the problem by writing two harp parts and splitting the chords up between them - if that's an option, of course.  Another thing you might do for the harp right there is write the same chords, but in the enharmonic flat key (D-flat); harpists have a tough time with a lot of sharps, or so they've told me, and it might make it easier for the player to read and set up pedals.  A great player will know what to do in any case, so it's just a suggestion to make life easier for him/her.  

I was really impressed by your colourful orchestration and idiomatic writing for the instruments.  Well done.  I did raise an eyebrow, though, when you wrote a C# an octave above high C for the first flute in the penultimate measure.  I realize some really good flute players can find that note, but it's risky, and the flute can sound shrill and unpleasant up there.  You might consider having the second flute switch to piccolo there; those super-high notes are right in the piccolo's range.  The final note given to the glockenspiel alone is pretty cool...as if the whole thing just disappears into a black hole and is gone in a twinkling.  

While I'm letting my imagination run wild on your orchestration, I'd be curious as to what kind of picture you were trying to paint here.  This is obviously programmatic music, so what story were you telling?  Can you give us some more information?    

Really wonderful work!  My compliments!