Nocturn in C# minor

Hi Everyone,

After a little break for a few months while I was doing other things, I was also working on some new music.  I think this piece is in a fairly good state at the moment, but as always, there is room for improvement, and if you feel you have some suggestions, then all comments are welcome, good or bad.

This is a classical piano and flute duet that I've been working on for a couple of months now so I'm hoping that you like it.  There is a technical problem with the score.  The piece is in C# minor, but for some reason all the B#'s are written as C naturals.  If anyone knows how to change them all in one fell swoop using Sibelius, then I would appreciate your input, otherwise I have to do it one by one lol.

Anyway, thanks for listening

Mark

Hi Mark,

Well done! I love the lyric in your melodies! I hear some influences of Chopin (nocturnes).
Besides, I like the sort of cadenza parts. It gives a sense of flexibility and lightness to the music.

Flute and piano is a wonderful combination. The balance between the 'singing' flute and the accompanying piano is good, and tthe same stands for the piano intermezzi.
You almost never use the lower octave of the flute, while the darkness of the tone in this register can really help to create a warm, nocturne-like atmosphere. The projection of notes below D written in the staff (not under) is very weak, but the flute can still be heard if the piano plays lightly.

You should also check harmonic intervals like minor second (D - C#) in m.27. In my opinion this interval sounds awful in this context and the restful atmosphere is broken.
Unfortunately, I don't know how to fix the C to B#. I hope somebody else can help you.

I enjoyed the music!

Maarten

Hi Maarten,

Thanks a lot for your advice, it is appreciated and glad you liked it.  Yes, unfortunately it does have quite a Chopin feel about it especially in the left hand.  I try not to sound like anyone but sometimes it just happens lol.

I think one of the problems with writing for the flute at least using something like Sibelius, is that the lower register doesn't sound good and is often lost against the piano, that in live play would not be such a problem.  I did have some lower register flute in there to start with but it got lost so I changed it.

I will have a look at the minor 2nd intervals, I know it's generally considered an ugly interval, and if you noticed, then others will too.  I think when you write a new piece, by the time you've heard it a million times, you gloss over certain things that perhaps you shouldn't.

Thanks again for your help

Mark

I really enjoyed that - well done!

You can fix the C to B# thing by 

1. Going to advanced filter (ctrl+alt+shift+f)
2. In the left column make sure the 'Find: Notes and Chords' box is ticked
3. In the notes and chords menu (i believe that's the one open by default) go to where in says 'Pitch:'
4. From there, choose what pitches you what the filter to select.
5. Press select at the bottom right-hand side of the menu. After this, the filter menu should be gone and all the C naturals on the score will be selected
6. Press enter (this will respell the notes to B#s!)

Hi Punintentional,

This did the trick, thanks for your help, saved a lot of tedious routing around, and I'm glad you liked it

Mark

8 hours ago, Mark101 said:

Hi Maarten,

Thanks a lot for your advice, it is appreciated and glad you liked it.  Yes, unfortunately it does have quite a Chopin feel about it especially in the left hand.  I try not to sound like anyone but sometimes it just happens lol.

I think one of the problems with writing for the flute at least using something like Sibelius, is that the lower register doesn't sound good and is often lost against the piano, that in live play would not be such a problem.  I did have some lower register flute in there to start with but it got lost so I changed it.

I will have a look at the minor 2nd intervals, I know it's generally considered an ugly interval, and if you noticed, then others will too.  I think when you write a new piece, by the time you've heard it a million times, you gloss over certain things that perhaps you shouldn't.

Thanks again for your help

Mark

 

 

Hi Mark,

There is nothing wrong with sounding like another composer. It is almost impossible to not sound like anybody else and I like your music even though it sounds 'familiar.'
Then about the flute, there is a difference between writing for notation software and writing for musicians. These are two different perspectives, but I think you should think about what the music would sound when played by real performers instead of notation software.

Maarten

Hi Maarten,

You are absolutely right of course, the job of a composer is to write new music for musicians, not notation software, but as I'm under no illusions that one day my music will be played by real musicians, then I do tend to limit myself to what sounds "good" on my crappy little laptop lol. Maybe I need to get some more ambition! 

Mark

50 minutes ago, Mark101 said:

Hi Maarten,

You are absolutely right of course, the job of a composer is to write new music for musicians, not notation software, but as I'm under no illusions that one day my music will be played by real musicians, then I do tend to limit myself to what sounds "good" on my crappy little laptop lol. Maybe I need to get some more ambition! 

Mark

 

You write wonderful music and it's a shame that your music isn't played by musicians yet. Could you please compose a piece for alto saxophone in the same style as your nocturne? I can then give you a recording (without piano), so that you hear your music played by 'real musicians.' Please send me a private message if you are interested!

This is really lovely.  There's no reason you shouldn't be thinking about ways to get your music in front of the eyes of musicians and about writing for musicians instead of just the laptop. :D  

Personally, I just put my scores out for free and make sure they are very google searchable if someone is searching for a particular type of piece.  So, for this one, if someone is looking for "piano flute Nocturne" they might find you here, but there are probably a lot of pieces that fit that description that they will stumble upon in their search results first, so if you tag it with "free score" or "contemporary composer" or your country of origin, someone trying to find music in a hurry on a budget, or someone who wants to put together a program of contemporary works, or works by composers from... will stand a better chance of finding you, since they are searching for something more specific.  Tag it with your university and when the Alumni Affairs Office is planning Reunion Weekend, they may get in touch.  

Hi Pateceramics,

I'm really pleased you liked it and even more pleased you think it might be good enough for others to possibly want to play it, and you're suggestions for posting it as a free score is a great idea I'd never thought of.  For me, it's something I've done for years just to entertain myself, it took a long time before I even took the step of posting some of my stuff on here, but of course, it has to be every amateur composers dream of having your work played by real live people and heard by yet more lol.  Unfortunately it's been many many moons since I went to uni, but you never know, I might look into it but in any case, I'm more than happy for you and the good folks here to have taken the time to listen and feel they would like to leave a comment be it good or bad.

So, thank you again for your kind words, it really is appreciated.

Mark