Concerto per vioino e archi in a minor

Three movement concerto written in the late italian baroque style.

I. Allegro

II. Adagio

III. Allegro

Please tell me what you think!

SimenN

Vox Sæculorum

Are you interested in baroque revival in contemporary art music?

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Although I really like the baroque feeling and the music contains many baroque elements, I do not like the first movement to be honest.

The music in the first movement sounds more like a collection of baroque elements put into one pieces and not like a very creative composition.
For me, there is lack of good melodies and you particularly use cadences, which is indeed very baroque, but baroque is not only about cadences.

The second movement pleases me more, because I like the harmonies and counterpoint. Still, I miss a clear melody like in Bach, Vivaldi, Händel etc.
Furthermore, I think that you over-use the retardation species in counterpoint.
In the adagio there are some places like m. 174 2nd Violin, where I do not like the D natural against the preceding D sharp. Maybe you could fix this in some way.

The melody in the last movement is pretty nice, but you do not seem to develop it nor use it in the solo violin parts.
Moreover, I think you could have modulated to other tonal centers as well.

I like the counterpoint thoug!

Thank you very much for the reply Maarten! :)

I have to disagree regarding what you say about melody though, tons of baroque music without a clear melodic line, actually most of the work that is not the famous ones! Some pieces are more about creating a mood then a singable melody! But that is a matter of taste! :)

Oh, you dont like the d natural! I love it, early baroque technique! the leading note resolves to a dominant seven :) I have written a lot of early baroque, witch is very much based on suspensions and moving in fourths or deceptive cadences! As the opening of fist movement, that is something you would not find in the late baroque repertoire, but more common in the early baroque repertoire.

Correct about developing melody in solo, its very normal in a baroque concerto to have one theme in the orchestra and a new theme for the solo parts. The orchestral theme (ritornello)

Thank you for the review, interesting discussion :)

9 hours ago, Simen-N said:

Thank you very much for the reply Maarten! :)

I have to disagree regarding what you say about melody though, tons of baroque music without a clear melodic line, actually most of the work that is not the famous ones! Some pieces are more about creating a mood then a singable melody! But that is a matter of taste! :)

Oh, you dont like the d natural! I love it, early baroque technique! the leading note resolves to a dominant seven :) I have written a lot of early baroque, witch is very much based on suspensions and moving in fourths or deceptive cadences! As the opening of fist movement, that is something you would not find in the late baroque repertoire, but more common in the early baroque repertoire.

Correct about developing melody in solo, its very normal in a baroque concerto to have one theme in the orchestra and a new theme for the solo parts. The orchestral theme (ritornello)

Thank you for the review, interesting discussion :)

Although I love that you (try to) follow the rules of baroque music, I think that you can do a lot more.

Maybe try something neo-baroque with new harmonies techniques and other instruments.

45 minutes ago, Maarten Bauer said:

Although I love that you (try to) follow the rules of baroque music, I think that you can do a lot more.

Maybe try something neo-baroque with new harmonies techniques and other instruments.

 

Thank you! :)
For me the goal is baroque revival, to preserve the old art of composition, not to make it a hybrid. As in every poem the text is by the poet, but the language is the same. Same here. The music follows the principles and the trademarks of the style, there are some compromises here and there, but nothing that is innovative or break with tradition. The goal is to practice and write enjoyable music within the parameters of the baroque language.  :)

After 15 years of baroque composing, baroque music is my natural musical language now

You achieve your goal of writing in a generally baroque style quite well. It was a pleasure to listen to, and would have been even more pleasant with a better soundfont. There are some acceptable free ones out there, like Sonatina. 

For me, the first movement lacked in coherence. Yes, there are baroque movements with a similar problem, but for me, some transitions felt forced, more like in a modern mosaic-style work; the same goes for some parts which felt like a simple concatenation of motifs. Also, the first movement featured an abundance of similar sequences. While sequences are essential, there are tons of different ones, and you could increase variety by using more different models.

This notwithstanding, I gratulate to your really fine work and would love to hear some comments on my prelude that has hints of a baroque moto perpetuo canon, but alas falls short.