Symphony No. 3 in E-flat minor

This is the first movement of my third symphony, scored for orchestra. I'll upload the other movements when I have finished putting them on Musescore (they are on manuscript just now.)

I hope you enjoy it.

Fantastic!  

First of all: E-flat minor?  You're cruel and inhuman, but I think the orchestra will forgive you. 

Tremendous drama and pathos here.  I just love your thematic material!  One minute I'm hearing Mendelssohn's influence, the next a little Tchaikovsky.  

At times during the triplet semiquaver noodling in the violins and violas under the main theme, I found myself wishing there were more in the way of a foundation in the bass - not that what you have doesn't work, it was just something I found myself waiting for, and you were very sparing with it.  And what an ending!  I wasn't expecting that at all!  

My compliments on a wonderful movement!   

Thanks @J. Lee Graham!

On 3/13/2019 at 4:02 AM, J. Lee Graham said:

First of all: E-flat minor?  You're cruel and inhuman, but I think the orchestra will forgive you.

Really!? 😀

On 3/13/2019 at 4:02 AM, J. Lee Graham said:

At times during the triplet semiquaver noodling in the violins and violas under the main theme, I found myself wishing there were more in the way of a foundation in the bass - not that what you have doesn't work, it was just something I found myself waiting for, and you were very sparing with it. 

I understand what you mean. I was thinking about adding something into this texture but I didn't know what. Would you suggest a Double Bass pizz bass line would work?

On 3/13/2019 at 4:02 AM, J. Lee Graham said:

My compliments on a wonderful movement!  

Thank you very much for your time!

7 hours ago, aMusicComposer said:

I understand what you mean. I was thinking about adding something into this texture but I didn't know what. Would you suggest a Double Bass pizz bass line would work?

Yes, that's an excellent notion, or even 'cellos and basses (in octaves).  You don't want something that will get in the way, just a bit more foundation to the harmonic rhythm that's going on.  

BTW, I was just teasing about the key you chose.  It's just that many members of an average orchestra, especially in the strings, will find their eyes glazing over when they see six flats in the key signature.  Any more than 3 or 4 flats perplexes string players.  That said, a good professional orchestra wouldn't even bat an eye it this, or almost anything else you set in front of them.     

On 3/14/2019 at 3:06 PM, J. Lee Graham said:

Yes, that's an excellent notion, or even 'cellos and basses (in octaves).  You don't want something that will get in the way, just a bit more foundation to the harmonic rhythm that's going on. 

I will revise this piece later so I will probably add this in.

On 3/14/2019 at 3:06 PM, J. Lee Graham said:

BTW, I was just teasing about the key you chose.

I thought so! 😃

On 3/14/2019 at 3:06 PM, J. Lee Graham said:

That said, a good professional orchestra wouldn't even bat an eye it this, or almost anything else you set in front of them.

Hopefully I can get it played by a good professional orchestra!

I will post the second movement in the future. I will keep it on this thread. 

@J. Lee Graham

The second movement is finished on MuseScore.

I liked this one when I wrote on manuscript, but MuseScore doesn't make a good job of it. I think it's the lack of expression and balance. There are technical imperfections, so that doesn't help! Any reviews would be appreciated.

I'll post the third movement when finished.

I like your Allegro. I agree E flat minor is a very unusual key outside of piano scores(even within piano scores, it is still a rare key), but I think the orchestra will forgive you. If anything, the string parts would be harder than anything else because string instruments have a tendency towards sharps whereas the woodwinds and brass tend towards flats. I can hear several composer's influences in this piece.

Sudden change from quiet to loud as occurs several times in the allegro, as well as loud dissonances and the use of a lot of keys in the development, especially other flat minors like C minor, that sounds very Beethoven influenced. My large scale works have a Beethovenian tendency.

Beautiful reed woodwind melody, sounds a lot like Tchaikovsky or even Stravinsky.

The extremely fast tremolo of the strings almost sounds like Gustav Holst or some other modern composer.

The andante is just beautiful. It sounds very graceful, almost effortless. There is one composer I know that almost always sounds effortless and beautiful. That is Mozart. Even with the dark and Beethovenian bass, it sounds like Mozart's gracefulness is trumping over Beethoven's sudden dynamics and darkness. And I love how it goes from the minor tonic in the first movement to the major dominant in the second movement. But, because the second movement is in Bb major, maybe you should consider using a Bb clarinet for that movement instead of an A clarinet. Simpler fingering on a Bb clarinet to play in Bb major.

11 hours ago, caters said:

I like your Allegro. I agree E flat minor is a very unusual key outside of piano scores(even within piano scores, it is still a rare key), but I think the orchestra will forgive you. If anything, the string parts would be harder than anything else because string instruments have a tendency towards sharps whereas the woodwinds and brass tend towards flats. I can hear several composer's influences in this piece.

I am a woodwind player before a strong player, and I know more about the woodwind instruments - their qualities, good ranges, practicalities etc. I felt that Eb minor worked with the first theme especially when it is played by the oboe.

11 hours ago, caters said:

The andante is just beautiful. It sounds very graceful, almost effortless. There is one composer I know that almost always sounds effortless and beautiful. That is Mozart. Even with the dark and Beethovenian bass, it sounds like Mozart's gracefulness is trumping over Beethoven's sudden dynamics and darkness. And I love how it goes from the minor tonic in the first movement to the major dominant in the second movement. But, because the second movement is in Bb major, maybe you should consider using a Bb clarinet for that movement instead of an A clarinet. Simpler fingering on a Bb clarinet to play in Bb major.

Thank you so much for these kind words. I spent a very long time making the second movement as good as it could be, and I am glad to know it has paid off!

 I will be posting the third movement when finished.