Adagio for Strings

Hello everybody!

This is my latest piece, which was inspired by composers such as Arvo Pärt, Francis Poulenc and Samuel Barber.

It was also a study into the use of artificial harmonics and textures.

It's also important to note that the harmonics won't sound that clear in real life. However, I structured the piece so that the first parts of the music won't require clarity of the individual lines. The last third of the piece has almost no harmonics so that It becomes more "meaty".

Anyways, I hope you all enjoy it, and as always, feedback is greatly appreciated!

Relaxing but inspiring. 

Interesting textures. I like how the harmonics kind of dance. bar 48 is a really nice turn! I like how the parts interact, it's like a puzzle with each piece carefully designed.

I listened to it before (youtube). Wonderful piece.

3 hours ago, Hendrik Meniere said:

Relaxing but inspiring. 

 

I like to see different perceptions over my works, and this is no exeption. I never intended this piece to sound relaxing, but I'm glad it did to you!

2 hours ago, Left Unexplained said:

Interesting textures. I like how the harmonics kind of dance. bar 48 is a really nice turn! I like how the parts interact, it's like a puzzle with each piece carefully designed.

 

Thank's for listening and pointing out that part. Initially, I had composed a 1 minute piece for string orchestra, and decided to expand it into this. For that reason, some parts became (m48, for instance) became important turning points in the piece.

2 hours ago, Luis Hernández said:

I listened to it before (youtube). Wonderful piece.

 

Thank's for your oppinion 🙂

Thank you all for commenting, it makes glad that you took the time to give me your opinions!

Jean, this is marvelous! Your musical language is quite different from most composers, and I find it very refreshing. All of the dissonances and resolutions here really spoke to my heart. On a personal note, I would prefer something with a little more melody, a little more thematic development. But it's only my opinoin. And I'm sure you'll only get better with time!

very nice indeed! The texture is so elaborated. I agree with @Tónskáld, I miss some melodic lines. Otherwise I envy your capacity to make the music walk without a clear "melody". I'm not able to compose without a clear melody, but you showed me it's possible.

Such a nice experience! Thanks for sharing!

21 hours ago, Tónskáld said:

Jean, this is marvelous! Your musical language is quite different from most composers, and I find it very refreshing. All of the dissonances and resolutions here really spoke to my heart. On a personal note, I would prefer something with a little more melody, a little more thematic development. But it's only my opinoin. And I'm sure you'll only get better with time!

 

Thanks a lot, Jordan. It's always great to listen to your thoughts.

The main inspiration for this piece was Arvo Pärt's Stabat Mater. The first 10 minutes or so are very still, with not much thematic development. All of a sudden, the orchestra and choir rise together, which really gets me. I tried to do the same here, with bland textures that are woven for long period of time, until it reaches a culminating point.

Once again, thank's for taking time to comment on this piece, it means a lot!

6 minutes ago, Guillem82 said:

very nice indeed! The texture is so elaborated. I agree with @Tónskáld, I miss some melodic lines. Otherwise I envy your capacity to make the music walk without a clear "melody". I'm not able to compose without a clear melody, but you showed me it's possible.

Such a nice experience! Thanks for sharing!

 

Hi, I'm really glad you enjoyed it! Trying to use elements other than harmony and melody as the main "moving force" in my pieces is one of the things I've been experimenting with, so it's great to hear that this aspect was apreciated by many of you. 

Thanks a lot fot spendig time to share you thoughts, it's really appreciated!

Most interesting and pleasing to listen to. One point immediately noticed was giving the bass an entirely independent part. Some of it's harmonics would have to be played fairly high up the fingerboard but they'd work with less resonance than the lower positions. Accomplished in how you divided the string parts....that seems to reflect the Barber String Quartet movement (which as a quartet is pretty difficult as the divisi has to be played as double stops, of course). The harmonies were engaging, so was the interplay of harmonics with normal. As you say, the harmony pushes the work forward and I wasn't too concerned about melody lines. There were enough motifs to hang the harmony on - example: bar 114 on; bar 130 on, etc.

Congratulations on an accomplished piece.

Cheers, Quinn.

Edit: At least I was at last able to listen to it throughout this time!

@Quinn Thank you very much for your genuine feedback. 

All the double-bass players I showed this to have complained quite a bit, but I think it will be achievable if they actually decide to take it seriously. I'm glad you apreciate this instrument's part, I guess it shows that I'm not crazy for expecting it to be playable.

Cheers, Jean.

Very good, music! I feel the ambient there

@J.Santos Thank's for listening! I'm glad you like it 🙂

I think you've demonstrated a useful technique here, especially with the long gestures and harmonics. As was noted, it is more atmospheric than melodic. But it is not altogether without melody.

6 minutes ago, Ken320 said:

I think you've demonstrated a useful technique here, especially with the long gestures and harmonics.

It would be interesting to see what other people can do with the same material. Perhaps the next competition could be related to the use of artificial harmonics and other non-conventional techniques. Who knows?

Thanks for listening, cheers!

Very transfixing. It almost has a crystalline, ethereal feel to it -I almost want to call this a crystalline entity? My only suggestion would be to add a little more to the underbelly -which would give this a little more umph. Otherwise, excellent piece. Thanks for sharing it!

@jawoodruff 

Thank you for listening and for your feedback!

I'm glad you enjoyed it.

Cheers!

Nice ! Relaxing composition ( remind me some music from the Witcher 3 )

@Julien_Kaw 

Thanks for listening! Cheers

I really enjoyed this. But I did not perceive this piece as relaxing. On the contrary, I thought that there is a lot of drama in it. Apart fröm Pärt and Barber, I associated some of the highlights with Mahler. As already pointed out in other comments, there is not so much basic melody, but that does not bother me at all. Instead, the seamless and continuous flow of small transitions provides new expectations and surprises all the time, and therefore the piece does never get boring. I was particularly impressed by the fantastic interplay between the strings.

 All together.. great work!   

Thank you a lot, @panta rei!

I'm glad you enjoyed this piece for what I intended it to be, as you pretty much described my thoughts while composing it.

Cheers!