Daydreams (Fall 2019 Competition)

Hello all! Here is my submission for the Fall 2019 Competition, "Poor Form." It was a challenge to write this, especially on limited time, but I'm mostly happy with how it turned out. Let me know which Daydream is your favorite! Thanks for listening!

I'm so glad that I'm not the only one who posted at the last minute! I agree it was quite a challenge, but I'm glad you made it. I loved the third and fourth movements! The energy and rhythm of the mazurka was right up my alley. The adagio was so colorful though, especially at measure 159! Loved that part and wished it had gone a little longer. Oh well. Those were my favorite parts!

Thanks @KJthesleepdeprived ! No. 4 was definitely my favorite. It's more like the music I'd typically write these days, but I thought I'd do a 'travel-through-time' kind of theme, for some reason 🤷‍♂️

Hearing the other submissions makes me wonder whether mine will hold up.. 😅

I really liked the Adagio, but they were all so elegant and well-done! The mazurka was a close second...

And I'm right there with you about wondering if my submission will hold up against the competition. Y'all have churned out some really, really cool pieces!

Thank you @Tónskáld! I have to say, I'm a little surprised at the love for the mazurka. I'll have to remember to resurrect some more funky old dance forms next time 😅

I have reviewed a couple of the other submissions so far tonight, but I am dead tired and need sleep right now... I'll review yours as soon as I can! I listened to the first movement and it sounded great -- really powerful. I think you'll be in good shape. More to come!

I found the theme elegant and tranquil:) I also like how much contrast you bring in between Movement III and IV - The first, as a dance (?) is energetic and nostalgic while the Adagio have some cool colour changes! Nice work, @Noah Brode!

Thanks @HoYin Cheung! I'm glad you like it. The mazurka is an old-fashioned dance form. I mainly put it in to provide some rhythmic contrast to the second and fourth movements, which are slower. I guess this is a lesson to me that people really like up-tempo, rhythmic pieces 😀

Noah!

I’m excited to hear your music, I haven’t heard your work in a while J I’m listening for the first time and doing my comments now while I have a few minutes, but I’ll come back and give it a listen again later for sure – so what you’re getting is my first impressions. Not sure when I’ll have time to come back and listen again, so figured I’d comment early rather than super late…….! Here goes!

I.                    I love the stylistic turn you take after the initial statement! If possible, turn down your piano in playback, or find a way to make the block chords not so prominent. A live performer would have no problem playing it appropriately, computers though… Technology! There are ways to adjust note velocity in most music notation software without too much trouble. I just recently learned about that. Anyway, a good movement.

II.                 Wow! Quite longing and emotional. Reminds me of day dreaming about a place or person you miss dearly. Would feel right at home in a love song on stage.

III.              Ah, Espana! Good interplay between piano and soloist. Effective!

IV.              Good chord at 0:14, 0:20-2:35. Interesting harmonic choices, it works really well for the supporting harmonies. A few odd intervals for the melody, but nothing obtrusive. A strong movement for sure, deserves a second listen right now and more comments. What would I change? Hm. What if the piano took over the melody more? Think like trading fours in a jazz band, one player goes then hands it off to another player and so on? Also nice transition at 1:00, I missed that in the first listen!

V.                Feels final. I like how you’re mixing not only the styles but the harmonic exploration, juxtaposing them together. That’s creative, I don’t think I’d have thought of that (I know I didn’t in my own piece!). A very appropriate ending. Couldn’t ask for anything better!

Overall I love it! I’m out of time here, gotta go, but I hope you’re pleased with it because there’s some really good writing in here. J See you later!

Gustav Johnson

Favorite was Mazurka - Vivace!

@Gustav Johnson -- Thanks for listening! I'm glad you liked it. You're absolutely right about the volume issues. It's one of the things that had to be just "good enough" because of the time constraint, which were exacerbated by me being indecisive and/or unproductive during the time allotted (I posted it like literally at midnight on the deadline day, lol). I'd say the other thing that got the "good enough" treatment was the final movement, which I intended to be a bit more grand and larger-scale. I'm glad you liked the concept of that movement, though. You're also correct about the issue with No. 4, with the piano not taking the lead enough (and in fact, this always happens to me when I write for piano and a solo instrument). Our friend Luis Hernandez has mentioned this to me once before, and I'm afraid I've probably disappointed him again, lol. Thank you for your detailed review; I really appreciate it. 

@LayneBruce -- Thank you for listening, and I'm glad that you liked the mazurka! (Note to self: Write more mazurkas)