Neoclassical Overture No. 2

I just finished working on this recently: 

Score: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1f7vpxEZ1YFRJjPOWcp5Wsv2FRrrKZCKa/

I love the transition at 5:02. Great job on your piece. Can you please tell me the software you used to demonstrate this movable grid? 

On 10/10/2020 at 2:11 PM, Esper said:

I love the transition at 5:02. Great job on your piece. Can you please tell me the software you used to demonstrate this movable grid? 

 

Thank you - I used musanim's Music Animation Machine.

This is a really nice overture. I like your melodies and the way you handled the orchestra, it created a very neo-classical feel. Well done!

A couple of thoughts:

• It would make more sense to me to write the Clarinet part in A. That way they would be written in C major, instead of B major.
• At m.203 you have the cellos playing in whole note chords, which I'm not sure fits in with the overall texture here. Maybe have them play arpeggios instead, or mimic the upbeat rhythm in the winds? It looks like you might be a string player, so you probably have a better idea of what your going for here than I would...just a suggestion.
• Subjectively, it kind felt to me like the violins spend a lot of time in the extreme upper register, especially toward the end of the piece, which felt a little tiring for me. Again, maybe this is what you were going for, just thought I would share my thoughts.

Thanks for sharing!

On 10/16/2020 at 11:53 AM, gmm said:

This is a really nice overture. I like your melodies and the way you handled the orchestra, it created a very neo-classical feel. Well done!

A couple of thoughts:

• It would make more sense to me to write the Clarinet part in A. That way they would be written in C major, instead of B major.
• At m.203 you have the cellos playing in whole note chords, which I'm not sure fits in with the overall texture here. Maybe have them play arpeggios instead, or mimic the upbeat rhythm in the winds? It looks like you might be a string player, so you probably have a better idea of what your going for here than I would...just a suggestion.
• Subjectively, it kind felt to me like the violins spend a lot of time in the extreme upper register, especially toward the end of the piece, which felt a little tiring for me. Again, maybe this is what you were going for, just thought I would share my thoughts.

Thanks for sharing!

 

Thank you!

I considered writing the clarinet parts in A, and I could indeed make some transposed parts for A clarinets with a few clicks in my software. But I figured Bb was "standard", and would be guaranteed to be available in literally any orchestra which might conceivably play this (though I don't have one lined up at the moment and honestly have no idea if or when I ever will), so I accepted the slightly uncomfortable key signature.

I also considered putting the brass in A as well, since I intended to write them so they could be played on valveless instruments, but again that would be just more work for performance preparation when every orchestra simply uses valved horns in F and trumpets in Bb. There would be no reason to notate them in A except to flaunt my understanding of natural brass.

With regard to m. 203, I personally had no doubts about the cello pad -- I used a very similar effect in m. 108 and thought it would be nice to have it return again. And with regard to upper register violins, again the choice was intentional. Whenever the 1st violins get genuinely stratospheric, it's for textural reasons, often just to enhance the melody and enlarge the overall orchestral sound.