Undertow

Hi! I was active on this forum a while back, but never in the piano music section. And I want to share this piano piece with you, just in case people have suggestions!

A very emotive piece despite not being very tuneful.  It reminds me of Ravels piano writing a little bit.  I think sometimes you could have taken advantage of some kind of tuplets to give the ear a break from the constant barrage of 16th notes.  A sudden increase or decrease in the rate of passing of the notes would have been welcome (which I think Ravel tends to do in pieces such as Gaspard de la Nuit).  On listening a 2nd time it does seem more melodic than I first thought.  Also - is this a live performance?  Whoever is playing is very good!  Thanks for sharing.

5 hours ago, PaperComposer said:

A very emotive piece despite not being very tuneful.  It reminds me of Ravels piano writing a little bit.  I think sometimes you could have taken advantage of some kind of tuplets to give the ear a break from the constant barrage of 16th notes.  A sudden increase or decrease in the rate of passing of the notes would have been welcome (which I think Ravel tends to do in pieces such as Gaspard de la Nuit).  On listening a 2nd time it does seem more melodic than I first thought.  Also - is this a live performance?  Whoever is playing is very good!  Thanks for sharing.

 

Thanks for the suggestions! Yeah, it's always tricky deciding what to do with rhythmic momentum once you have it going, and in this one I decided to follow the post-minimalist playbook and just continue it forever, trying to vary other things (especially range and harmonic rhythm) to keep it interesting. But who knows if it works 🤔

This is actually not a live performance (and I think a sensitive performer could make the repeating 16ths more interesting!) It's the piano that comes with VSL Special Edition 1 (the newer Synchronized version), lovingly sequenced in a DAW. I've had a couple pianist friends read through it to confirm that it is, in fact, a lot easier than it sounds, but I'm not sure if they want me to share their recordings. 🙂

And I'm kind of happy that you mentioned it's not very melodic! Normally, I think I gravitate toward writing choral music because I tend to think in terms of melody and I usually let melodic development guide where a piece's form goes. In this one, I wanted to challenge myself to do something different, focusing more on texture and harmony. I'm glad it seems to have worked!

I think this is totally idiomatic. good writing for the piano.

The piece is beautiful and interesting. Not anchored in old harmonies or structures. Nice that relies more in textures than in melodies.

It feels like I’m on the moon, staring down as the earth meets its final hours.

On 1/14/2021 at 11:22 PM, NRKulus said:

Hi! I was active on this forum a while back, but never in the piano music section. And I want to share this piano piece with you, just in case people have suggestions!

 

Although I have a master's degree in composition and some success writing choral music, I've always been hesitant about writing solo piano music. So (somehow) this is my first solo piano piece (not including a couple silly ones I wrote many years ago, as a kid).

 

My goal was to make something that sounds flashy but isn't too hard to play.  So it's mostly just fast arpeggios without sudden changes of hand position, but hopefully the variety in harmony, register, contour, and dynamics keeps things interesting.

 

I hope you enjoy it! Suggestions are always welcome. Youtube link includes both the score and audio.

 

 

ooooooooh I love me some I to bVI!! Nice job man! :)

23 hours ago, Luis Hernández said:

I think this is totally idiomatic. good writing for the piano.

The piece is beautiful and interesting. Not anchored in old harmonies or structures. Nice that relies more in textures than in melodies.

 

 

Thank you, Luis! I'm glad it worked for you. Although it may be more anchored in old harmonies and structures than you think--lots of good old-fashioned mode mixture to spice things up, and I thought of it in sort of a vague rondo form to keep things coherent while I was writing it. I'm kind of delighted that it sounds fresh to you, because I wasn't sure how well I hid the more traditional means I used to write it!

14 hours ago, jejrekmek said:

It feels like I’m on the moon, staring down as the earth meets its final hours.

 

Man, that's dark. (Yes, I DID want to portray an unstoppable, possibly destructive force, as the title suggests!) Thanks, I think!

14 hours ago, Left Unexplained said:

ooooooooh I love me some I to bVI!! Nice job man! 🙂

 

Yessssss I'm all about the bVI! Glad you enjoyed it.