Sonata per Violoncello e Pianoforte

Hi everyone! I'm new to this great forum. I used to be a piano student, then life took me other places. Twenty-plus years later, during lockdown I picked up the old music theory book and had some fun doing harmony exercises. Playing with Musescore was also fun, so I started arranging the exercises for orchestra and expanding them. Then one day I decided to try and write my own music and I had heaps of fun doing it. This is the first thing I've written. I chose to write a cello sonata mostly because the Musescore cello sounds good 🙂 I'd love to hear your feedback!

Hi there, thank you for sharing your composition! Here are some general comments:

Movement 1 - I think the main thing I enjoyed about this was how bold it is compositionally. I really enjoyed reading your story of getting into composing through doing theory exercises. I'm confident studying theory will continue to enhance your compositional skills going forward. There were a lot of very nice moments throughout this movement. To my ear, the opening melody (in measure 2), when it drops down to the low F, it just feels a little odd and unconvincing. Of course, as everyone will tell you, write what you want to write and what sounds good to you. But also, listen carefully to your music and try to distance yourself from the fact that you composed it. Ask yourself, "Does this really sound like I want it to, or could I make a small adjustment to rhythm, melodic contour, or harmony that would bring it even closer to what I want?" It's a real struggle to have this mindset (speaking from experience), but it's worth it when your piece begins improving right before your eyes!

Movement 2 - I really like the connectivity of this movement. The times when the piano begins a melodic line as the cello ends one are truly lovely. The dramatic pause in measure 40 (+ the measures leading up to it) is very effective, as well. The delayed piano chords in measures 50-52 are great! I would also delay the big Bb Major chord in measure 53, as having it on the down beat is almost anticlimactic after the excitement of the previous measures.  

Movement 3 - This is a very exciting sounding movement, and it definitely contrasts the first two. My favorite moment is at measure 105 with that staccato piano line under the legato cello melody; it's a very cool effect.

Overall, great job. For being your first composition, I think it is incredible that you composed a whole, three movement sonata. I have no criticism for it. I would suggest that you listen to a lot of music from different styles and composers. I think this piece may have some moments where it isn't very clear where the points of arrival are, or what the "direction" of the music is. There is certainly nothing wrong with writing music that is more ambiguous to listen to, but I just wanted to say it did strike me as being a little bit on the "wandering" side (as opposed to the other extreme, which would be "Point A very clearly goes to Point B"). Again, great job, and best wishes!

@celloman99 Oh wow, thank you SO much for taking the time to listen and give such attentive and detailed comments! Definitely I need to "distance myself from having composed it": every time I listen to what I finally decided to go for, it sounds absolutely flawless and impossible to improve in any way 🙂 

Also, I hear your comments that this often lacks "direction". I think it depends by and large (of course) on the lack of experience, and in part also on how "comfortable" it is to write on the computer (I would never had been able/had the patience to write this at the piano). Writing at the computer allows you to have a vague idea of what you want to hear and which direction you want to go, and then try out various solutions, some of which are bound to sound OK or nice, but overall there results, I think, the lack of direction that you mentioned. I'm sure that happens in many passages, but to me it's most evident in the development section of the 1st movement: I like the general sound of it, but... I wish I had a better sense of the overall arch, to make it really dramatic.

I've written another sonata for clarinet (I posted the first movement here) and I'm working on the 3rd movement of a bassoon sonata. Your comments would be invaluable!

Thanks again!!

Watch your bowings.  You wrote them as legato phrases which is not how you write for violoncello (or strings in general).

2 hours ago, maestrowick said:

Watch your bowings.  You wrote them as legato phrases which is not how you write for violoncello (or strings in general).

 

haha, I even spent some time adding all the slurs before posting the piece here 🙂 thanks! I guess it shows that I'm a pianist. That was really helpful, thanks again!