celloman99 Posted February 15, 2021 Posted February 15, 2021 Program Note: Each movement of this piece is inspired by and musically depicts the plot of a poem with the same name by Robert Frost. These poems tend to reflect on the sentiment of individuals as they observe and react to events taking place in nature. Spring Pools These pools that, though in forests, still reflect The total sky almost without defect, And like the flowers beside them, chill and shiver, Will like the flowers beside them soon be gone, And yet not out by any brook or river, But up by the roots to bring dark foliage on. The trees that have it in their pent-up buds To darken nature and be summer woods - Let them think twice before they use their powers To blot out and drink up and sweep away These flowery waters and these watery flowers From snow that melted only yesterday. Fireflies in the Garden Here come real stars to fill up the upper skies, And here on earth come emulating flies That, though they never equal stars in size (And they were never really stars at heart), Achieve at times a very starlike start. Only, of course, they can't sustain the part. Gathering Leaves Spades take up leaves No better than spoons, And bags full of leaves Are light as balloons. I make a great noise Of rustling all day Like rabbit and deer Running away. But the mountains I raise Elude my embrace, Flowing over my arms And into my face. I may load and unload Again and again Till I fill the whole shed, And what have I then? Next to nothing for weight; And since they grew duller From the contact with earth, Next to nothing for color. Next to nothing for use. But a crop is a crop, And who's to say where The harvest shall stop? Dust of Snow The way a crow Shook down on me The dust of snow From a hemlock tree Has given my heart A change of mood And saved some part Of a day I had rued. Quote
BritishCompositeur Posted February 15, 2021 Posted February 15, 2021 What a lovely collection! There's clear structure across the four pieces, so it flows nicely. Many nice, focused textures, especially in the middle two movements. Nice jazzy harmonies, such as those in the final bars. Some of the writing is a little too muddy for my taste (bars 15 and 16 stand out) but I can also see what you're aiming for so it's OK. My main complaint is that the sound of the virtual piano is rather jarring compared to Sibelius's softer rendering, and I would have enjoyed it more had it sounded as soft as the writing often implied! But the music itself has a lot to offer, as do the poems which inspired it. Thanks, 99! Quote
celloman99 Posted February 16, 2021 Author Posted February 16, 2021 59 minutes ago, BritishCompositeur said: What a lovely collection! There's clear structure across the four pieces, so it flows nicely. Many nice, focused textures, especially in the middle two movements. Nice jazzy harmonies, such as those in the final bars. Some of the writing is a little too muddy for my taste (bars 15 and 16 stand out) but I can also see what you're aiming for so it's OK. My main complaint is that the sound of the virtual piano is rather jarring compared to Sibelius's softer rendering, and I would have enjoyed it more had it sounded as soft as the writing often implied! But the music itself has a lot to offer, as do the poems which inspired it. Thanks, 99! Thank you! I know what you mean about the virtual piano, and I hope I can get a nice recording of the work soon. The muddiness of places like bars 15 and 16 has to do with the poem talking about the 'spring pools' being sucked up by the trees. I do agree that it isn't the most pleasant sound, though. I really appreciate the feedback! Best wishes Quote
Sahir Haider Posted February 16, 2021 Posted February 16, 2021 This is an enjoyable collection of pieces, although as the above commenter mentioned, the piano sound and mechanical rendition takes away some of the charm. It will be interesting to hear a real piano recording. I particularly enjoyed "Gathering Leaves". Didn't quite get into the last movement, but again that might change on hearing a real piano recording. Quote
celloman99 Posted February 17, 2021 Author Posted February 17, 2021 21 hours ago, Sahir Haider said: This is an enjoyable collection of pieces, although as the above commenter mentioned, the piano sound and mechanical rendition takes away some of the charm. It will be interesting to hear a real piano recording. I particularly enjoyed "Gathering Leaves". Didn't quite get into the last movement, but again that might change on hearing a real piano recording. Thanks for the feedback! I also like Gathering Leaves the most out of the four movements, and I certainly understand how the virtual playback isn't as pleasing to listen to. Best wishes 1 Quote
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