Minuet in G Major for Orchestra

Hello everyone!

I started studying some orchestration (which is being quite an overwhelming task :S) so I decided to arrange and orchestrate an old piece of mine, a minuet in G major for piano. The piece was quite simple so I though it would be a nice start for practicing orchestration. The original minuet was a little bit unconventional because of the number of measures and the accompaniment's simple texture, so it is probably not a good example of a minuet composition. I leave a link to the original post of the piano version at the end of this post, in case somebody wants to compare both versions.

I had to limit myself to 16 staves since that is the number of staves that my version of Sibelius allows me to use (that is why the brass family is not present, except for the horns). Initially I had two english horns but I modified it to use only one, since I found out many orchestras would not be able to provide with two. Except for the english horn, all woodwinds (and horns) are in pairs. It is my first orchestrated piece so there will probably be many mistakes. Any feedback, suggestion or comment is more than welcome!

Thank you for listening and hope you like it!

----- Original Piano Version -----

Excellent work. You've achieved a good orchestral balance with these resources. Well done with the orchestration. Did you prepare it in a daw or with a notation program? Sure, orchestration is a daunting study but there are plenty of scores about of this size for you to study.

What I particularly liked was your frequent use of antiphony, most noticeable in the trio. What you've done is quite subtle. The changes between wind and strings aren't obtrusive probably because you keep them in roughly the same registers. And just to say it, you seem to have a good command of pre-chromatic CPP.

I see no problem with using two Cor Anglais. Their mellow but thinner tone emerges in the higher register. Given a choice with just one upper double-reed instrument, I go with the C A.

Altogether good. 

I am really glad you enjoyed it, @Quinn!

I did not use a DAW for this, everything was done with Sibelius and Noteperformer. There are a few hidden dynamics here and there but, in general, most dynamics come directly from what can be seen on the score. Lately I have been growing a little tired of noteperformer so I plan to turn everything into better quality through a DAW soon. However, I think Noteperformer does indeed perform quite nicely for orquestral contexts (not so much when for solo instruments or chamber music).

Glad to know I should not be too conscious about using two Cor Anglais! I also like their sound better than the oboe since the "Noisy" quality of the oboe can be too obstrusing sometimes.

Thanks for your comment! 🙂

Hi, Jorge. Really impressive! I like your minuet to begin with and orchestrating it was a nice touch! I really like the interplay between the strings and the woodwind. Overall it has the character of a movie score, I can imagine a scene from the beginning of a kids movie. 

Thanks for commenting and glad you enjoyed it, @Papageno ! 🙂 I always felt the original version was okay but a little dull, so I think orchestrating it was a good idea too! Plus, it turned out to be a good piece for practicing orchestration!

Thanks for commenting and hope you are progressing well with your variations project!

I like it very much.

I give you a piece of advice: about dynamics, all of the instruments work between pp and ff (pianísimo - fortísimo), the only section that works well with ppp is the strings (and the piano). That is more realistic. The balance of sound must be reached managing the instruments within their possibilities. Of course you'll find scores where those limits are surpassed, but they usually are contemporary pieces.

Thank you for commenting and I am really glad you liked it, @Luis Hernández! Thank you for the advice, too! Now that you said it, I kinda think I did read some similar statement in an orchestration book before, but I had totally forgotten about it. I will remember that for my future orchestral compositions! Thanks!

Hi, I like it a lot. You did a great orchestration job there, I love the percussion and piz. Strings. I see you have been working hard the last months.

Un Saludo!

Guillem

On 4/24/2021 at 7:31 PM, Guillem82 said:

Hi, I like it a lot. You did a great orchestration job there, I love the percussion and piz. Strings. I see you have been working hard the last months.

Un Saludo!

Guillem

 

I am really glad you liked it Guillem82! I try to work hard but the progress is slow because there are so many things to learn 😅. Really nice to see you around here and hope everything is going great! Thanks for commenting!

Un saludo!

to be very honest, i really loved it. wendy's lunch time surveyzop.com

Ar very lovely orchestration - light and fluffy! However, I never thought of the Oboe tone as being noisy! 

On 3/10/2022 at 8:42 PM, boansur said:

to be very honest, i really loved it. wendy's lunch time surveyzop.com

 

Thank you so much @boansur, I am really glad you enjoyed it! 🙂 Thanks for commenting!

On 3/11/2022 at 7:12 AM, MJFOBOE said:

Ar very lovely orchestration - light and fluffy! However, I never thought of the Oboe tone as being noisy! 

Thank you @MJFOBOE, I am glad you liked it! 🙂. I just read again my comment about the Oboe tone being "noisy" and I did not mean that. I wanted to say it has a "nasal" tone quality. I must have been thinking about the word "nose" and mispelled it 😅. Of course, it was not a criticism to the Oboe, which has a really beautiful sound. It was rather a recognition that due to my lack of orquestration skills I never managed to make the oboe blend with the rest of instruments (also, midi recordings do not help in the blending process at all). 

Thanks for commenting! 

The music libraries vary in their ability to produce a good Oboe tone.  For example, Noteperformer 3 ... uses a synthesized algorithm to produce a terrible oboe sound when used within chamber music ... while Garritan is quite good for chamber music and less effective in orchestra work since Noteperformer has an AI which helps bring life to the music.  I have complained more than once to Noteperformer 3 on their Oboe tone production.