My first composition! A string quartet for the final project of my music class

Here is my short string quartet: https://musescore.com/user/23217691/scores/6761767. Please give me any feedback/criticism you have. It might be sight-read by a string quartet so please tell me if any part is too difficult (I'm especially worried about the semiquaver passages and the fast changes between pizz. and arco). Also I think the transitions between the two themes might not be smooth enough and the piece is supposed to be in ABA format so the long first transition might obscure this.

Pretty good if a little classical. You need have no worries about the semiquavers, they're well within the abilities of quartet players. (Listen to bits and pieces from Beethoven's late quartets and you'll see what I mean. The Op 131 is full of advanced playing).

The double stops would need agility but they all seem playable. Some look awkward but they're ok: Bar 22 for example, the cello part. The cellist would have to play it on the G and D strings but it isn't much of a stretch - but bear in mind there's be s slide moving from some of your double stops legato - again, this won't be a problem to a quartet player.

Nice detail with the phrasing. Glad you phrased the demi-semis in, like, bar 33. You'd need a concerto player to play that detaché!

I'd hope the players would get the chance for a run-through before a proper performance. It would be quite difficult with no preparation. I expect they'd get a chance to look through the parts at least.

My only crit isn't your fault. The musescore rendering lets it down. It's handling of dynamics is notoriously bad particularly in the upper registers so the higher parts of Violin 1 are drowned out by the rest. You may have noticed this yourself.

Anyway - good luck. You should get a good appraisal.

On 5/9/2021 at 9:55 PM, snipee356 said:

Here is my short string quartet: https://musescore.com/user/23217691/scores/6761767. Please give me any feedback/criticism you have. It might be sight-read by a string quartet so please tell me if any part is too difficult (I'm especially worried about the semiquaver passages and the fast changes between pizz. and arco). Also I think the transitions between the two themes might not be smooth enough and the piece is supposed to be in ABA format so the long first transition might obscure this.

 

I think it's quite a good quartet, good melodic material that is easy to remember and latch onto. some pointers:

- There is quite a lot of instances where there is a clear clash in registers which makes it very hard to distinguish the foreground from the background. Try to separate the registers more. It's also partly down to the dynamics markings 

- I think it would be better to make the semiquavers slurred, for the intended effect that I'm guessing you're going for. 

- Particularly like the idea at bar 19-20! However, the development of the motif can be improved, the second iteration doesn't draw me in nearly as much

- Transitions between pizz and arco and back a bit too rushed at this tempo

Thank you all! I've taken your advice into account and updated the score slightly. I'm still not completely happy with the dynamics and the tempo but hopefully it will be more balanced when it is played live. I have to give the final version by Monday. Please feel free to offer any other feedback!