Violin Sonata

 Hi, here's the complete sonata of which I posted the first movement a few months ago... I would be very grateful for your feedback!

I think I like the 4th movement the best.  To me it seems the most balanced between thematic unity and variety.  The ideas are quite musical and keep my attention throughout the length of the piece and there's much interesting interplay between the soloist and the pianist.  So great job there!

Contrast that with the 2nd movement:  The repetition here of the same exact rhythm 6 times in a row is mundane and pedestrian.  Regardless of the pitches you choose, the rhythm just does not create musical interest (at least to me).  There's no variety and given also that I don't particularly like slow movements (usually), this really turns me off.  You could bring some variety to this melody by mixing things up rhythmically, giving the melody peaks and troughs or even rests, cadences or something.  Also, even though you're writing for the violin which does not need to breathe, it would make your phrases more natural sounding if they had breath, like a kind of punctuation between statements in a sentence.

Anyways, that's my take on that.  Thanks for sharing and keep writing music!

Peter

Thank you, Peter! Your comments are always spot on and encouraging. I appreciate it! Especially the point about breathing. I can tell (better after your observation) that there often is a lack of "punctuation" in what I write. Also, I remember your reservations about slow movements and I was very proud that you didn't dislike a slow bassoon movement I posted some time ago 🙂 I see your points about uniformity, and I'll keep them in mind for next time. Thanks again!

Hi @Giacomo925,

For the first movement I actually find it well structured. It's a typical and good sonata movement. I hope the slurs in the piano can be added and maintained throughout the movement. Also I feel like the piano writing is a bit safe for me. When I play the piano part of a violin piece, the piano part is always freakingly busy to fill up the gaps all over the place, but actually it makes the sound good! I think you can introduce more triplets, semiquavers for the left hand, and add more arpeggios or broken chords for the piano to fill up the gap when the music gets excited. I enjoy the intensity in the final 3 bars, but in other places more notes can be added to the piano, if you don't fear it will tire the pianist out 🤣!

For the opening of the second movement I agree with Peter. The chords for the piano is too static and I will be really happy to play it!! When the piano plays the melody the flow gets better with violin also moving. In the opening of Beethoven's 7th symphony he uses the same rhythmic motive as yours, but he uses it to create motion throughout the movement. I think it will be better than to let that rhythmic motive exchange between instruments, rather than letting an instrument repeats that many times. But I enjoy the passages when it gets to semiquavers, since it creates more flow!

I enjoy the third movement especially the trio section. But I still find the scherzo section quite safe for the piano. I think using constant quavers can push the flow more to fulfill the " Allegro Assai" marking, since personally I find it more in Allegro or even Allegro ma non troppo. 

I am the same with Peter as I enjoy the fourth movement most. The flow is better here, the interplay between violin and piano is great here, their sound mix well, the atmosphere is exciting. I love your usage of tremolos here. I feel the piano more idiomatic here. Finally a more tiring work for the pianist!🤘 I really enjoy this finale! I feel like there is learning curve here, and for me the last movement is definitely the best!

Slur is crucial for strings and winds, but it's also important for the piano, even though less so! I suggest you to add the slurs for the piano throughout the piece!

Thanks for sharing!

Henry

Thank you @Henry Ng Tsz Kiu for your always so generous comments. I am fully persuaded that the second movement needs some fixing. I'll try and make the initial part more interesting somehow, variating rhythms etc.

I too like the fourth movement the best 🙂 so I tried to turn it into an orchestral piece, I attach it here!

Very interesting musical ideas here. I like the energy behind your writing. 

That said, I'm noticing some issues here and there. First, some of your double stops on violin (and the viola in the orchestral rendition you posted) are nearly impossible to play. 4th movement, measure 13 for instance. Third position (III) would make this somewhat doable -but there'd definitely be a high risk of intonation issues due to the awkwardness of the fingering needed here. The double stops mm 11 and 12 also are difficult due to the fact you have the violinst in 5th position. Cpincidentally, the bowing here would make the accent on the first beat of bar 11 impossible. If you want that all bowed, then I'd recommend you crescendo that passage to bring out that first double stop. Measure 31, the double stop here doesn't quite make sense -it's doable, but I'm wondering if that's a wrong note.

Bowing at measure 47 is going to make the accent on bar 48 nearly impossible... particularly with the held trill afterwards. I'd look at redoing this passage. Keep in mind with your slurs that string players -while they can adjust the speed of the bow while applying pressure to sustain dynamics- only have so much bow available to use!

@jawoodruff Thanks SO much! Clearly, to say the least, I'm not a violinist. I can easily eliminate the double stops in the orchestral version by distributing them between the primi and secondi. I'll think of a different solution for the violin and piano. Thanks for the notes about bowing and accents. I'll try and find a violinist friend to help me understand better with concrete examples, but in the meantime I'll just us my imagination and re-bow. Looking forward to writing a new version of this sonata with all the invaluable input of @PeterthePapercomPoser, @Henry Ng Tsz Kiu and yours! Thanks!

Hey @Giacomo925,

I quite enjoy this orchestrated version of the finale! I think the energy here is even better than the original chamber setting with more colours and instruments!

I've never written an orchestrated piece before, so maybe it's inapplicable. I just notice in b.10 and similar places the clarinet goes as high as the F, and the sound can be squeaky. The range is playable by clarinet, but do you want that timbre in the countermelody? Also in b. 36-37 the viola goes higher than the violins. and do you want that special timbre of a high register viola?

Do you have 2 players for each of the woodwinds? I notice that in b.81 there are 3 notes for the oboe!

Thanks for sharing your orchestrated version and I always love your output!

Henry

wonderful, I corrected everything (lowered the clarinets at b10 and sim., changed the vla and vln parts at b36-37, corrected the typo at b81) and it sounds so much better! thank you @Henry Ng Tsz Kiu!

Bravo!

On 2/21/2023 at 3:30 AM, hw1234 said:

Bravo!

 

Grazie! 🙂