Concerto No.6 in E Minor Composed by Tom Dahlenburg

This is a string based concerto that goes for around 8 minutes. I composed this piece about a week or two ago and had a lot of fun doing it, the composition involves heavy use of diminished triads and build ups, similar to Beethoven's 5th Symphony and he's real dark side you hear in he's music. Beethoven always had a temper and would pour it into he's music with things like diminished chords and strong use of minor chords. I have always looked up to Beethoven's composition and feel I was heavily influenced by him in this Concerto I wrote. The build ups in my piece resolve to an E minor phrase with chords and strongly used instrumentation that gives a powerful feel to the listener, almost as if it's relief or comfort from the build ups that are overwhelming or almost compelling. As the Concerto goes on I change key a bit going into some lighter or more settling moments however to finish the composition I use a build up one last and final time time that eventually resolves to an E Minor with a strange and almost dark feel to it, however it finishes with a bang and has got to be one of my favorite compositions, let alone how much fun I had composing it.

This is very Haydn-esque to my ears as far as the general feel of things. But you use silence more than he ever did and I think that adds an effective energy here. The melodic structure is very classical in nature and while the harmony is also, I do hear a few chords that I don't expect which is also a good way to liven things up. The transition to a slower tempo near the 3 minute mark is very nice; ditto for 4:40 or so and following. But I don't think this lives up to the name 'concerto' as it only has one movement. You could either call it an orchestra prelude or add 2 more movements to take care of this minor issue. I vote for the extra 2.

That dark ending after all the happiness is very cool!

Is it your intention to keep working in a classical style? You could branch out into something that is a bit more 'you'...if you'd like, not my decision of course.

I have always been fascinated by Beethoven and the way he would pour he's temper into he's composition, especially he's 5th Symphony and how you really do hear powerful diminished chords that almost seem as a way to feel how angry he must have been about going deaf. I was raised listening to a lot of Beethoven and find myself attempting to re-create something similar with diminished chords, build up's. and almost tension but gently done. 

Maybe it's something about the quality of the string sounds you're using and the close voicings, but this reminds me of an accompaniment to a silent film that would be played live on a theater organ. The film is a melodrama with an unhappy ending, naturally!

What a powerful ending. I imagine there's influence of Beethoven's 8th Symphony, where he repeats the perfect cadence for hundreds of bars. Here it is the tragic version of it to confirm the tragedy yet once more. That's so memorable that make me almost forget about what's preceding it.