Prelude No.1 - Live Performance by Henry Ng

Hello there!

A bit of back story...

So, I've been really busy with music lately. Sure that's great, but it's been mostly learning a bunch of songs that aren't mine. I've started numerous projects in the past month or so, but put them on hold to be able to write shorter pieces while I'm unable to focus on larger works. 

I've decided to write a bunch of small piano preludes, one for each note as a tonal center. This first one is for A, and relies heavily on venturing into augmented scales and chords. I hope you enjoy this, I had a lot of fun so far with the intention of writing small and more accessible and easier piano pieces (some measures maybe not so much 😄 ) The whole goal of this new project of mine is to write music that's playable for anyone, not some monumental Liszt type of piece I hear too often. Yes, I play piano, but not as well as I hope to become. These set of 12 pieces coming in the future would be pieces I'd be able to play, and maybe there would be a few others out there that would enjoy them as well. 

I find it gratifying to rely on a simpler skill set, as the notes and ideas themselves would be my mark on the world rather than then plethora of notes I feel many seem to deem adequate for something to be "good". I recently yet again heard Mozart's Sonata No. 11 in A, and it's a piece that I've heard periodically throughout my life as the most simple yet most impactful music. Sometimes it's not how many notes you play, but how many right ones you play... something like that at least. That's what I'll generally be going for. 

Hope you enjoy, and ANY criticism, comments, and thoughts are always welcome 🙂

EDIT: I'm replacing the mp3 with Henry's performance. Can't thank you enough buddy!

Hi Vince,

I love your augmented harmony throughout. It's first introduced in b.5 and is used both chordally and in broken chords, and it creates great contrast to the otherwise "tranquil tragedy" of A minor. I also love your whole tone usage there!

I like that dorian touch in b.27 and wish there more since it will add more vicissitudes to the music.

In b.53 you also add blue notes in it which I find good use of it! In b.57 you even add blues rhythm in it, and it adds some improvisaory touch to your musif which fits well as a prelude.

B.61 is a very good contrast. I cannot imagine you express the previously repressed sadness and vicissitides this direct and foreceful and I love this especially is in F minor and at the same it's the same rhythm of the opening theme. I don't if adding "pesante" in that great will be good or not. Your cadence on an augmented chord is a great touch! I freakingly love that misterioso passage as well!

I like you usage of rit. in the reprise of the originally "cool" passage as it reminds the pain.

You seem to live a lonely soul and I am sad for this. But it's good to express that in music.

I enjoy this and thanks for sharing!💋

Henry

Interesting harmonic choices to say the least. Simple but effective and indeed much more feasible than most of my pieces haha. The first phrase and its enhanced version at M26 make the difference in my opinion.

The piece flows good overall and it never gets boring, though the figures at M53-54 & M57-58 didn't convince me too much; they were decent to say the least anyway and I didn't find them out of place on further listens. 

The fortississimo part was quite surprising (in the good way), but I would say that it's in the ending part where you excel. What a great way to conclude this prelude in every way (melodically, rhythmically, harmonically and dynamically)!

Looking forward to listen to the other 11 whenever they come.

Kind regards!!

13 hours ago, Henry Ng Tsz Kiu said:

Hi Vince,

I love your augmented harmony throughout. It's first introduced in b.5 and is used both chordally and in broken chords, and it creates great contrast to the otherwise "tranquil tragedy" of A minor. I also love your whole tone usage there!

I like that dorian touch in b.27 and wish there more since it will add more vicissitudes to the music.

In b.53 you also add blue notes in it which I find good use of it! In b.57 you even add blues rhythm in it, and it adds some improvisaory touch to your musif which fits well as a prelude.

B.61 is a very good contrast. I cannot imagine you express the previously repressed sadness and vicissitides this direct and foreceful and I love this especially is in F minor and at the same it's the same rhythm of the opening theme. I don't if adding "pesante" in that great will be good or not. Your cadence on an augmented chord is a great touch! I freakingly love that misterioso passage as well!

I like you usage of rit. in the reprise of the originally "cool" passage as it reminds the pain.

You seem to live a lonely soul and I am sad for this. But it's good to express that in music.

I enjoy this and thanks for sharing!💋

Henry

Hey Henry, thanks for listening!

Don't worry, I'm not so lonely. 🙂

I'm excited to keep writing these shorter pieces, I mean, I wrote this one in a few days. I usually dwell on more monumental projects, and these are a fun getaway from when my life feels too hectic and busy. Maybe it could be something you try at some point as well since I know you've dealt with chaotic business and exhaustion lately. I always appreciate your insightful words and kind thoughts, you're one of the handful of people that have become the lifeblood of this site, and I'm very grateful for it. 

Oh, and thanks for your help with some of the enharmonics questions I had before posting!

10 hours ago, Omicronrg9 said:

Simple but effective

This is the goal, to have as much substance crammed into something an intermediate player could handle 🙂

10 hours ago, Omicronrg9 said:

though the figures at M53-54 & M57-58 didn't convince me too much

yeah I agree, I don't think I pulled off exactly what I was going for

10 hours ago, Omicronrg9 said:

The fortississimo part was quite surprising (in the good way)

It's kind of funny, as when I was playing and writing this, I just felt the need to have some kind of explosion and instinctively just went into it. Like a huge release, or an orga.... ah nevermind

10 hours ago, Omicronrg9 said:

but I would say that it's in the ending part where you excel.

*spits out drink*

wait, what? Daniel...THE Omicron Daniel, liked... MY ending?!?

My music is complete. But, that's a high bar to uphold...will do my best for future pieces. 

10 hours ago, Omicronrg9 said:

Looking forward to listen to the other 11 whenever they come.

Thanks for the encouraging and kind words! It's always a pleasure to hear from you. Number 2 in the works 🙂

Hi Vince,

I like the atmospherics of this piece, with its dark and brooding tone.

It's also great to have a piece I can actually play! I used to be a pretty decent pianist; but am very rusty now: so this is perfect for me.

Many thanks for sharing,

Alex

On 2/27/2023 at 5:12 AM, Thatguy v2.0 said:

It's kind of funny, as when I was playing and writing this, I just felt the need to have some kind of explosion and instinctively just went into it. Like a huge release, or an orga.... ah nevermind

Organ, yes. LOL.

On 2/27/2023 at 5:12 AM, Thatguy v2.0 said:

will do my best for future pieces. 

Yes you'd better do or else... 

@Alex Weidmann's comment about its playability made me think, perhaps I could give it a go sometime in the future despite being way below the average in that regard.

Kind regards!
 

13 minutes ago, Omicronrg9 said:

Yes you'd better do or else... 

@Alex Weidmann's comment about its playability made me think, perhaps I could give it a go sometime in the future despite being way below the average in that regard

Haha actually I had tried playing the piece and enjoy it! I would love to practice it and even play it @Thatguy v2.0!

I enjoyed the simplicity of the beginning, and the triplets into the chordal section. It was reminiscent of Rach's Elegie.

The piece is very beautiful and emotive because of its simplicity.  I like how instead of choosing a chord borrowed from the parallel major mode you just go full on whole-tone on us (you could have gone with an F# minor chord - choosing a minor chord from the parallel major mode is quite a common borrowing when trying to write melancholic music but I think your choice is better and more striking and unique - I feel like the piece really captures or hooks the listeners attention right away and holds it for the entire duration of the piece - never a dull moment!).  It's very mysterious and I feel it's like something out of a dream (or maybe out of Final Fantasy VI LoL).  The harmony is perfect, if only our standard way of notating pitch-classes wasn't so clunky then your diminished 4ths wouldn't be such an eye-sore!

I think this piece is a great example of a melodic-harmonic adventure.  The melody and harmony really are a concerted unity in this piece and I can tell they were conceived together and really belong together.  I love your improvisational touch in measures. 53 through 59!  I think that is probably my favorite feature of this piece is that it manages to squeeze some poly-stylistic inflections into it which is very appropriate for a piece written in today's day and age by a composer with your "particular set of of skills" ... I mean ... experience.  Thanks for sharing this gem and I'm looking forward to the next installment!  I can see why so many people are fired-up about learning it!

Dude, you guys rock.

14 hours ago, Alex Weidmann said:

Hi Vince,

I like the atmospherics of this piece, with its dark and brooding tone.

It's also great to have a piece I can actually play! I used to be a pretty decent pianist; but am very rusty now: so this is perfect for me.

Many thanks for sharing,

Alex

Thanks for checking it out Alex! I'm very happy you have thoughts of dabbling at this one, I'm very curious about how it feels with playability. I played through most of it, but as a more simple version before I really started to explore the whole tone parts of it more. Thanks again!

3 hours ago, Omicronrg9 said:

@Alex Weidmann's comment about its playability made me think, perhaps I could give it a go sometime in the future despite being way below the average in that regard.

Damn, that's awesome!

3 hours ago, Henry Ng Tsz Kiu said:

Haha actually I had tried playing the piece and enjoy it! I would love to practice it and even play it

AND the Ivory Tickler himself? You're too kind Henry 🙂

2 hours ago, SoloYH said:

I enjoyed the simplicity of the beginning, and the triplets into the chordal section. It was reminiscent of Rach's Elegie.

Thanks for listening man. I love when people relate my music to a piece I haven't heard before. Will check out 

13 minutes ago, PeterthePapercomPoser said:

The piece is very beautiful and emotive because of its simplicity.  I like how instead of choosing a chord borrowed from the parallel major mode you just go full on whole-tone on us (you could have gone with an F# minor chord - choosing a minor chord from the parallel major mode is quite a common borrowing when trying to write melancholic music but I think your choice is better and more striking and unique - I feel like the piece really captures or hooks the listeners attention right away and holds it for the entire duration of the piece - never a dull moment!). 

You're too kind, Peter. I'm glad you appreciate my foray into the world of the augmented scale, it's a flavor I've neglected for way too long, and feel like it's just becoming part of my style now. I kind of view it like the diminished scales, where they can really go anywhere and really tried to exploit that. 

15 minutes ago, PeterthePapercomPoser said:

It's very mysterious and I feel it's like something out of a dream (or maybe out of Final Fantasy VI LoL).

It's funny you say that. I have 3 rough drafts sketched out for future preludes, and one is heavily saturated with Kefka's clown makeup. 🙂

16 minutes ago, PeterthePapercomPoser said:

Thanks for sharing this gem and I'm looking forward to the next installment! 

Thanks a bunch, man. I always hope that my music makes it in your radar, and always love hearing your thoughts. It means a lot to hear from someone as experienced and as good as you, and the next one may come sooner than you would think!

This piece has that harmonic journey I like.

I've updated the mp3 to showcase our very own @Henry Ng Tsz Kiu doing a spectacular job at bringing this to life

4 hours ago, Thatguy v2.0 said:

I've updated the mp3 to showcase our very own @Henry Ng Tsz Kiu doing a spectacular job at bringing this to life

Haha I enjoy playing your pieces very much and they are lovely! The recording still has some slips but I am happy you enjoy it!

Henry

I know I'm hearing something good when I listen to the piece, and it makes me want to try composing something a different way or in a different style. ("Ooh, I wanna do that!") I love the jazz licks you add here and there, I find them to be "tasty", like the perfect new spice on a meal that you don't expect. But what I really appreciate is the opening whole tone row -- every time I've tried to incorporate one by design, it just ends up sounding like an uninspired imitation of Debussy. But ending it the way you did by just going back to the A minor is so simple, but effective.

Really awesome stuff, thanks for sharing!

20 hours ago, SergeOfArniVillage said:

I know I'm hearing something good when I listen to the piece, and it makes me want to try composing something a different way or in a different style. ("Ooh, I wanna do that!") I love the jazz licks you add here and there, I find them to be "tasty", like the perfect new spice on a meal that you don't expect. But what I really appreciate is the opening whole tone row -- every time I've tried to incorporate one by design, it just ends up sounding like an uninspired imitation of Debussy. But ending it the way you did by just going back to the A minor is so simple, but effective.

Hey I'd be excited to hear what you come up with... or anything new from you! Have you been writing still? I remember your music always had a clever character of your own, I miss hearing it. 

@Henry Ng Tsz Kiu's playing on this was wonderful, he really helped make the music come alive. 

Yes, he did a really great job playing the piece. Can't beat a live performance!

Personal circumstances have prevented me from writing as much as I'd like to, but I have written some new stuff recently. I might post something at some point 🤷🏻‍♂️ we'll see.

4 minutes ago, SergeOfArniVillage said:

Yes, he did a really great job playing the piece. Can't beat a live performance!

Haha thank you! It's a pleasure to play Vince's preludes since they are lovely isn't it?

4 minutes ago, SergeOfArniVillage said:

Personal circumstances have prevented me from writing as much as I'd like to, but I have written some new stuff recently. I might post something at some point 🤷🏻‍♂️ we'll see.

Yea look forward to your new works! I am a relatively new member here as I join only for 9 months and would love to see your most recent works!

Henry

A beautiful performance of a lovely prelude.  Congrats to both the composer and performer!

1 hour ago, bkho said:

A beautiful performance of a lovely prelude.  Congrats to both the composer and performer!

Thx @bkho! Vince's preludes are very engaging! It's easy to get into his music and play what's intended to make it beautiful.

Henry

Now that I've had time to listen to all of the preludes, I'm going to go ahead and write more of my thoughts here on one post rather than post them on all the separate posts.

Prelude 1: in addition to what I already said above, I think it's great when preludes both work as a part of a cohesive whole in the set, and also could work if just plucked out and played on its own without context. This piece is just really well-constructed and well thought-out, you could really just play it by itself, and even though that's not necessary, it's still worth mentioning, I think.

2: Just gorgeous. And yes, mss. 4 & 6 are very "Final Fantasy", and that's fine. This piece is interesting to me, because it feels like a "what-if" on the development of the 1st prelude. As in, "what if I stripped the jazziness and the moody whole tone harmonies from the first prelude?" And this piece comes out kind of naturally as a result. So in a way, it almost feels like a "reduction" of first prelude, at least in terms of its "language," which makes perfect sense as a form of development.

3: And then this one is the exact opposite. "What if I cranked the moodiness and more jagged harmonies up to max?" This one's just genuinely brilliant (and props to the subtlety of the performer, playing the r.h. with a very slight "swing", giving an illusion of triplet, causing the rhythm to feel "off" somehow, but in a way which complements the discomfort of the piece). Sincere, profound. Bravo!

4:  Another really cool piece. However, this is a classic example of a composer's intention and what an audience would hear just not quite coming together. You're wanting the top voice to sound like it's offbeat, like so:

But what it actually sounds like, is:

And so it is syncopated, but not the way the score indicates that it wants to come across as. And so, I wondered what could be done to help bring your intention across without ripping the entire piece's intestines out, and what comes to mind is something like:

So, basically, some way to announce clearly to the audience what the beat actually is, (maybe even adding another opening measure) and then purposefully undermine it with your intended offbeat. Because otherwise, even looking straight at the score while listening, it's really hard to hear an "offbeat" at all.

5: Kefka xD Always popping in at the most inappropriate places and doing the most inappropriate things. I don't have a lot to say, but I will say that the L.H. chord on ms. 14 is perfection, and is so deliciously and comically evil, like kicking a grunt off a bridge or something, LOL.

6: I think this piece is lovely, but I do have a few critiques. The C natural in the L.H. in ms. 11 sounds fine in those thirds, but after ms. 12 being Cb, ms. 13's C natural sounds rather "dorky" for lack of a better word, and I think it would be better just going ahead and making it a Cb like you do in the following measure on 14. Also, I like the crescendo from mss. 25 - 28, but I think the FFF is too much for the climax, as it's not quite "earned" in terms of emotional weight. I think a F, maybe a FF at most, followed by a less pronounced pause. This feels more like a poignant story, but the kind that is told in passing, not one that causes a pause and deep reflection. But that's just my opinion.

7: BAHAHAHAHA Brilliant!!! "Praise Jesus" made me guffaw! Oh Lawd have mercy, I couldn't hardly read the score. I live in Southern USA, and this dialect is just killing me. But red neck stuff aside, the music is totally and utterly convincing. This one's a surefire crowd-pleaser, no doubt about it. Pieces like this that allow a performer to let loose and play with more "sloppy charisma" are some of the most fun to play, as well. Again, brilliant, well done! *clap clap clap*

8: Those quartal harmonies and mysterious scales are really absorbing. The shadowy part at mss. 15 + 16 complement and contrast the angular sound of the constant quartal harmonies: I kind of wish you had leaned into those phrases just a little bit more, because in context, they sound amazing. But it's better to be left wanting a bit more, than for something to overstay its welcome. I think you probably agree it sounds awesome, seeing as how you ended the piece on the same riff. (On a side note: that is a well-earned FFF.) The 9ths starting at ms. 25 took some getting used to, but I think a live performer would help bring out the "crunchy" textural purpose of the chords better than MIDI is capable of doing, so that's worth considering.

9: God, this one is just cool as hell. The 7/4 time somehow sounds completely organic and natural, and your way of developing the material is smooth as silk. This one's a masterpiece, honestly.

10: This one is cool, and so clever. If I'm not just hearing things, it sounds like there's a lot of echoes of previous things that happened in previous preludes: quartal harmonies and scales, "Kefka's return" at mss. 41 - 46, 7ths reminiscent of the 9ths in the 8th prelude at mss. 124 - 132 for their textural component (and a striking D7 chord at ms. 156 that's been consistently striking since first coming around in the 17-18 mss. of the very first prelude). Structurally speaking, this piece just really "fits" in the grand scheme of the whole set, and adds to the cohesiveness of the whole. Not to mention it just sounds awesome. 

11: And so, my current impression is that prelude 10 is actually the "ending" of the set, with so much being summed up, and this 11th prelude is actually a short "interlude" which leads into prelude 12, which I assume will be an "epilogue." Am I correct? Let me listen and see.

12: I think so. I listened to this one first, since it was the first one I saw, and now after more context, it seems a natural epilogue. Instead of the jagged edges that the quartal harmonies and clustered 2nds have brought, we now have a resolution to conflict, and the harmonies uplift, bringing about an ending. Even the more discordant section results in a clear resolution. In my life, I've learned to appreciate both "happy" endings and "sad" endings, and it feels right that this one ends on such a positive note.

Really, this is an excellent set of music. I think there are a few little weak links in the middle of the set, but overall, this is A+ material. Thanks for sharing, it's been great listening to them 🙂 (Forgive me if some of my feedback is nonsense, lol)

Wow Serge, you're a monster! Thanks for the in depth analysis of all of my little preludes, I think it's really cool that you had the time to check them out as a set, as your viewpoint is as a whole rather than individual pieces. I'm in debt to your generosity. 😄

On 6/5/2023 at 5:04 PM, SergeOfArniVillage said:

Prelude 1: in addition to what I already said above, I think it's great when preludes both work as a part of a cohesive whole in the set, and also could work if just plucked out and played on its own without context. This piece is just really well-constructed and well thought-out, you could really just play it by itself, and even though that's not necessary, it's still worth mentioning, I think.

This was something I was hoping for, that each could stand on their own, and bonus points for anyone hearing it as a set. 

On 6/5/2023 at 5:04 PM, SergeOfArniVillage said:

2: Just gorgeous. And yes, mss. 4 & 6 are very "Final Fantasy", and that's fine. This piece is interesting to me, because it feels like a "what-if" on the development of the 1st prelude. As in, "what if I stripped the jazziness and the moody whole tone harmonies from the first prelude?" And this piece comes out kind of naturally as a result. So in a way, it almost feels like a "reduction" of first prelude, at least in terms of its "language," which makes perfect sense as a form of development.

Interesting take on the continuity factor. At first I was wondering how I should choose the order of the tonal centers (or their impact/importance, like No.11), but quickly scraped the idea of some traditional way of order and instead just wrote wherever inspiration took me. Because they were all written in a relatively short time frame, perhaps the ideas leaked into proceeding preludes? Idk, I hope they did. At moments it seems like you felt the same way. 

On 6/5/2023 at 5:04 PM, SergeOfArniVillage said:

3: And then this one is the exact opposite. "What if I cranked the moodiness and more jagged harmonies up to max?" This one's just genuinely brilliant (and props to the subtlety of the performer, playing the r.h. with a very slight "swing", giving an illusion of triplet, causing the rhythm to feel "off" somehow, but in a way which complements the discomfort of the piece). Sincere, profound. Bravo!

@Henry Ng Tsz Kiu really brought this one to life. I love that his performance took care of my hastiness when writing this one. 

On 6/5/2023 at 5:04 PM, SergeOfArniVillage said:

Another really cool piece. However, this is a classic example of a composer's intention and what an audience would hear just not quite coming together.

You and @PeterthePapercomPoser mentioned the same dilemma with this one. I STILL can't hear it any differently than how I wrote it, but I agree with the both of you. I used Bach's Prelude in C as a foundation, with it's rhythm being completely stagnant for almost the entire piece. But I believe it could be even better with both of your suggestions in varying up the rhythm to make the syncopation even more profound. Hell, it'll probably be even cool upon revisions. Thanks for taking the time to really detail how you would amend it to make the rhythms make more of an impact; I can't wait to edit these with the hope of you all hearing them to see if there's improvement. 

On 6/5/2023 at 5:04 PM, SergeOfArniVillage said:

5: Kefka xD Always popping in at the most inappropriate places and doing the most inappropriate things. I don't have a lot to say, but I will say that the L.H. chord on ms. 14 is perfection, and is so deliciously and comically evil, like kicking a grunt off a bridge or something, LOL.

Haha, I'm glad you found the comedy in this piece relevant. 😄 I'm about to update this piece with @Henry Ng Tsz Kiu's interpretation, and he saw this as less of a "march". I'm curious if you have any thoughts on his performance? I personally like it better than the tempo my audio has. 

On 6/5/2023 at 5:04 PM, SergeOfArniVillage said:

6: I think this piece is lovely, but I do have a few critiques. The C natural in the L.H. in ms. 11 sounds fine in those thirds, but after ms. 12 being Cb, ms. 13's C natural sounds rather "dorky" for lack of a better word, and I think it would be better just going ahead and making it a Cb like you do in the following measure on 14. Also, I like the crescendo from mss. 25 - 28, but I think the FFF is too much for the climax, as it's not quite "earned" in terms of emotional weight. I think a F, maybe a FF at most, followed by a less pronounced pause. This feels more like a poignant story, but the kind that is told in passing, not one that causes a pause and deep reflection. But that's just my opinion.

I LOVE your thoughts on building up to the FFF dynamic. It's changed the way I view it, and I'll always ask myself if I set up such a loud dynamic properly now. Thanks for that. As for the counterpoint issues you had, I'll dig deeper into it as @Henry Ng Tsz Kiu had some of the same qualms. I haven't looked at the score in detail yet, but I'm sure you're probably both right and chances are your recommendations will be in the final edit 🙂 

On 6/5/2023 at 5:04 PM, SergeOfArniVillage said:

7: BAHAHAHAHA Brilliant!!! "Praise Jesus" made me guffaw! Oh Lawd have mercy, I couldn't hardly read the score. I live in Southern USA, and this dialect is just killing me. But red neck stuff aside, the music is totally and utterly convincing. This one's a surefire crowd-pleaser, no doubt about it. Pieces like this that allow a performer to let loose and play with more "sloppy charisma" are some of the most fun to play, as well. Again, brilliant, well done! *clap clap clap*

I'm glad you like the "Praise Jesus" at the end hahaha. It's my favorite part. I tried making these preludes nowhere past the intermediate skill range, so I might change a few minor things if it's too hard to play. I'm glad you enjoyed my ridiculous sense of humor lol.

On 6/5/2023 at 5:04 PM, SergeOfArniVillage said:

8: Those quartal harmonies and mysterious scales are really absorbing. The shadowy part at mss. 15 + 16 complement and contrast the angular sound of the constant quartal harmonies: I kind of wish you had leaned into those phrases just a little bit more, because in context, they sound amazing. But it's better to be left wanting a bit more, than for something to overstay its welcome. I think you probably agree it sounds awesome, seeing as how you ended the piece on the same riff. (On a side note: that is a well-earned FFF.) The 9ths starting at ms. 25 took some getting used to, but I think a live performer would help bring out the "crunchy" textural purpose of the chords better than MIDI is capable of doing, so that's worth considering.

In hindsight, I could have developed that mysterious line a bit more. In fact, this was the hardest one to write, I just kept getting stuck. I like the final result, even the harsher intervals in some of the 9ths, but I bet with a bit more tinkering I could polish it up a tad. I can hit those chords in the left hand, but I'm questioning it now... maybe I should change it up a little for them to be heard at such a loud dynamic marking. We'll see, but thanks for your thoughts on this

On 6/5/2023 at 5:04 PM, SergeOfArniVillage said:

9: God, this one is just cool as hell. The 7/4 time somehow sounds completely organic and natural, and your way of developing the material is smooth as silk. This one's a masterpiece, honestly.

Thanks! This one was an old idea, and I was really proud of making a 7/4 piece with a groove instead of feeling jaunty. Idk why, but it was really easy to write. I came home from work and started writing it and the next thing I knew it was 2 a.m. with the bulk of it done. 

On 6/5/2023 at 5:04 PM, SergeOfArniVillage said:

10: This one is cool, and so clever. If I'm not just hearing things, it sounds like there's a lot of echoes of previous things that happened in previous preludes: quartal harmonies and scales, "Kefka's return" at mss. 41 - 46, 7ths reminiscent of the 9ths in the 8th prelude at mss. 124 - 132 for their textural component (and a striking D7 chord at ms. 156 that's been consistently striking since first coming around in the 17-18 mss. of the very first prelude). Structurally speaking, this piece just really "fits" in the grand scheme of the whole set, and adds to the cohesiveness of the whole. Not to mention it just sounds awesome. 

Wow, awesome thoughts on some of the ideas returning. It wasn't purposefully done, but maybe as I said earlier some of the previous ideas bled into this piece. I stuck with the diminished scale, which maybe the score looks weird, but I had Ab and A nat. in that scale so I mostly notated them as individual notes of the scale, hence the obsessive A nat. signs when normally it wouldn't be needed. This one I was basically like "screw form" and just tried developing the material in a fantasy/free form kind of way. I really like this one, but it seemed less popular among those I know who have listened. I'm glad you found it clever 🙂

On 6/5/2023 at 5:04 PM, SergeOfArniVillage said:

11: And so, my current impression is that prelude 10 is actually the "ending" of the set, with so much being summed up, and this 11th prelude is actually a short "interlude" which leads into prelude 12, which I assume will be an "epilogue." Am I correct? Let me listen and see.

oh how right you are. This one was technically the last one I wrote (but not finalized). It was kind of a throw away piece, as once I settled on the idea of it being 7 bars long, I felt relieved to be done with the brain work. No.10 DID feel like the last piece I wrote, and I'm very happy you heard the set the way I do. 

On 6/5/2023 at 5:04 PM, SergeOfArniVillage said:

12: I think so. I listened to this one first, since it was the first one I saw, and now after more context, it seems a natural epilogue. Instead of the jagged edges that the quartal harmonies and clustered 2nds have brought, we now have a resolution to conflict, and the harmonies uplift, bringing about an ending. Even the more discordant section results in a clear resolution. In my life, I've learned to appreciate both "happy" endings and "sad" endings, and it feels right that this one ends on such a positive note.

So, when I started writing these preludes, it was right when I decided that I'd make a drastic life change and move states, leaving my friends and career behind. Throughout the entire time, I had this looming sense of dread, sadness, excitement... lots of conflicting emotions brewing and boiling inside. I started to think of them as different things I've learned and experienced living in Colorado, and love was among them. This one makes me sad to listen to, but I wanted it to be hopeful as well. It's a culmination of the bombardment of emotions I've been shackled by, and in the end, I wanted these to end on a positive note (lame pun). I'm glad you agree

In all, thanks so much for how much thought and time you put into reviewing my music. Hopefully with the tweaks and corrections I make, it'll satisfy all the issues you and everyone else nice enough to share some thoughts had, to make it the best I can possibly craft. You're a reviewing legend my friend, thanks again for your unfailing kindness in critiquing my work. 

Vince