Symphony No.7 in E Minor, V. Presto appassionato

Hello all,

it's me again. Today I brought a happy and dynamic symphonic movement from my 7th Symphony in E minor, which I wrote a little less than 2 years ago.

The tempo is Presto in a 6/8 time signature. I tried to create a bright spring mood in the piece. With lots of staccato eighths in the strings and a lively rhythm, it should describe a little ride through nature. From 2:50-3:50 follows a small quiet and somewhat more serious passage which then increases to 4:40 and dissolves into a warm and soft harmony (which to me feels like a warm breeze in spring/summer) from ~5:10 the original motif returns with slight changes and finally ends in a energetic finale.

I think the inner structure is quite good so far. The coherence is more recognizable than in some other pieces of mine. But since this piece is already ~2 years old again, I think that's okay. I would like to post a few more of my older favorite pieces and hear your opinions before I move on to what I'm writing right now. 

About the instrumentation:

Woodwinds:
2 flutes
2 Alto Flutes
2 Bass Flutes
2 oboes
1 English Horn
2 Clarinets in Bb
2 bassoons
1 Contrabassoon

Brass:
4 French horns in F
1 trumpet
4 trombones
1 bass tuba

percussion instruments
Timpani
tubular bells

Strings:
1st violins (14)
2nd violins (10)
violas (8)
Cellos (8)
Double basses (8)

Here the Score: 5.Satz, Sinfonie no.7 - Partitur.pdf

And the Link: 

Greetings

Nico

This is lovely, reminds me of the cheerful nature of Schmidt's 2nd and 3rd Symphonies.

I could see a nice Japanese animated film to this music, a train scene through nature, as you say, is perfect with the moto perpetuo at the beginning.

Hi Nico,

I like how you've used almost the full choir of flutes here (apart from the contrabass flute).

I tend to use the alto flute quite a lot in my recent compositions, due to its mystical timbre.

I wonder do you ever use other members of the clarinet family?

I rather like the reedy tones of the bass clarinet.

Thanks for sharing,

Alex

19 minutes ago, Uhor said:

This is lovely, reminds me of the cheerful nature of Schmidt's 2nd and 3rd Symphonies.

I could see a nice Japanese animated film to this music, a train scene through nature, as you say, is perfect with the moto perpetuo at the beginning.

 

Hey Uhor, 

Glad to hear that you like it. 
Yes that's right, I generally like to compose things that go well with landscape shots from a bird's eye view or something like that, but I also like the image with the train very much to the piece.

Thanks for your feedback!

14 minutes ago, Alex Weidmann said:

Hi Nico,

I like how you've used almost the full choir of flutes here (apart from the contrabass flute).

I tend to use the alto flute quite a lot in my recent compositions, due to its mystical timbre.

I wonder do you ever use other members of the clarinet family?

I rather like the reedy tones of the bass clarinet.

Thanks for sharing,

Alex

 

Hey Alex,

Thank you for your feedback as well.
Yes I like the flute family very much, I like the soft sounds they produce very much, moreover they are very versatile in almost every mood they fit well as I find.

With the alto flute you can achieve a great atmosphere. I also like this instrument very much, especially solo with and much reverb, plus only strings for example.

Although I like the reed instruments (and double reed instruments) very much, I have not yet had the time to work with other instruments than the ones shown in the symphony. I find the sound of the lower reed instruments quite interesting. As you can see in the symphony, I also like to use the contrabassoon, for example.

Maybe I'll try my hand at the bass clarinet soon 🙂

Thanks again to both of you!
Nico

Hi @Schorninator,

Thanks for sharing and it's very enjoyable music full of power and vivacity! The flutes are well suited to the mood of spring in this movement! Very refreshing music! I also love the oboe and clarinet melody here as well and I think you know how to use the woodwinds well!

10 hours ago, Schorninator said:

I think the inner structure is quite good so far. The coherence is more recognizable than in some other pieces of mine.

I do think the structure here is more clear since the mood is uniform here. I like how you keep the energy running and thus cohering the overall music!

That lament in 2:57 is very beautiful with the piccolo in C minor! A very great contrast both in term of mood, key and tempo. You should have used the key signature of 3 flats for the sake of convenience there!

A smooth transition back to A major but I just want the section linger a little bit longer as in the da capo form usually used for a Scherzo and Trio. I quite consider this as a Scherzo and Trio with the quick triple time (even it's in 6/8).

For me the orchestration is great at portraying the mood and I love this! Thanks for sharing Nico! You have such high quality compositions and you should not have any doubt on yourself!

Henry

Very nice achievement!

The orchestra is well animated by these ostinato. This gives life to your composition. (I find it very important to give a boost to the orchestra and it's successful). The melodic motifs are alive. dialogue well. (a small Mendelssohn side.. The more suspended part towards 3' comes naturally and seems necessary to give a little tranquility.

Then fantasy regains its rights, goes through its optimistic and juvenile explorations during the coda.

All this is very cinematic, very English adventure film. (maybe a little Hogwarts, or a little Sherlock, that's what comes to mind anyway).

The instrumentation is well done, well concordant and logical.

I don't know what you use as a sample. I know that you might be surprised by the increased possibilities offered by deeper midi programming in terms of realism and timbre fidelity.
 

10 hours ago, Henry Ng Tsz Kiu said:

Hi @Schorninator,

Thanks for sharing and it's very enjoyable music full of power and vivacity! The flutes are well suited to the mood of spring in this movement! Very refreshing music! I also love the oboe and clarinet melody here as well and I think you know how to use the woodwinds well!

I do think the structure here is more clear since the mood is uniform here. I like how you keep the energy running and thus cohering the overall music!

That lament in 2:57 is very beautiful with the piccolo in C minor! A very great contrast both in term of mood, key and tempo. You should have used the key signature of 3 flats for the sake of convenience there!

A smooth transition back to A major but I just want the section linger a little bit longer as in the da capo form usually used for a Scherzo and Trio. I quite consider this as a Scherzo and Trio with the quick triple time (even it's in 6/8).

For me the orchestration is great at portraying the mood and I love this! Thanks for sharing Nico! You have such high quality compositions and you should not have any doubt on yourself!

Henry

 

Hey Henry,

Thank you for your kind words I'm glad that one of you always gets a feedback that is worth me incredibly much!

This piece is also something special for me. I think every composer knows the moment when he does not like his own music or is no longer sure if it is good work. But I've always liked this piece even in times when I doubt myself. It's probably because I took a lot of trouble to write it "rousing", it's also different from most of my symphony movements under 7 minutes long because I felt this piece was just right in length.

Also this piece I have relatively freely composed from the ear I am interested in the meantime but clearly more for harmony and would like to deepen my knowledge there.

What you wrote at the end means a lot to me! Thank you that is the nicest compliment I can imagine and it gives me a lot of confidence and motivation! Thanks a lot!  

7 hours ago, Krisp said:

Very nice achievement!

The orchestra is well animated by these ostinato. This gives life to your composition. (I find it very important to give a boost to the orchestra and it's successful). The melodic motifs are alive. dialogue well. (a small Mendelssohn side.. The more suspended part towards 3' comes naturally and seems necessary to give a little tranquility.

Then fantasy regains its rights, goes through its optimistic and juvenile explorations during the coda.

All this is very cinematic, very English adventure film. (maybe a little Hogwarts, or a little Sherlock, that's what comes to mind anyway).

The instrumentation is well done, well concordant and logical.

I don't know what you use as a sample. I know that you might be surprised by the increased possibilities offered by deeper midi programming in terms of realism and timbre fidelity.
 

 

Hey Krisp,

Thanks to you as well,

I like when the feedback goes into more detail and exposes technical aspects that I didn't even intend or see when composing myself. It's also great to hear some comparisons with other composers. And yes! I love Cinematic composing and I am currently working on my so called "Six Cinematic pieces for orchestra". I cant wait to upload them when they are finished.

Um... I use VSL almost exclusively. The Synchrons Strings Pro, Synchron Brass, Synchron-ized Special Editions 1-4. I will purchase new packages soon (Rieger Organ, Vienna Choir and Synchon-ized Solo strings) I cant wait to get my hands on them! 

I am suprised every day by the possibilities, but mixing the the sound in the end is very challenging, I think I'll never master it completely

Nico