nocturne Nocturne Nº8 | Om. 55

Hi again, ladies and gentlemen.

It's a pleasure to me to make yet another spam post for you to value, comment, and listen. Naturally, I come with my next nocturne, composed during March and finished more than a year ago (already!), on 24 March, 2022. It is dedicated to a close friend of mine, David Lozano Leiva, who is also a musician (guitarist, and amateur composer as me).

The traditional nocturnal character of this nocturne is as present as it was on my last one, so yeah, close to none but perhaps a bit more than the 7th of this set. Not my best, neither my worst, but I'll leave that judgement to you.

As always, any feedback, opinion, comment, greeting, as meaningful or meaningless as you yourself consider it, is very welcome. I'll leave the video here and the mp3/pdf below.
 

Kind regards to you all and thank you in advance,
Daniel–Ømicrón.

55 - Nocturno Nº8.pdf

6 hours ago, Omicronrg9 said:

It's a pleasure to me to make yet another spam post

spammer eh? ... WHAT

hmm, it seems like you're special or something...I can't flag you

6 hours ago, Omicronrg9 said:

It is dedicated to a close friend of mine, David Lozano Leiva, who is also a musician (guitarist, and amateur composer as me).

I'm curious about this. Are there relations to guitar with this piece? Or is it just a friendly dedication? Or something different?

6 hours ago, Omicronrg9 said:

The traditional nocturnal character of this nocturne is as present as it was on my last one, so yeah, close to none but perhaps a bit more than the 7th of this set. Not my best, neither my worst, but I'll leave that judgement to you.

Well, even though I mentioned your last one felt like less of a nocturne than the others, keep in mind it's a pretty general term. And judging by your constant themes of black and blue and winter and darkness, even putting the site in nightvision, I think the term suits your style with the piano pieces I remember of you

BTW, I'm probably guilty of this too, but NEVER say "this isn't my best work". Let us be the arbiter of truth in your musical pursuits; if you taint your own work with pessimism, that's generally what the audience will defer to when listening. 

To piggy back off of that, I think this piece is brilliant. This doesn't relate to your music, but I think it's kinda funny that tangentially your 8th nocturne reminds me of my 8th prelude in a way. I'm taking a guess, but was this one difficult to put together? I only ask because there's striking differences with the character and flow of it, and I felt like mine had the same dilemma. It took extra effort to pull through with it being a cohesive piece, but then again, maybe I'm just rambling... your nocturnes have far more musicality and development then my little preludes. 

I remember you mentioned that your nocturnes would get stranger, and I feel like this was perhaps the start of that? Strange of course isn't a bad thing, in fact, it's possibly the best thing that could happen to you. First of all, all the Omicron characteristics are there with this piece, the articulate melody shaping, the drama of the harmony, the clever usage of devices to develop the motivic spots in the music...it's all there. But I really enjoy how you took us on a journey with this piece. You again let rhythm dictate your music, and I love the gothic harmonies involved with shaping this work. I can't help but be reminded how well a live performance would do this justice, especially those 32nd note repeated melody phrases (maybe just notate as a trill?). 

I actually like the jaunty pacing of your music with this one, how it floats in between a dramatic chorale into the sextuplets of the distinct rhythms that you give us. I'm a huge fan of seeing your music evolve, and even though these are regarded as "older" pieces as you've chosen to post them later than your compositional progress, I'm delighted to hear how they continue to astonish and beckon me to yearn for more. 

Well crafted work as usual, you've never disappointed. Maybe I'm just an annoying super fan of your style (which is what keeps me coming back for more), but I'm always excited to see recent posts from you. I can't help but notice there's a flurry of activity in reviewing other's works when you post something new. Don't feel guilty bruh 😄 We all dig your stuff

Hey my buddy Daniel @Omicronrg9,

I have to say I utterly enjoy this. I say this not to flatter you or encourage you but it's the truth. It's not the best or the worst but definitely a unique one as it always appears in your music.

I agree with @Thatguy v2.0 about the pacing of the piece. You control your pacing very well like Hitchcock. The drama overall is very well strengthened by the pacing you creates, which the accompaniments provide a crucial role here. Every time the triplets appear (or disappear) make a huge impact in the music.

I love how you play with the Ab-G# idea right at the beginning at b.4 which will feature all the way through the end!

B.58 the dramatico section is very dramatic with great modulation. In b.74 you really should add "tranquillo": very peaceful music there!! 

My favourite section must be the one begins in b.154. Sadly the pedal doesn't do justice to the otherwise agitated music here!! I will say my least favourite section b.86. It's the anticliamx and cooling section there but I think it can be more interesting by varying the opening materials a little bit, but I know it's your preference to have opening materials reappear so it's perfectly fine!

Thanks for sharing Daniel!

Henry

On 4/3/2023 at 2:39 AM, Thatguy v2.0 said:

spammer eh? ... WHAT

Nice to see you are using the Nightvision theme 😎.

On 4/3/2023 at 2:39 AM, Thatguy v2.0 said:

I'm curious about this. Are there relations to guitar with this piece? Or is it just a friendly dedication? Or something different?

Not that I remind of, but perhaps the beginning of the B section tried to imitate that dry and direct way one can choose to play a chord with a guitar.
 

On 4/3/2023 at 2:39 AM, Thatguy v2.0 said:

BTW, I'm probably guilty of this too, but NEVER say "this isn't my best work". Let us be the arbiter of truth in your musical pursuits; if you taint your own work with pessimism, that's generally what the audience will defer to when listening. 

I'll take note of this, but I must say it's something I do often, very true. I know there are better ones on the way, at least for my personal taste, we'll see if we agree on the rankings when they be all published here.
 

On 4/3/2023 at 2:39 AM, Thatguy v2.0 said:

but was this one difficult to put together?

No, from what I remind. From the 8th to the 10th they flowed easily, but there's some "blur" after the part Henry mentions (ca. M89) as his least favourite. These issues are a mark of my lack of expertise that I believe I have reduced nowadays.
 

On 4/3/2023 at 2:39 AM, Thatguy v2.0 said:

I remember you mentioned that your nocturnes would get stranger, and I feel like this was perhaps the start of that?

Correct. I am glad you keep coming back for more and I'm also glad to read and take your feedback, as this is the main reason I keep publishing parts of my work here. No matter the feedback, it's always good to listen to others' opinions and it often surprises me how much I can get from a forum message.

Kind regards!!



 

On 4/3/2023 at 9:57 AM, Henry Ng Tsz Kiu said:

Hey my buddy Daniel @Omicronrg9,

Hi sir.

On 4/3/2023 at 9:57 AM, Henry Ng Tsz Kiu said:

In b.74 you really should add "tranquillo": very peaceful music there!! 

But don't you think dolcissimo is enough of an indication? I put it at the beginning of the section, on M70. What do you think?
 

On 4/3/2023 at 9:57 AM, Henry Ng Tsz Kiu said:

My favourite section must be the one begins in b.154. Sadly the pedal doesn't do justice to the otherwise agitated music here!!

Maybe I should accentuate the arpeggiated octave in the left hand and indicate half-pedalling. I wanted the character to be powerful but not aggressive to the point it would be without the pedal. 

On 4/3/2023 at 9:57 AM, Henry Ng Tsz Kiu said:

I will say my least favourite section b.86. It's the anticliamx and cooling section there but I think it can be more interesting by varying the opening materials a little bit, but I know it's your preference to have opening materials reappear so it's perfectly fine!

That crossed out my mind but the almost plain repetition was the final choice (if I recall correctly) because I reminded @SSC's and some other users' advice on using too many ideas in a single piece. The cold vs. hot theme was already in my mind too and I wanted to state clear what either side was, but I'm convinced that some more modifications there wouldn't have hurt if done carefully. 
 

On 4/3/2023 at 9:57 AM, Henry Ng Tsz Kiu said:

Thanks for sharing Daniel!

No mate thank you for the feedback, I'll sure take note 👍

Kind regards!

 

3 hours ago, Omicronrg9 said:

Hi sir.

LOL

3 hours ago, Omicronrg9 said:

But don't you think dolcissimo is enough of an indication? I put it at the beginning of the section, on M70. What do you think?

For me I find this place particularly tranquil without the tremolos in b.70. But the passage can also be qualified as dolcissimo there so it's up to you! I see that in b.66 you put rivido there so I think frequent indications is fine here.

3 hours ago, Omicronrg9 said:

Maybe I should accentuate the arpeggiated octave in the left hand and indicate half-pedalling. I wanted the character to be powerful but not aggressive to the point it would be without the pedal. 

Accentuating the left hand is great! Having the half pedal will make it powerful but not aggressive, but not dry without pedal.

3 hours ago, Omicronrg9 said:

That crossed out my mind but the almost plain repetition was the final choice (if I recall correctly) because I reminded @SSC's and some other users' advice on using too many ideas in a single piece. The cold vs. hot theme was already in my mind too and I wanted to state clear what either side was, but I'm convinced that some more modifications there wouldn't have hurt if done carefully. 

Well I think repetition doesn't have to be exact repetitions. For example voice exchange, octave doubling, octave higher or lower can change the appearence of the passage but not the core of it, thus adding varieties but still maintain the coherence there. Quite regretted @SSC is not here when I joined YC!

Henry

On 4/2/2023 at 2:21 PM, Omicronrg9 said:

traditional

Do you feel that this work and others of yours are in your true voice? You have the 'chops' to do whatever you please, it seems to me. Appealing to old forms and atmospheres seems not a requirement.

18 hours ago, AKAChristopher said:

Do you feel that this work and others of yours are in your true voice?

Depends on the work. I would say that my voice gets louder and louder with each new piece I compose. I would say this one is "truer" than the first nocturne, for example; or in other words: it is more daring and less "traditional" in the sense it has less relation with the common references of this style, though if we look at my previous nocturnes it's not that they have much to do with those traditional examples, I guess. In the end, my later nocturnes ended up being decently-sized single-movement works.

18 hours ago, AKAChristopher said:

Appealing to old forms and atmospheres seems not a requirement.

True but it's something I more or less tried to do with the first nocturnes. I gradually end up doing what I want, and the fact it's not an abrupt, discontinuous process allows me to better contemplate this "transformation" or whatever.

Glad to read you here again!

On 4/12/2023 at 6:31 AM, Henry Ng Tsz Kiu said:

Accentuating the left hand is great! Having the half pedal will make it powerful but not aggressive, but not dry without pedal.

I will revisit the score and make these changes. Thank you again, Henry!

 

To me this was nocturne-like. 
I enjoyed the blues notes, little hints of Bach, and unexpected key modulations.

The build-ups to climaxes were well handled, and the trill section gave a welcome change of texture.

Overall nice work!