Prelude for small orchestra

I've been publishing a lot of short pieces (I think that simple, easy but enjoyable-for-all pieces are also worth mentioning, not everything has to be innovative, long and complex to be good!) but I'm going to focus on a sonata of 3 movements as I need it for my university entrance exam 😭  so i'm not going to post in a while.

This an orchestration of a prelude I wrote just a year ago (tomorrow is its birthday!) and I started introducing woodwinds!

Enjoy!

Prelude.pdf

Very nice and colorful!  I love the pandiatonic dominant chord you have in measure 22 right before the D.C. al Fine.  A, B, C#, D, E, and G are all included - all that you're missing from the chord to include the whole scale is F#!  The way you voiced it is also quite beautiful, avoiding the b9 that would be present between the C# and D by placing the D below the C# making a much more palatable major 7th.  Your phrasing is also unique, but in the very beginning it sounds more like there's three measures of 9/8 rather than the 6/8 measures you have.  The fourth measure of 9/8 (which makes it sound like a 4 measure phrase) is cut short by one beat.  This is strengthened by the entrance of the woodwinds in measure 5 beat 2.  The introduction, before the melody comes in, also sounds like a 9/8 measure.  But those are just nitpicky meter things that doesn't really affect how the music sounds.  Thanks for sharing!

Hi @PeterthePapercomPoser

Thank you for your comment !

I was trying to do a smooth, quiet and relaxing piece, but the free soundfonts kinda ruined it. 

Also, I receantly heard the 'Valses nobles et sentimentales' from Ravel, so the first one used a pandiatonic chord and I wanted to try it, I omitted the F# because it was to dissonant 😅.

6 hours ago, PeterthePapercomPoser said:

but in the very beginning it sounds more like there's three measures of 9/8 rather than the 6/8 measures you have. 

Well, I find it very difficult to feel the tempo and measures, that's why my music is always changing tempo and bar indicators.

I go along with PeterthePapercomPoser with this. It's very nice, good scoring if from a piano score, smooth, easy listening.

I felt the close should be slightly more conclusive. Given your Da Capo, the da-capo'd bit could have a couple of bars added as a coda - maybe just a repeat of bars 6 & 7 slightly decorated without the cello pizz? - but something anyway) but other than that, all good.

Maybe also an idea to mark when you want string chords divisi or otherwise - more important at times like the Violas splitting into 3 parts in bar 10. These are details that examiners may look out for when assessing your work.

Wishing you the best with your entrance submission. 

Quinn.

Hey Samuel!

I've been enjoying this one very much. This one is simplistic and very pastoral given that 6/8 time and pedal points.  The spacing for the chord Peter mentioned is amazing and it makes the chord not too close to clash with each other. 

I also agree with Quinn that that da capo can actually be written out with slight change on instrumentation. The change may not require to be big since it's a prelude, but some slight changes with mix this up very well. Apart from changing that pizz., having the role reversed for the winds and strings seems like a good idea for me!

For me in the middle section (b.8), I may have the oboe and bassoon placed one by one instead of appearing together, in order to prevent that quaver rest on the last quaver beat, since you have the clarinet there for accompaniment and this may prevent too thick a texture for the first half of the measure while too thin for the latter half. But this is personal.

I would also love this to be extended since it's very lovely and I want it non-stop lol!

Thx for sharing Samuel!

Henry