Piano Sonata no.3 in C sharp minor, First Movement, Allegro con fuoco e agitato

I left a comment on youtube but I thought it was very skillfully written in addition to taking a lot of pianistic ability to play

11 hours ago, gaspard said:

I left a comment on youtube but I thought it was very skillfully written in addition to taking a lot of pianistic ability to play

Thx for listening! It indeed takes me some time to practice it and everytime after it my hands and wrists get exhausted since there are a lot of octaves!

Henry

Hello Henry,

This is a well-written sonata! Great job, and I appreciate your efforts in recording this performance.

The triplet octaves must be really hard to play at this tempo, but you executed them very well. You must've taken some ideas from Chopin's Scherzo No. 3, which is also written in C-sharp minor and features rapid octave passages. The melodic second theme in bars 42-51 and 177-186 is one of my favourite parts of this movement, as well as the first few measures of the recapitulation at bar 142. For bars 142-149, I like how you creatively doubled the note values and used alternating octaves in the accompaniment, which adds more colour to the music.

Other than the parallel fifths in some sections (e.g. bars 3-4 and 138), I have nothing else to say. I am glad to hear that you enjoyed playing this sonata yourself! I can't wait to listen to the second movement. Overall, what a virtuosic performance!

Carl Koh Wei Hao

Hey Carl,

Thx for your listening and feedback!

On 12/16/2023 at 1:28 PM, Carl Koh Wei Hao said:

Other than the parallel fifths in some sections (e.g. bars 3-4 and 138)

Yeah I do intentionally have those parallel fifths, since I want a cruder and less polished sound there  to signify the crudeness of my anger haha!

On 12/16/2023 at 1:28 PM, Carl Koh Wei Hao said:

The triplet octaves must be really hard to play at this tempo, but you executed them very well.

Thx! But I know I miss A LOT !! 🤪

On 12/16/2023 at 1:28 PM, Carl Koh Wei Hao said:

You must've taken some ideas from Chopin's Scherzo No. 3, which is also written in C-sharp minor and features rapid octave passages.

Yeah it’s my favourite Scherzo out of the four, not only because it’s in my favourite key, but that ending is one of the all time best ending!!! Even better than the no.2 one. But I never think of the piece when I was composing, maybe it again subconsciously entered my mind!

On 12/16/2023 at 1:28 PM, Carl Koh Wei Hao said:

The melodic second theme in bars 42-51 and 177-186 is one of my favourite parts of this movement

Yeah that’s one of the earliest material I have, back in 2019!! It doesn’t match with the opening material at all but I wanna retain it since I love it very much! And now it fits very well in the place of a second theme of the second subject.

On 12/16/2023 at 1:28 PM, Carl Koh Wei Hao said:

as well as the first few measures of the recapitulation at bar 142. For bars 142-149, I like how you creatively doubled the note values and used alternating octaves in the accompaniment, which adds more colour to the music.

Yeah I definitely learn that from Brahms and Beethoven, esp. the former’s a symphony no.4 and a String Quartet no.1. The augmentation treatment is planned early on since I really wanna use that, and I made the development ended properly to fit it. For the alternating octaves I originally planned to play it with my left hand, but it apparently is too fast for my left hand so I change it with alternating hands! Luckily I try playing it myself!

Thx for your review!

Henry

Hi henry, I admit that I haven't read all of the comments reviewing your piece, but I completely agree with the idea that the Beethovenian atmosphere is a success here. I don't know Beethoven well enough to probably be able to understand the subtleties (or references) associated with the style, but I enjoyed it greatly. I also didn't know you were such an accomplished performer! Here are some passages that I particularly appreciated in your piece: 

- The 2nd theme of 2nd subject (1:20), loved this more cantabile passage 

- 2:20 : I love the 3 hands effect!

- 2:45 god this passage is probably my favorite of the movement. The harmonic progression as well as the more peaceful and "romantic" (in the first sense of the term) dimension of it makes it delightful. 

- 3: 11 : I dont know if this is wanted, but the theme reminded me of Moszkowski's E major concerto in that particular moment. I also adore the accompaniament (which sounds quite Mendelssohnian).

- 3:30 : Love the texture of the RH 

- 5:50 : so much harmonic tension, it's dramatic 

- 7:25 I'm not a fan of the 3 closing chords, but I understand it totally in that context! 

These are my little remarks. I loved. It's totally consistent in my opinion. I do not necessarily feel legitimate in making other criticisms because for me this piece is perfectly coherent. Looking forward to hearing the next movements. Thank you Henry !

Hey Camille, thx for your detailed review!

12 hours ago, Camfrtt said:

I admit that I haven't read all of the comments reviewing your piece, but I completely agree with the idea that the Beethovenian atmosphere is a success here. I don't know Beethoven well enough to probably be able to understand the subtleties (or references) associated with the style, but I enjoyed it greatly.

Yeah when I am angry I am a Beethovanian!!! When I composed this I was in my depression time so I had to write like this angry and brainless!!!!

12 hours ago, Camfrtt said:

I also didn't know you were such an accomplished performer!

Thank you! I know I have made many mistakes but it looks like it's not too bad!!

12 hours ago, Camfrtt said:

The 2nd theme of 2nd subject (1:20), loved this more cantabile passage 

I like this theme too! Although I love the C# minor version of it (5:24) much more!!!!!!!!!!!!!😜😜

12 hours ago, Camfrtt said:

2:20 : I love the 3 hands effect!

Thx! Idk why I write this quasi-fugal like passage here and I wanna add some triplets here so I use three voices here!

12 hours ago, Camfrtt said:

2:45 god this passage is probably my favorite of the movement. The harmonic progression as well as the more peaceful and "romantic" (in the first sense of the term) dimension of it makes it delightful. 

I love it too! I love it even more because it's a variation of the opening theme but the effect and mood is very different from it! The coda theme is actually the tonic version of this (6:18) and I love it too!!

12 hours ago, Camfrtt said:

3: 11 : I dont know if this is wanted, but the theme reminded me of Moszkowski's E major concerto in that particular moment. I also adore the accompaniament (which sounds quite Mendelssohnian).

I don't even know this composer, my bad! I am just thinking of varying the opening theme here, but thanks for pointing out the simliarity!

12 hours ago, Camfrtt said:

3:30 : Love the texture of the RH 

Thx! It's hard to play right??

12 hours ago, Camfrtt said:

5:50 : so much harmonic tension, it's dramatic 

Yay!

12 hours ago, Camfrtt said:

7:25 I'm not a fan of the 3 closing chords, but I understand it totally in that context! 

Yeah maybe I just want something simple here and make the music more cruel so I write with 3 closing chords on tonic haha!

12 hours ago, Camfrtt said:

These are my little remarks. I loved. It's totally consistent in my opinion. I do not necessarily feel legitimate in making other criticisms because for me this piece is perfectly coherent. Looking forward to hearing the next movements. Thank you Henry !

Thx so much! Hopefully I can practice and polish the 2nd movement soon!!!

Henry

Yo Vince,

I am late for this one!!!

On 12/4/2023 at 1:59 PM, Thatguy v2.0 said:

First of all, yes the audio isn't that great. Yes I know you know that. Yes I'm the same way, I care mostly about the notes themselves and the performance. Yes sharing your recording here of all places is absolutely acceptable (hell it's better than any midi), but what others have said rings true about quality being very important. I'd say it's something to invest in, but if your situation doesn't allow you to freely record yourself in some optimal way... do what I do. Just go to a studio and have them record you. It's worth all of your hard work and time you've invested into your own music. Trust me, music production is a lot to learn, and you can do it, as can I. But if you're anything like me, learning a bunch of nonmusical nonsense in home recording is tedious and boring. If you're up for it, great. Go full throttle because it IS worth learning. But I don't have the time or money to care as much as some others who really enjoy the craft and dedication it takes. I'm amateur at best, and I'd rather devote my time to practicing my instrument and pure composition rather than mixing and engineering. You're a smart guy, you work a nice job and make a decent living. You're single, yes? No kids? Damn son, save that money for studio time!

yeah I should consider this, thx to Boss Mike's roasting of it!! I definitely have zero talents on music production so I should ask someone's help on that!

On 12/4/2023 at 1:59 PM, Thatguy v2.0 said:

I love that you just poured your heart out into this. You let your emotions take the reigns and dictate your every move. It sounds raw to me, like a primal rage kept in check by your studies and skill as a composer. I listened to this a few times, and after the first, I took off my composer hat and just let the music take me wherever you wanted it to go. 

Yes this one is quite special. I completely let my emotion take the control of this one since during the composition period I was very depressed and I needed it as self-therapy. I thought nothing of the originality or planning or so since I only wanna self-theraprized myself. It's a very interesting experiment to have this kind of experience. I was real angry on the world and myself and I think it's shown in my music, which is a good thing.

On 12/4/2023 at 1:59 PM, Thatguy v2.0 said:

Henry, you ARE a fantastic pianist. This is more personal to me, and not really the point of anything I'm saying in this comment, but I adore every time you mention your students, or any time you talk about being a teacher. As you know, I've done the same, and there are so many times where I catch myself learning new things and thinking about an aspect of music in a new way simply by reinforcing my knowledge or experience to someone else. The detail you give your performance (and other pieces of yours!) is something to admire. Sure I play piano a bit, but guitar is my main instrument. And the care you take with your precision and desire to let the musicality of your music flourish is something that I've taken from listening to your music. You'd be surprised to know that there have been times when I record myself and think, "yeah, that's good"... but then re-evaluate. It wouldn't be good enough for Henry. Gotta do it again. It's better that way 😄 If you're going to immortalize your music with your own recording, make it perfect (as in the performance, not the audio haha). 

I don't know I have this secret influence on you Vince! You know, I never know piano much until I teach students. Despite having much more practice time 10 years ago, I wouldn't be able to play this one because my piano technique was worse then. It's only through teaching I know how to play piano!! And I think now I have better control of myself when playing. Years ago I once couldn't control my crying when playing Chopin's C minor Nocturne. It's great to have high senstivie mind for an artists and composers, but not so for a pianist. I am better but still improving now.

I am always confused of finding my style. I hope I can find my voice. I think I do find some in my String Sextet, but obviously not in this one. My emotion is real which is important, but by the time when I was composing this I really didn't think of originality at all since my emotion was depressed that time, and I just wanna wrote my emotion out. I think the 2nd movement is better in terms of originality, you will see!!

I always learn much from you, whether it's your long long review or our conversations. You always give me new inspiration on what to do next and what to improve. Really grateful to have met you Bro.

Henry