Sonata No. 1 in 3 Movements

This is the first Sonata I've written. I've attempted to write music with multiple movements in the past, and have always struggled with it. I decided to give it another shot, and this is what I came up with. Let me know what you think: comments, thoughts, criticisms all welcome. 

Hi Zach!

You have quite adventurous harmony/modulation at the introduction of the 1st movement!  The exposition does settle down into the key of F# minor however, with the 2nd theme (at least starting) in A major.  Then, the development effectively visits the key center of F minor before returning to F# minor once again, just like the introduction and 1st theme.

The bittersweet stillness evoked by the 2nd movement is a great contrast to the intensity of both the 1st and 3rd movement!  And there is thematic unity between all 3 movements which is hard to pull off without seeming like you're just repeating yourself.

The 3rd movement is by far my favorite of the 3.  It's like some kind of rondo-scherzo form or something with variations and details added each time you return to each of the ideas/themes.  I think your transitions in this sonata are quite solid imo.  I think I find the task of writing a piano sonata so daunting because it's so raw and all your weaknesses get put on display, and I don't want to find out that I'm not good at transitions.  Then again, I've also developed a variation technique that might help me with that.  This movement is very cohesive and organically unified with the other 2 movements.  Congrats on this achievement!  Thanks for sharing.

Peter

Hi @SergeOfArniVillage,

3 hours ago, SergeOfArniVillage said:

This is the first Sonata I've written. I've attempted to write music with multiple movements in the past, and have always struggled with it. I decided to give it another shot, and this is what I came up with.

This is surprising to me, since I know how good you can to compose piano music but this is your first multi-movement work?

I agree with Peter on the Gesulado-like nature of the introduction and I love its advanced progressions. The 1st theme is well orchestrated and I love the energy. I really love in b.21 the struggle between F minor and F sharp minor continues. The introduction to the A major theme is nice, and I love all those suspensions. I feel like the transition to F minor beginning of the development a bit abrupt, but I love all those hand crossings (I have similiar passage in my sonata movement which you love haha!) I love the late burstout of the movement, but maybe my Sonata mindset is too stubborn so I think the movement ends a bit too early.

For the 2nd movement it's sad the pedal cannot hold for long in the midi. I love the contrast of dynamics and movements here, but the hand crossing is still present to mix up the texture, especially the bells in b. 34.

I love the 3rd movement with its relative simplicity of harmonic languages comparing to the first two movements. The phrase in b.15 is quite Hungarian. I think the phrase in b.63 can be played by two hands. What does the "quasi second voice" in b.77 means? The harmonic progression is great there though. I think you can vary up a bit for the b.75 section since the pattern doesn't change for 25 bars which is fourth of the movement at that time. 

1 hour ago, PeterthePapercomPoser said:

I think I find the task of writing a piano sonata so daunting because it's so raw and all your weaknesses get put on display, and I don't want to find out that I'm not good at transitions.

Beware of those RANDOM pauses LoL!!

Thx for sharing!

Henry

@PeterthePapercomPoser thank you! What you said about writing sonatas putting your weaknesses on display is so true. It really taught me a lot about tightening my writing so that it doesn’t just go all over the place.

@Henry Ng Tsz Kiu thank you! Yes, this is my first multi-movement work. I mean, I have written multi-movement works before, but this is the first one that came out unscathed 😂 everything’s a learning experience!

About the “quasi 2nd voice” note, that was just something I wrote down when I was figuring out how I wanted to develop that section. The accented note there and following accented notes felt like they were somewhere between “just a harmonic note” and an actual 2nd voice with a full quarter note stem, which I thought was interesting. But I just forgot to delete the comment, it wasn’t supposed to be on the score. I’ll delete it later, when I clean up the test of the score, since some parts are still messy.

”Beware of random pauses!” 🤣 My God, it feels like a new meme has been born! That’s hilarious.

Thank you both for dropping by and commenting, I appreciate it.

Update: cleaned up some of the score, some parts were pretty messy.

Wow, this is really good

I've listened to this twice all the way through, 3rd time as I type (and dogs bothering me lol). I'm glad you posted all 3 movements together so we get the full picture for what you were going for. I have to say, after hearing the full scope of your vision, it'd be a shame if someone ever only knew a single movement. Yes, they absolutely could stand on their own, but the way they coincide with each other and need each other's parts for continuity is riveting, suspenseful, and ultimately gorgeous. 

You've been here a long time as have I; do you remember Berlioz? Everytime I heard something of his, no matter how "good" or "bad" I or anyone else thought it was, it was undeniably his own style, and I think you achieve the same sentiment. Where you lead the listener is incredibly unique to me. A lot of times I can tell where someone is going with their music in some spot or section, and that's fine. Sometimes it's exactly where I want it to go (that's pretty good!), but other times it's somewhere that's a let down (that's pretty bad!). But with your music, I don't know where it's going. And instead, I feel like I'm taken on a journey.

Movement 1 was creative, bold, brash, exciting, emotional, jarring yet beautiful, harsh yet lusciously crafted with clearly loads of thought and tinkering. I love the care you take to the textures throughout. You're not afraid to be rhythmic and catchy, and you contrast that with ingenious isolated notes. You did a fantastic job at using sonata form. To me... I'm no expert. But if @Henry Ng Tsz Kiu approves, I approve. It sounded like it to me, you had really clear sections and transitions, so nothing felt out of place. Your music even gave the form a great sense of poetry to me, so kudos (I'll be referring back to your piece among others for when I get the balls to write a sonata). 

The first movement was probably my favorite, with lots of cool stylistic rhythms and motives that sounded unique. It was very dramatic, and you used some pretty cool chord choices (for instance, I love vi -  bVI stuff 😄 ). I never got bored, and you had a lot of well placed rests, shifts in material, transitions, etc., to keep the music flowing without ever getting stagnant. 

I really like how you glued all the movements together, too. Little intros that led to the next movement, or short interludes foreshadowing something to come.

Don't let me understate the second movement, however.  Serge...of Arni Village... you wouldn't happen to be a fan of RPG's?? This movement gave me nostalgia, as I couldn't help but think of playing 16 bit SNES RPG's while listening. I love how you kept it simple, yet still explored a bit of technique (hand crossing, for example). In fact, an overall welcome when hearing this was the fact that you kept this playable for the majority of serious seekers of piano greatness. And not just the second movement, but for the entire sonata... I could tell you kept the player's efforts in mind. 

Wait... is the 3rd movement my favorite? I can't even tell anymore, the whole thing is fantastic and well-executed that it doesn't do it justice for someone to hear only one movement. You take previous themes and shape them into a bar-brawling dance, only fitting after the dramatic first movement and the beautiful chorale-type second. You make the finale joyous and fun, rambunctious yet controlled in a masterful way. 

Once again, I really like your style. And I REALLY like how you're not afraid to be simple. I hear too much showmanship and fantastical feats with composers trying to "prove" themselves, when in reality that not what music is to me. Never forget to use rests (which you do), and space (which you do), and timing (which you do), to just say simple words for simple people. And when the time calls for it, bedazzle them too with masterful artistry at a chosen instrument. 

So yeah, I dig this. And, you've become quite the composer. I hope you choose to stick around friend, our community could really benefit from your insight and experience. 

@Thatguy v2.0 ... ... ... thank you. I'm kind of stunned by such high praise (and maybe I cried -- no details, but I'm just going through a lot)

I remember seeing a lot of Berlioz's comments, but I actually never listened to Berlioz's stuff. I don't know why his music fell through the cracks for me. I wish I could hear some of his work, I love listening to people who have a unique style.

And yes, my user name: Serge of Arni Village. From the game Chrono Cross. I was 18 when I played it. And there were times when the music (I learned later it was composed by Yasunori Mitsuda) would play, and I would just put down the controller and stare at the screen in complete and utter disbelief at what I was hearing. Thoughts and emotions that went far beyond anything I could have ever imagined, and to this day could not really describe (because the words don't really exist, and cannot exist, but can only be expressed without words, only sounds), and yet played in my ears, but now beating in my heart, a beauty and significance so powerful that it ached. 
 

You know how you once called me a "music chef"? Mitsuda's style of composition is, to me, like when a chef makes a "reduction", boiling a sauce down until it's most potent and amplified essence becomes manifest. His music is, on the surface, so unbelievably simple, and yet somehow, done in a way that stripped away all "distraction", and is so sincere, so raw, so completely devoid of anything even approaching the pretentious, that all that is left is the boiled-down reduction of a pure emotion. (And so underneath the simplicity belies genius. Mozart said something I believe is really profound. "Love is the soul of genius." The complexity of a thing or lack thereof isn't the soul of genius -- it's the love you put into it.) And experiencing something like that changed me. Listening to his incredible soundtrack is what made me want to be a composer in the first place. I never, ever would have gotten interested in composition if not for that soundtrack. 

(Incidentally, some of Mitsuda's music features striking pauses. I learned early on how important pauses can be!)

I feel the same way as you about music: music isn't about difficulty, it's not about flashiness, it's not about proving oneself in whatever way... to me, it all comes down to, "do you have something to say?"  Then, say it. Express it. Even if it's uncomfortable, or it hurts to say, or it makes you feel too naked: say it.

So, thank you, @Thatguy v2.0, and again, thank you @PeterthePapercomPoser and @Henry Ng Tsz Kiu for taking time to listen and comment. I really appreciate it.

6 minutes ago, SergeOfArniVillage said:

I remember seeing a lot of Berlioz's comments, but I actually never listened to Berlioz's stuff.

https://www.mbulteau.com/

😄 

9 minutes ago, Thatguy v2.0 said:

https://www.mbulteau.com/

😄 

 

So this is the site of the famous @Berlioz!

@Thatguy v2.0 Oh wow! You, sir, are a king. Thank you for the link, I look forward to hearing his music when I get the chance!

First movement was the most intriguing for me, and the ballade-like form works well, the atmosphere of the first movement is set for me, it is a very entire experience.

The second movement is short but contemplative. Were you perhaps tempted to make the second movement longer? But I felt you have stopped at the right length. It made me feel peace.

Third movement I cannot appreciate well... maybe it is the problem with MIDI, the sheer repetitiveness is very distracting for me. In the right hands it might just sound a lot better. I think the piece will benefit from a dedicated coda/codetta section though.

And again, the first sonata I posted on this forum isn't my first. I'm not professional by any means, but sometimes you just got to make more things happen, then you will create more and more and eventually masterpieces!

@PCC thank you for taking time to listen! MIDI performances are, indeed, double-edged swords, aren't they? I actually try to write in such a way that MIDI playback won't butcher what I write, because sometimes, MIDI just cannot cut it for certain pieces. An inspired pianist is always going to outdo MIDI playback. I don't know how much a live playback would elevate this piece, though. I hope one day, I can find out!

And you're right about "just keep writing". I also believe that's the best way to improve!