Revolution Piece

This is the solo version of my Revolution Piece. Initially (abt a yr ago) composed it for solo piano but as if for a duet in terms of playability ( which sounds more complete and needed ), so I've instead decided to delete that and make both versions - a dumbed-down one more-or-less playable for solo piano, and another for duet ( haven't finished )... and perhaps another for orchestra as some hv suggested ( haven't started ). 

Score: https://musescore.com/user/62605720/scores/11404237 ( Idk why I can't convert to pdf for these 2 weeks and counting )

Five main parts (personally) :

Allegro: 0.05 - 2.55

Slow part which gradually gains momentum: 2.56-8.55

Transition: 8.56-10.42

Allegro and climax: 10.43 -13.50

Ending: 13.50 - 17.36

Revolution was more or less wht I considered when I composed first theme, and so it went.

Shld hv included pedals for the first note of m 84-91 and 413-420 and/or change them to crotchets, but I guess its safe that its understood right?

Any feedbacks greatly appreciated!

Hi @Aw Ke Shen!

This is a real long solo work! I love the energy of the C minor march early on. The simpler harmonic progression really helps push the music forward while maintaining a more simplistic mood. And I love the augmented you use to end the section. I think the up an octave line is not necessary though.

I think the slow section is a bit repetitive and long, maybe cut out some of the repetitions? The motive and the harmonic progression repeats too much in my opinion. I see that you wanna have the tempo getting faster poco a poco and texture thicker and thicker, but I think the process is too long, and the contrast is not enough. Maybe you can add a contrasting section in between too!

I like your transition, but maybe I will only retain it up to b.285 since again I personally feel it is too long and unnecessarily repetitive. 

The climax is more or less the theme from the beginning and I think you can add more variety, for example I absolutely love the modulation to (my favourite) C sharp minor in b.340! The theme is not changing much except faster tempo and thicker texture. Maybe you can change the underlying rhythmic pattern and treat each return as a variation of the theme! 

The ending is more or less material from the slow section and I think you can vary your material more! Like even in the famous Fifth Symphony first movement Beethoven introduced a new theme in the coda! It can for sure add another dimension to the music.

Thx for sharing! I like the energy of the piece.

Henry
 

On 1/11/2024 at 9:04 PM, Henry Ng Tsz Kiu said:

I think the slow section is a bit repetitive and long, maybe cut out some of the repetitions? The motive and the harmonic progression repeats too much in my opinion. I see that you wanna have the tempo getting faster poco a poco and texture thicker and thicker, but I think the process is too long, and the contrast is not enough. Maybe you can add a contrasting section in between too!

I like your transition, but maybe I will only retain it up to b.285 since again I personally feel it is too long and unnecessarily repetitive. 

I'm considering cutting half of the repeats for the other versions, thus having more changes within each repeats, rather than having little changes for every repeat. I think this would concurrently solve the problem of contrast since the contrasts will be clearer.

On 1/11/2024 at 9:04 PM, Henry Ng Tsz Kiu said:

I see that you wanna have the tempo getting faster poco a poco and texture thicker and thicker

And also the dynamics and the shift from c minor to eb major, tragic to optimistic mood. Wanted subtle changes, but ended up taking so many rounds before the transformation is complete, making the middle sect too long and repetitive to so many.

On 1/11/2024 at 9:04 PM, Henry Ng Tsz Kiu said:

 I think the up an octave line is not necessary though

Ooh

On 1/11/2024 at 9:04 PM, Henry Ng Tsz Kiu said:

Beethoven introduced a new theme in the coda! It can for sure add another dimension to the music.

Hmm. This is something I should explore and try out! I hv almost never introduced new theme at the end of my pieces, esp since most of them are much shorter than this.

Thanks for the feedbacks!