Soliloquy for Bass Oboe (2 minutes)

Hi there,

I've had so much frustration with orchestral stuff recently that I gave in to write a couple of solo pieces, this being one.

It's simple, fairly tonal and explores a less familiar instrument. Alas, though, the samples available were quite limited so it isn't as adventurous as I'd have liked.

Even so, I'm hopeless at writing and developing melody so any criticism good or bad or ideas for improvement in future would be gratefully received. And if you can give it a listen, many thanks. 

Interesting work. 
So that I better understand your approach to this, how did you arrive at the tonal structure of this piece? To my ear, it seems like the tonal direction is at times random, and spontaneously executed. If I’m wrong, please help me better understand the methodology behind this. 

That aside, it did perk my interest for sure. The bassoon is an interesting choice for this - I often liken the bassoon to ‘chatter’. In this case, maybe a ‘rant’ but one that is rather wondering and to an extent eccentric. Perhaps that’s why you called your work a soliloquy
 

thanks for sharing 

Many thanks for your response.

Yes, it was intended to sound spontaneously executed though it took a few days to get it sounding as I wanted it. I gave up writing in keys as such - nothing against either keys or music written in them but I haven't any reason to add to the repertoire.

I usually work in motifs so the tonality such as it is wanders around a bit. It comes back to my period being tutored - initially in college but later privately - avoiding both direct repetition and melodic sequences involving more than 1 semitone step were drummed into me. Chromatic runs were absolute taboos to both my private mentors!

Altogether then, my stuff is loosely structured. It might have helped if I'd spent time dividing the score into bars with individual time signatures - just a bad habit going for 4/4 in everything. I'd do without formal bar lines if I could find an engraving software that allowed it without a lot of extra work. If anything came of the score I'd probably divide it up with time signatures.

I applied the bass oboe because I have samples for it - occasionally use it in scores for personal use - unlikely that unless the BBC offered to play something (little chance) no county or local orchestra would have one. This piece would work with bassoon. I find the bassoon capable of so much lyricism especially in the range covered by this piece except for the highest notes and I might try my hand at a solo. 

Again, thank you for your reply although I feel I haven't been particularly helpful. 

1 hour ago, Quinn said:

Many thanks for your response.

Yes, it was intended to sound spontaneously executed though it took a few days to get it sounding as I wanted it. I gave up writing in keys as such - nothing against either keys or music written in them but I haven't any reason to add to the repertoire.

I usually work in motifs so the tonality such as it is wanders around a bit. It comes back to my period being tutored - initially in college but later privately - avoiding both direct repetition and melodic sequences involving more than 1 semitone step were drummed into me. Chromatic runs were absolute taboos to both my private mentors!

Altogether then, my stuff is loosely structured. It might have helped if I'd spent time dividing the score into bars with individual time signatures - just a bad habit going for 4/4 in everything. I'd do without formal bar lines if I could find an engraving software that allowed it without a lot of extra work. If anything came of the score I'd probably divide it up with time signatures.

I applied the bass oboe because I have samples for it - occasionally use it in scores for personal use - unlikely that unless the BBC offered to play something (little chance) no county or local orchestra would have one. This piece would work with bassoon. I find the bassoon capable of so much lyricism especially in the range covered by this piece except for the highest notes and I might try my hand at a solo. 

Again, thank you for your reply although I feel I haven't been particularly helpful. 

 

 

Am I right to understand, therefore, that your approach to music composition is something of a rebellion against your educational background? 
 

It’s certainly of interest to me to hear how each of the wide, eclectic range of composers on here practice and justify their unique art. Admittedly I’m much more traditional in my approach, relying on reliable means to engage an audience but nonetheless not really adding much unique to the repertoire - it’s been done before and I’d be deluding myself to believe I could produce something truly noteworthy deserving a place in the cannon of music. But that’s never been my incentive. I simply love music from the classical and baroque era, and have made it my life work to better understand it. A largely private and personal pursuit, I suppose… 

More recovery from the damage than rebellion. Expectations at college seemed anti-creative - for example, expected to write 12-tone and other serial music; learn a lot of technical stuff and demonstrate how to apply it. Avoid tonality. 

People wrote stuff and I witnessed some embarrassing moments when fellow students were expected to comment on their scores when rehearsed - and it was pretty obvious they didn't know what they'd written. (Which taught ma a big lesson: know your score like the back of your hand in case you have to prepare it. Not all conductors/performers are kindly!) It put me off. My stuff was said unadventurous because I had to be able to mock it up on a piano or organ so my playing was a limiting factor.

I'd been involved with (tonal) theory (3 and 4 part harmony, Species counterpoint) before college and began writing. We had an ensemble of quite good players at school. I was much into Berg's earlier music and Lulu - the sound of it rather than his amazing serial capabilities - I thought of it as "surreal", the music equivalent of dream with its fragmentary coherence if that makes sense. Berg and Debussy. I should have seen I was doomed to fail. 

So I gave up, decided on another profession and it was a few years later the urge was rekindled, curiously by a single, through-composed work by Villa-Lobos. A series of episodes. And that's the base of how I work now. Motifs, episodes, that have to fit together with a degree of comfort without relying on formal structure. I envy those able to work with formal structures, 8 or 16 bar melodies. (I seem fine with simple structures in light music but not deeper, symphonic stuff.)

I've waffled on a bit - sorry! I don't question how I work now. I'm happy to engage with procedures and works like your own and often wish I could utilise similar. Thanks for bearing with me. 

Hey @Quinn,

The use of the motives like that of the fifth and it’s inversion and the rhythms is very apparent throughout the soliloquy which really gives the piece coherence if listened attentively. These motives are very tonal despite without functional harmony, and the music is very logical, and without the functional harmony makes it cool and fitting the world now. 

On 2/6/2024 at 8:14 PM, Quinn said:

Even so, I'm hopeless at writing and developing melody so any criticism good or bad or ideas for improvement in future would be gratefully received.

I think everyone can write good melodies according to their own gene traits and personalities. Like I think myself am a too emotional person so I can never write a 12 tone melody or atonal melody at all since it’s too logical for me like machine. Many my melody is overly melodramatic too, but that’s why we are unique, since being unique means you have both unique advantage and disadvantage.

19 hours ago, Quinn said:

More recovery from the damage than rebellion. Expectations at college seemed anti-creative - for example, expected to write 12-tone and other serial music; learn a lot of technical stuff and demonstrate how to apply it. Avoid tonality. 

It’s always stupid to learn to write with just one ideology, especially serialism. They tell you how to write serial music but never why. If you don’t feel the desolation Schoenberg feel you shouldn’t write like him. Or maybe I am the one who is rebellious by deliberately writing in an anti-“creative” way by using all sorts of traditional approach. I hate writing “music” just with the intention of discovering new sounds and timbres since music is never just sounds.

19 hours ago, Quinn said:

I envy those able to work with formal structures, 8 or 16 bar melodies. (I seem fine with simple structures in light music but not deeper, symphonic stuff.)

Really? I am trying to get away from those formal structure since otherwise Peter will blame me as bastard who never explores new things LoL!! Just kidding! I think I work quite opposite as I always weight coherence with both formal structure and motives, and I freakingly love sonata form haha. It’s just paradigms and you will have to fit the form to every of your narratives by nuancing the form.

Thx for sharing your works and working procedure! I really enjoy it.

Henry

Great piece!  Reminds me in spirit of the Persichetti Parables for different solo instruments.  I'm sure you know this already since you mentioned that you might modify the score if you picked this piece up again - but I would frame or couch your motifs in appropriate different meters.  This wouldn't significantly change how your piece sounds or anything - just improve how it looks and how it's conceived by the player.  Like you very commonly have 16th runs which would work really well written in 3/4 (meas. 14, beat 2 of meas. 22 could be the beginning of a new 3/4 bar, 26, 29, beat 2 of meas. 33 could also be a beginning of a new 3/4 bar, 34, beat 4 of meas. 34 could be the beginning of another 3/4 bar, etc.).  But what would really change the way your music is performed and the possible perception of more contrast is tempo changes.  Right now you have the whole piece at the same tempo which limits you to coming up with interesting rhythms only within that tempo.  Metric modulations could also significantly enrich your sense of rhythm.  Those are my thoughts.  Thanks for sharing!

Peter

Some very good points, Peter, and thank you indeed for listening and your comments - they're much appreciated because they touch on things I should do more about, like dividing the phrasing into more appropriate meters. And, yes, it needs changes of tempo beyond relying on the duration of the notes.

As I said in the intro I was frustrated by poor progress on an orchestral thing and turning to a solo (on an instrument I rarely use) was a blessing. Almost an unblocking because it persuaded me to do another chamber work (as it stands for octet). I feel more 'in touch' with the instruments, the contrapuntal possibilities rather than wafts of sound from the orchestral machine. 

As this new thing evolves I'll take up your presentation points (and of course if I revisit this oboe solo).

Again, thank you for your time.

.

Bass oboe is one of my favourite instruments: so I love this!

Your composition has a mysterious and intriguing quality that works really well, and suits the instrument perfectly.

Just a shame they're so rare.

Have written quite a few orchestral works myself with bass oboe lines; but have been told there's no chance they'll ever be performed.

The work reminds me of Six Metamorphoses after Ovid for Oboe. 

I found the composition to be expressive and a well designed Soliloquy.  My only question - since I have never played bass oboe is the instruments extreme upper range in the work and how it would actually be produced and sound on the instrument?

Mark

I have yet to meet such a player but I talked about it to a Cor Anglais player when our local orchestra was active. (Covid closed it down and still not restarted). We thought it could manage the same 2 1/2 octaves that the oboe can. He thought instruments had been made with an extension down to the bottom A. We thought this range was feasible by considering the bassoon of which the "normal" range is considered to be 3 octaves.