Air from an orchestral suite

I wrote this air last week for an orchestral suite I've been working on.  I can't quite decide whether it's too schmaltzy or not.

Hey @Aiwendil,

On 4/3/2024 at 4:30 AM, Aiwendil said:

I can't quite decide whether it's too schmaltzy or not.

I don’t find it schmaltzy at all! I find this very enjoyable. In b.44 I think you would go as far as G sharp minor but instead turn back to D major but switching to G minor! That’s unexpected for me. Even it’s an air I want sometimes the strings can play the theme! It would be very beautiful if the violin plays an octave higher for the theme. Thx for sharing!

Henry

Thanks for your comments!  I was worried that the transition back to D major in b. 44-46 was inelegant, reinterpreting the A sharp as a B flat, but I hope it lends a nice little harmonic surprise.

I'm probably betraying my background as a wind player in preferring to keep the strings as accompaniment.  I agree the melody would sound well in the violins, but I guess personally I prefer the way it sounds on horn and oboe.

I may revise this a little, though, as I finish up the piece.  I'll post the whole suite when it's finished.

2 hours ago, Aiwendil said:

I was worried that the transition back to D major in b. 44-46 was inelegant, reinterpreting the A sharp as a B flat, but I hope it lends a nice little harmonic surprise.

I don’t think that’s inelegant but I think you can venture into the remote keys longer and getting back step by step haha. I think of the finale of Mozart’s famous G minor Symphony when in the development section he ventured into as far as C sharp minor (again my fav. key!) step by step, having an interrupted cadence for an A major chord, then again gets back to G minor step by step. I see that you get to B major/ G sharp minor step by step fro D, A, E and B, so maybe you can kind of reverse the route by circle of fifths too! This is just personal however, like for example Beethoven has exactly the opposite progression with yours here, from D minor to B minor in his 4th Piano Concerto.

3 hours ago, Aiwendil said:

I'm probably betraying my background as a wind player in preferring to keep the strings as accompaniment.  I agree the melody would sound well in the violins, but I guess personally I prefer the way it sounds on horn and oboe.

Maybe I have the “advantage” of playing of none of them, so I treat them all fairly and love to have all instruments playing the theme haha!

3 hours ago, Aiwendil said:

I may revise this a little, though, as I finish up the piece.  I'll post the whole suite when it's finished.

Nice!

Henry

This is a very nice piece. The melody is very good and the writing fits the wind instruments very well. But I would like to see a bit more engagement of the string section. You could for example try to incorporate a bit of an up and down movement of the cello voice (something in the way as in Bach´s air on the G-string), or put some of the melody in the lines of the other string instruments. But you have to be frugal in order not to overpower the delicate interplay between the wind instruments.

I see the point made by Henry about the transition in bar 44-46. I think that it is acceptable as it is but it is worth looking for some other solutions. But don´t make the transition too long, because that could disturb the musical rhythm of the piece. Ha, this is the fine art of composing!

For the horn half notes in bar 36, I would suggest to exchange them for G-sharp and C-sharp (instead of the current A and D-sharp) . And in that case, you should of course also adjust the appropriate harmony for the other instruments.

Thanks for posting this piece, and I am looking forward to your suite.

On 4/6/2024 at 4:54 PM, panta rei said:

This is a very nice piece. The melody is very good and the writing fits the wind instruments very well. But I would like to see a bit more engagement of the string section. You could for example try to incorporate a bit of an up and down movement of the cello voice (something in the way as in Bach´s air on the G-string), or put some of the melody in the lines of the other string instruments. But you have to be frugal in order not to overpower the delicate interplay between the wind instruments.

 

I see the point made by Henry about the transition in bar 44-46. I think that it is acceptable as it is but it is worth looking for some other solutions. But don´t make the transition too long, because that could disturb the musical rhythm of the piece. Ha, this is the fine art of composing!

 

For the horn half notes in bar 36, I would suggest to exchange them for G-sharp and C-sharp (instead of the current A and D-sharp) . And in that case, you should of course also adjust the appropriate harmony for the other instruments.

 

Thanks for posting this piece, and I am looking forward to your suite.

 

 

Thanks for your comments!  I do fear that I went too far in keeping the accompaniment simple in this movement, in an effort not to distract from the melodic material.  I may try a version where there's a little more variety in the strings, perhaps switching to an arpeggiated pattern at some points.

Lovely piece. For me, the opening 16-bar theme is almost too good and too delicate to be used repeatedly in this fashion. I wonder if it's possible to transpose the next 16 bars to the dominant (or similar ideas), rewriting the ending so it has a cadence in the tonic key, and expanding the middle section? It'd give your piece a nice rounded binary form, and make the return of the opening later on feel "extra special".

I don't actually think the strings needs to have any melodic activity here - I support your idea of keeping the melody to the winds/brass here. However, the accompanying figures can definitely be changed over time from the quavers you have written. Let your imagination go wild!