Piano Quartet in C minor: I. Allegro EXPOSITION BLOCK DRAFT

Hey all--

  Rumors of my demise are false.   The last 8 month or so I've been busy taking care of my aging parents.  Let me just say I'd rather be composing...

  I have restarted violin lessons, and have only recently begun to regain some form after an 8 year break--- what free time I have I've spend practicing, though I've written out drafts of ideas with pencil and paper.

  Attached in the worked out exposition of the 1st movement exposition (only) from the piano demo I submitted earlier.  I'm pleased with the opening, but plan to revise for more variety in repeated sections, eliminate the ritardando leading into the 1st theme repeat (to keep the energy high), and generally improve interest with more coloratura passages.

  I have worked hard to make a seamless flowing piece, with ligature connecting phrasing and the use of the opening figure as another element of interest besides the 2 themes...

  The ENDING codetta will be pushed to the end of the movement as it sound TOO final--but I like the rising sequence idea to mirror the opening.

  This was done in October or so.  I'm gearing up for the development , which needs to be the best 3 to 4 minutes of music I've written so far.  Shooting for completion by September and the 3rd movement rondo done by January.  My violin teacher is helping finding musicians for a workshop and I'm looking for a recording studio.

  My parents are well, and settled, and I'm glad to be back and ready to work!

   Note:   The MP3 rendering was done with VSL solo strings and the D-274 Steinway lite.  I've picked up the CFX, Steinway, Bosendorfer, and Bluethner 1895 standard libraries and will likely use the Bosendorfer for the final rendering of everything.  The articulations, tremolos, pizz., etc... for the strings are very good, it seems to me.

Hi @Rich!

Nice piano quartet movement - I wish I could say it is beautiful in its simplicity!  Not that it isn't a nice theme but it is approached and set much too complexly for my taste.  When I write I usually try to let my main ideas which a piece is based on be as simple as possible, letting complexity arise from the working out of those ideas in as lucid and inspired and spontaneous a fashion as I can.  But for me, despite being pretty good overall, your piece lacks some spontaneity.  The changes in dynamics and tempo often don't make sense to me as if you can't make up your mind about how fast you want to go.  In my mind, when I write I try to have a good reason for every decision I make, otherwise I will end up writing something that sounds random.  For example in measures 29 - 33 you seem to start a transitional section which ultimately ends up leading right back to a re-iteration of the main theme.  But the material there slows down and creates a nice moment/segue into what the listener I think is led to expect should be a 2nd theme, possibly in another key.  I like what you do at measure 49 creating a sort of question/answer loud/soft dichotomy.  Right after that you go into a Neapolitan 6th chord which should be spelled with a Db rather than a C#.  I do like the 2nd theme which is then exposited in the Cello in F major.  Overall it is still a very enjoyable piece!

But about the complexity thing - I think that is a problem that I would struggle with also if I forced myself to revise too much of my work.  I've always valued spontaneity and simplicity over complexity and I try to pursue those values in my music through letting go of the old (although of course not without letting myself learn as much as I can from past mistakes) and embracing each new project with optimism and a fresh mind (and not expecting anything to be perfect - just letting myself follow my heart through my music).  I hope you understand what I mean - thanks for sharing, and keep writing!

Peter ---

  Thank you for the listen and comments.

  Yeah, the little tag leading into the repeat is being reworked into an at-tempo transition to the a theme again---trying to get away from as many ritards/pauses as I can..   In fact, a major goal after finishing the 2nd movement was making the piece more fluid---which was achieved to some extent.  A bad habit of mine.

    I look at the complexity thing as a feature!    I listened  to a lot of romantic period piano quartets before and while I am writing---  and am aiming at something as close as possible to the style.  While I am trying to limit the difficulty, keeping it commensurate with the reward for the effort of playing, the actual interplay of voices/motifs is something I was actually aiming for.  The 2nd  movement was quite staid and straightforward--which is nice, but for the allegro I wanted some more sonic interest-- a real contrast.

  As for spontaneity---there is NONE!  This is all very deliberate, from the thematic material demo I posted, to the working out of the form, sequence in the beginning, etc...  This is my 6th piece, and the most ambitious so far.  The lesson I have learned is planning is my friend.    Of course, this is what I call a "block draft"--just the major elements put in place.  I will be starting on revisions and the development/recap in a few weeks, at which time the hope is to smooth things to the point of APPEARING inevitable and spontaneous.  Unfortunately, my student status doesn't give much room for spontaneity out of the starting gate.   

  Interestingly, the pause/echo bit you responded positively to was a bit of what I call "discovery" that wasn't initially planned--and perhaps as such is effective to me, too.

   Along that same line of thought, I am working to make the repeats of thematic material more varied, and break from simple reiteration to a little motivic reiteration of fragments, "extemporaneous" digressions....   

  But I get your argument.   I am hoping to write a string quartet following this 3 movement piece.  I will have had more experience by then, and am very much more comfortable with that form as a listener.  Hopefully I can create with a looser feel.

   If the quality holds up, at completion I am going to workshop the piece with real live musicians--and am very excited at what should be an excellent learning experience.  I'm sure that will help inform my approach .

  I will say that the first 2/3rds of this exposition were written much faster and more assured than the 1st painful outing with the Andante.    I am learning!    But for my parental care issues, I would have been done!  Life!!

   I've been living with this Piano Quartet for so long, I've gained the dubious "superpower" of being able to mentally rescore everything I hear into a piano quartet!  Funny and a bit annoying!  I'll be well and truly ready to move on!!!

  Thank you again.  Your right in your assessment.  I just have to pace myself....  Composing is HARD!--but the most rewarding thing for me...

Good luck with finding musicians and the recording studio!

2 hours ago, murphybridget said:

Good luck with finding musicians and the recording studio!

  Thanks--

   In my area, studios are no problem-- there are a dozen or more.--- $60 -$80/hr with a grand piano and a sound engineer.

  Finding musicians that can sight read the parts AND show up is proving the issue.

      But I have time...