Two new preludes

Hi, I've recently composed two short preludes for solo piano. I'd like to know your thoughts. Thank you in advance!

Hello @Moueen Issa, I really like these two preludes, I think they are good pieces with a certain level of development that make them sound complete, but they are not long enough to be stand alone pieces. Therefore, being really effective as preludes.

I like how the main motives in both pieces are simple and easily recognisable, so the listener can apreciarte the development throughout and pay attention to the counterpoint when this motives are occurring in different voices

My favourite is the second one, since it has more of a driving rhythm and nice chromaticism (also, the melody is more catchy). Though the end is slightly abrupt. Maybe the ending chord could be repeated in the third beat?

Thanks for sharing your music

12 minutes ago, Jqh73o said:

Hello @Moueen Issa, I really like these two preludes, I think they are good pieces with a certain level of development that make them sound complete, but they are not long enough to be stand alone pieces. Therefore, being really effective as preludes.

I like how the main motives in both pieces are simple and easily recognisable, so the listener can apreciarte the development throughout and pay attention to the counterpoint when this motives are occurring in different voices

My favourite is the second one, since it has more of a driving rhythm and nice chromaticism (also, the melody is more catchy). Though the end is slightly abrupt. Maybe the ending chord could be repeated in the third beat?

Thanks for sharing your music

 

Thanks for the feedback! In fact, I have similar thoughts as well. I like the second prelude more, and after I posted them and relistened I felt the end in both was abrupt and needed more preparation. Perhaps the final measure should have had the final chord in the third beat. 

I appreciate your listening and detailed analysis!

Hello @Moueen Issa!

F minor Prelude - it is surprising how much harmonic and chromatic fluidity this has and still manages to make musical sense.  Just a notation nitpick - I think if you staccato a note it's okay to leave it as an 8th note instead of notating it as a 16th note which looks really ugly and is harder to read for the pianist.

A minor Prelude - this one is also very chromatic and with a fast harmonic rhythm and still manages to make musical sense.  It reminds me of the Sonata's of Scarlatti a bit especially towards the end.  I have the same notation nitpick for this one as the last prelude, but also - I think to make it clearer where there's legato I think you should tie the first note of the bar to the 2nd staccato note here:

 (And also keep the staccato notes as 8th notes - that's I think a pretty standard way to show staccato notes.  It's redundant and ugly looking and harder to read to also shorten them to 16th's)

Thanks for sharing!

7 hours ago, PeterthePapercomPoser said:

Hello @Moueen Issa!

F minor Prelude - it is surprising how much harmonic and chromatic fluidity this has and still manages to make musical sense.  Just a notation nitpick - I think if you staccato a note it's okay to leave it as an 8th note instead of notating it as a 16th note which looks really ugly and is harder to read for the pianist.

A minor Prelude - this one is also very chromatic and with a fast harmonic rhythm and still manages to make musical sense.  It reminds me of the Sonata's of Scarlatti a bit especially towards the end.  I have the same notation nitpick for this one as the last prelude, but also - I think to make it clearer where there's legato I think you should tie the first note of the bar to the 2nd staccato note here:

 (And also keep the staccato notes as 8th notes - that's I think a pretty standard way to show staccato notes.  It's redundant and ugly looking and harder to read to also shorten them to 16th's)

Thanks for sharing!

 

Thank you so much for the advice!

Hi @Moueen Issa,

General comment about the 2 pieces: I agree with @Jqh73o regarding the length of your pieces: I feel a bit "frustrated" that the piece finishes that early. Gave me a feeling of "the guy was a bit in a hurry to finish his piece".

1/ In the prelude in F minor, I particularly enjoyed the transition in bar 9, and bb. 15-22. A detail: first bass note of measure 13 didn't seem "correct" to my ears. 

2/ Regarding your prelude in A minor, what I liked most were material intro (bar 1), material around bar 5. What I liked less was the almost duplicated bars 7 & 8 (bar 8 would have deserved a little more work) . Transition in bars 13-14 is good, the next one (bb. 15-16) feels a bit weird. Maybe a third transition step would have made it smoother?

Overall, I really enjoyed listening to your pieces, thanks for sharing!

Julien

37 minutes ago, mazeth said:

Hi @Moueen Issa,

General comment about the 2 pieces: I agree with @Jqh73o regarding the length of your pieces: I feel a bit "frustrated" that the piece finishes that early. Gave me a feeling of "the guy was a bit in a hurry to finish his piece".

1/ In the prelude in F minor, I particularly enjoyed the transition in bar 9, and bb. 15-22. A detail: first bass note of measure 13 didn't seem "correct" to my ears. 

2/ Regarding your prelude in A minor, what I liked most were material intro (bar 1), material around bar 5. What I liked less was the almost duplicated bars 7 & 8 (bar 8 would have deserved a little more work) . Transition in bars 13-14 is good, the next one (bb. 15-16) feels a bit weird. Maybe a third transition step would have made it smoother?

Overall, I really enjoyed listening to your pieces, thanks for sharing!

Julien

 

Thank you for your detailed comment! I agree that they both give the impression of incomplete, hurriedly-written pieces. Although preludes can be this short in general, but that shortness would require a sense of unity and completeness. This hurry and impatience manifest, I think, in some of the transitions as well.