Chant mysterieux - Sonata?

Hello, I wanted to share a piano sketch that I wrote in one of my scarce moments of inspiration. I have some other ideas but I will not post them because they are extremely undeveloped

The sketch is in a late-romantic/impressionist/loosely tonal style that I am now gravitating more towards and it deploys a nocturnal eerie atmosphere where a mysterious chant is sung (maybe by the members of a cult, maybe by monks, it is open to interpretation) with bells in the background. The title is in french as a homage to Scriabin, who wrote titles and markings in french.

I would appreciate feedback as well as ways to continue the piece and make it a full length structured piece.

While writing this down, I noticed that my music software is not capable of doing certain things needed to write a piece in this style, such as adding cadenzas, changing the amount of staves throughout a piece, having more than two voices in a stave, having a voice that changes staves, adding proper piano fingerings, writing without a tempo marking or even without a metric etc. Can somebody recommend a more professional composing software that can do this things. Thank you

Chant mysterieux.pdf

What does the piece evoque in your mind so far?

PS: I might submit this for the Halloween challenge that  @chopin posted if I manage to finish it

I love it, and it would be a great submission to my Halloween event. I definitely get a "mystery" vibe with this piece.

As far as how to notate this, I can't suggest Music Jotter yet, as it is unfinished, however I think most software, even MuseScore should be able to handle what you need. MuseScore should handle cadenzas just fine (press control or command while inputting notes). MuseScore also handles multiple voices. My software can handle multiple voices as well, but again, its not polished, or finished yet. However you bring up a good point...hiding staves when not needed (parts?). Something I will consider!

On 8/5/2024 at 4:47 PM, Jqh73o said:

While writing this down, I noticed that my music software is not capable of doing certain things needed to write a piece in this style, such as adding cadenzas, changing the amount of staves throughout a piece, having more than two voices in a stave, having a voice that changes staves, adding proper piano fingerings, writing without a tempo marking or even without a metric etc. Can somebody recommend a more professional composing software that can do this things.

Which software are you using?

Dorico can handle all that, but there will be others.

On 8/5/2024 at 8:40 PM, chopin said:

I love it, and it would be a great submission to my Halloween event. I definitely get a "mystery" vibe with this piece.

As far as how to notate this, I can't suggest Music Jotter yet, as it is unfinished, however I think most software, even MuseScore should be able to handle what you need. MuseScore should handle cadenzas just fine (press control or command while inputting notes). MuseScore also handles multiple voices. My software can handle multiple voices as well, but again, its not polished, or finished yet. However you bring up a good point...hiding staves when not needed (parts?). Something I will consider!

 

Hello @chopin, thank you so much for your feedback.
I cannot use MuseScore because I don’t have a laptop

2 hours ago, Luis Hernández said:

Which software are you using?

Dorico can handle all that, but there will be others.

 

Hello @Luis Hernández

I am using flat io as a music software, mostly because I can input the notes with a keyboard and at the time I started composing, I was just playing around with different intuitive ideas because I didn’t know much or any applicable music theory. Another reason why I use it is because it has a really nice piano sound that I can use to create decent recordings of more unplayable pieces, however, the orchestral sounds are not that good 

Could you tell me more about Dorico, does it have good sound samples? Can it write for orchestra? Is it compatible with iPad?

Thank you

Manuel

Hi @Jqh73o!

I really love the Eb minor major 7th harmonies in this piece which definitely create a creepy vibe!  And I think your live performance brings much to the table that a computer rendition would not be able to reproduce without much gimmicky editing of tempo note by note.  Musescore does allow you to hide unused staves in a longer duration piece - so far, in this piece, there's not really a place where hiding a staff is necessary yet.  Stoked to hear the more complete version in time for Halloween!  Remember that the deadline to submit is by October 1st so you have about a month left.  Thanks for sharing!

Hello @PeterthePapercomPoser, thanks for your comment.
 

I have almost everything already composed in my mind. I will be superposing teme and variation and sonata form. Being the part shared the theme and the introduction to the sonata simultaneously (kind of like Valle d’oberman) I will share here my plan:
 

Bells

Theme/Introduction

“Cadenza”

Exposition

First subject:

Var 1 (Eb min) Bells (I will use pedal points and dissonant chord extensions as unsettling elements

Var 2 (A min) River (I will use uneven bars 11/8 or 13/8 and dissonant chord extension, but this time in arpeggios as unsettling elements)

Transition

Var 3 (Atonal/ quiasi whole tone/mystic/a lot of French sixths) Forest with bats and birds (high tremolos and a constant state of modulation over a whole tone or something accompaniment, misplaced accents)

Second subject

Var 4 (Cb “”Major””, lots of whole tone) mystical spirit (whole tone runs, French sixths resolving to first inversion half finished chords, chromaticism and the melody itself is kind of unsettling)(this will not feel like a variation at all, since it uses the high pitch motif used in the introduction and combines it with a twisted version of the melody)

Codetta: Ending of var 4, (Gb “Major”)

Development: Not fully structured yet

Recapitulation: (Ebm/Am)

“First Subject” 

Variation 5 (though it will be a different number because there are more variations in the development)(a variation on variation 2 itself) River (Apart from all what I said before about this variation, tritone (petrushka) politonality in minor modes is added)

Transition

Variation 6, birds and bats and the forest, (really similar to variation 3 but shorter) 

Second subject:

Variation 7, a mystical driving spirit ( really similar to variation 4, but what was before a languid melody is now driving and maintaining tension to end the recapitulation

First subject:

Variation 8 bells (like variation 1, but fortissimo and the bells are now polytonal, growing intensity)

Coda:

Variation 9: birds and bats petrify and hit the monastery bells (another version of the transition, the tremolos done to represent birds and bats freeze into repeated chords)

Variation 10, the driving force of the spirit intensifies and encourages the possessed monks to burn the monastery (like variation 4, but much stronger in character

Polytonal mess that builds up to a climax

Restatement of the theme, now polytonal, being played simultaneously in Am and Ebm. 

Devil’s laugh

As you can see, I have almost everything in my mind, and there is a program, which I will not share in its entirety until the piece is finished

Hi @Jqh73o,

A very late reply. I enjoy very much on the mysterious mood you created and harmony you used. I would be very curious to know how the theme would be integrated to a sonata form! It’s nice to see a huge plan like Liszt’s B minor Sonata. Let’s see how to execute it!

Henry