Romance in A Minor for String Quartet

EDIT: Changed the name of the piece from "Sentimental Minuet" to "Romance" since I received feedback from several people that the piece was indeed too slow and the "minuet" label was misleading. I believe "Romance/Romanza" fits the style of the composition much better.

Hello everyone, 

I upload here the arrangement for String Quartet I made of my "Sentimental Minuet for Piano". It was originally a saxophone quartet but I realized the melody was always played by the top instrument and it felt repetitive. I tried rearranging the saxophone quartet but it became too hard. Since I understand string instruments a little better I turned it into a string quartet to be able to arrange something less repetitive with the melody going through all the different instruments. 

Any feedback about the arrangement or the composition itself is more than welcome!

Thank you and hope you enjoy it!

------- Original Piano Piece -----------

Gorgeous! You use the voices quite well here. I think this piece really shines in the parts that have rests. I think this is mostly because it feels like you are using the instruments the most you can, and if the harmony doesn't need more notes, you leave them out. You create some extraordinary beauty in those moments. I think your rests really allow the feeling of "Sentimentality" rise out. That along with your gorgeous harmony. 

First, thank you so much for sharing this with us. 

Writing for a small an ensemble (a string quartet) is allows you focus harmony and melody and the elements of orchestration: foreground, middle ground, and background.  Thus, that is how I will do review and critique of your piece. 

I appreciate how your passed around the theme between viola and violins: this creates a different timber in the section string. Although it is the foreground, the violins can soar higher than the violas and carry more when the melody becomes more dramatic. 

Maybe, the pizz with the accent is seem a bit odd.... It is too sudden..

If this suppose to be a minute, I would feel, that double and cello create figured bass line, perhaps. 

On 10/21/2024 at 11:49 AM, Some Guy That writes Music said:

Gorgeous! You use the voices quite well here. I think this piece really shines in the parts that have rests. I think this is mostly because it feels like you are using the instruments the most you can, and if the harmony doesn't need more notes, you leave them out. You create some extraordinary beauty in those moments. I think your rests really allow the feeling of "Sentimentality" rise out. That along with your gorgeous harmony. 

Thank you so much for your comment @Some Guy That writes Music! I am really glad you gave those appreciations since one of the things I have been focusing on lately is trying to make my music seem more "simple" by stripping the music out of too many unnecessary notes. I used to overload my music with notes, which I do not think is bad in itself, but I think many times I did it unconsciously for concealing lack of harmonic interest. I have been trying to go back to the basics by playing simple pieces on piano and a little bit of figure bass in order to slowly acquire a better grasp in harmony (so later, if I use many notes, I will know it is not out of lack of harmonic skills).  

Thank you so much for listening and commenting!

15 hours ago, Kvothe said:

First, thank you so much for sharing this with us. 

Writing for a small an ensemble (a string quartet) is allows you focus harmony and melody and the elements of orchestration: foreground, middle ground, and background.  Thus, that is how I will do review and critique of your piece. 

I appreciate how your passed around the theme between viola and violins: this creates a different timber in the section string. Although it is the foreground, the violins can soar higher than the violas and carry more when the melody becomes more dramatic. 

Thanks @Kvothe, I am glad you enjoyed it! 

Yes, one of the things I wanted to do is arrange the melody for all the different instruments at least for a few bars, and to have accompaniment that was not always below the melody (since this is something I am not particularly good at). I feel it is hard, especially when using midi sounds in which the lack of proper dynamics can make the top notes overpower everything, but I think it worked well for this piece!

15 hours ago, Kvothe said:

Maybe, the pizz with the accent is seem a bit odd.... It is too sudden..

I can agree, since now it does not sound so good. I know I want that note there, either pizzicato or "arco", but in any case, I want it soft. I think I prefer the pizzicato but the software sound plays it too strong and, as you say, it feels a little sudden. In my mind, a really "ppp" pizzicato would sound okay, but I am not totally sure yet. I am still testing that note deciding on what to do with it, but for now I left the pizzicato, although I tried to make it a little softer (but the software sounds seem to have some volume limitation and "pppp", "ppp", "pp"... all sound the same 😅)

15 hours ago, Kvothe said:

If this suppose to be a minute, I would feel, that double and cello create figured bass line, perhaps. 

Many people have pointed out that the title "Minuet" is a little misleading so I decided to change it to "Romance", which I think is a form that fits much better the tempo, lyrical character and mood of the piece. 

Thank you so much for listening and commenting!

It is my pleasure.   Yes, always keep in mind what the titles of your music.  Romance is more fitting than minute.  On the note, I would also recommend, exploring basic hamony. Add 7ths and 9ths. Chromaticism.  😄

On 10/23/2024 at 3:50 AM, Kvothe said:

It is my pleasure.   Yes, always keep in mind what the titles of your music.  Romance is more fitting than minute.  On the note, I would also recommend, exploring basic hamony. Add 7ths and 9ths. Chromaticism.  😄

I agree, I never tough about piece titles too much but now I feel that it is important to consider what the titles will mean for other people and the expectations for the piece they might have depending on the it.

Learning extended harmonies is one of the things I want to do the most. I have been studying (slowly) some Jazz harmony and Neo-Riemannian theories but I am still far from been able to apply them to my pieces. I also feel I can only apply sounds that I have also encounter in other real pieces by composers (I am not able to just apply theories if I have not experienced those particular sounds by myself) so the process of learning is slow. This is, for now, my most harmonically adventurous piece but I expect to slowly get more modern sounds as I keep practicing! 

Thanks for the comments!

A beautiful piece---worthy of expansion.

  Somehow reminds me of Janacek's writing for string orchestra--the Idyll.  Very nice.

  I am not a fan of the forte exclamation---perhaps a slightly lower volume long dissonant chord?  --this seems to break a wonderful, enchanting mood that I would jeaolously guard.

21 hours ago, Rich said:

A beautiful piece---worthy of expansion.

Somehow reminds me of Janacek's writing for string orchestra--the Idyll.  Very nice.

Thank you so much @Rich, I really appreciate the nice words! I was not considering expanding it (I am always reticent to expand works as I am afraid of making them worse). However, this is becoming my favorite piece the more I listen to it so I am considering turning it into a large ternary form. Adding a contrasting binary/ternary theme in the major mode or maybe the VIb and then repeating this section (but shorter). However, I feel it is still above my level so probably I will take it slow and try to come up with a continuation and compose it without rushing. I hope I can make it some day!

I did not know Janacek but I listened to his "Idyll" while working today and I really enjoyed it! I will give it a listen again one of this days, it had quite some beautiful moments.

21 hours ago, Rich said:

I am not a fan of the forte exclamation---perhaps a slightly lower volume long dissonant chord?  --this seems to break a wonderful, enchanting mood that I would jeaolously guard.

I really like your suggestion and I agree it would probably sound better. That said, the midi file plays the accent too loud so in a real performance it would probably sound softer (but still loud, though). Maybe you are right and it is probably better having a softer more dissonant chord. I will give it a try in the future to see if I find something that I like and does not disrupt the lyrical flow. 

Thank you so much for your comment!

2 hours ago, JorgeDavid said:

I did not know Janacek but I listened to his "Idyll" while working today and I really enjoyed it! I will give it a listen again one of this days, it had quite some beautiful moments.

      Glad you liked it!  I love his chamber and solo piano works.   "On an Overgrown Path" for piano captures the same feel as the Idyll.  Check it out.  His open, light scoring and idiosynchratic /unusual melodic sense creates a one of a kind effect.     Your piece captures this. 

  Yes, ABA as you lay out would be great.   Glad to see you are open to changing the dynamics for the "dramatic" break.  If you keep an eye to preserving the mood, many things might work quite well.

 Cant wait to see the finished product!  Good luck!

This is a beautiful piece! I particularly like the harmony in bar 13. The B-flat of the violin and the A of the cello creates a wonderful melancholic feeling.

However, I think (as other people have noted ) that you should do something about the accented half-notes (f) in bar 16 and 32. I would simply remove them all together. I could even imagine to also remove the pizz. note in bar 8. I am of the opinion that the piece stands well on its own.

You might consider expanding the piece with a short intermediate, more joyful part before returning to the initial phrase. This would give an even stronger melancholic/sentimental impact. But this is just my personal idea. The piece is also very good without such an addition.

On 11/5/2024 at 12:43 AM, panta rei said:

This is a beautiful piece! I particularly like the harmony in bar 13. The B-flat of the violin and the A of the cello creates a wonderful melancholic feeling.

However, I think (as other people have noted ) that you should do something about the accented half-notes (f) in bar 16 and 32. I would simply remove them all together. I could even imagine to also remove the pizz. note in bar 8. I am of the opinion that the piece stands well on its own.

You might consider expanding the piece with a short intermediate, more joyful part before returning to the initial phrase. This would give an even stronger melancholic/sentimental impact. But this is just my personal idea. The piece is also very good without such an addition.

Thank you so much for listening and commenting, @panta rei! I am really glad you enjoyed the piece!

Thank you for the suggestions too! Many people are noting the accented half-notes so I will probably modify that in future revisions. Some people, like you, have also commented about the pizzicato notes so I am also considering turning those into a soft arco note. 

Yes, I also like the piece as it is but it's true the I feel a little bit bad about the piece being so short. Also, as you commented, having a second section before the restatement of the main theme would show the main theme a different light, more melancholic thanks to the contrast. I really like this theme so the possibility of making fresh like that is one of the main reasons I would like to expand it. These days I am writing down some ideas and melodies that might work for a second part and will test them as soon as I have time to compose!

Thank you so much for the comment!