Adaptation for solo harpsichord concert

Happy Holidays to all!

Here's a 3 movement piece I've posted here before in orchestral/choral form; but I've recently adapted it for a solo harpsichord concert next year.

Not very experienced with harpsichord music: so I hope it makes sense!
The instrument will have two manuals, and a bunch of different stops and couplers (lute stop, etc...). 

Haven't decided which stops to use yet; but most of it will be on the standard 8', perhaps with some variation to make a contrast between thematic sections. 
The trills don't sound very nice in MuseScore's standard harpsichord. They're executed too fast, and without any subtleties of tempo variation within the trill. I wondered if there are any hidden settings that would improve them?

An interesting work.
I don't know if you mean it's going to be a concerto for harpsichord and orchestra, or as is.
I liked it very much, especially the middle movement.
The end of the Prelude I find a bit out of style because those big, fireworks-like arpeggios are more of late romanticism than the style that comes out here.
In the Chaconne there are some chords that sound a bit harsh, as in measure 11 and following. They sound more like clusters than chords with a baroque feel.
For although the work is chromatic in some parts, it is still tonal and very classical.

Thanks for posting.

44 minutes ago, Luis Hernández said:

I don't know if you mean it's going to be a concerto for harpsichord and orchestra, or as is.

Many thanks for listening!

It's going to be performed on a harpsichord in London's Handel House (where Handel lived for much of his life).

My original version had a harpsichord (and piano) with a large orchestra and choir; but that will probably never be performed!

I did try to work in a few modernist features just to mix it up a bit. I was aiming for some sort of modern and baroque fusion type thing. 
If they're too jarring, I could always get rid of them, and go for a more purist baroque style.

Hey @Alex Weidmann,

I think the Prelude is rather like a guitar piece haha, I don't know why. For the Fugue, I just don't get why it's a fugue 😛. I don't find the subject! For the Chaconne I like that you are increasing the intensity by having shorter note values in later passages just like a Baroque one. That's my fav. of the 3 movements. Thx for sharing!

Henry

11 hours ago, Henry Ng Tsz Kiu said:

For the Fugue, I just don't get why it's a fugue

Thanks for listening Henry!

It's not really a fugue, that's why I wrote "A Fugue (of sorts)". Just wasn't sure what else to call it?

It has some features of a fugue, in that more voices are added towards the end; but it doesn't follow the strict fugue form in any way.

On 12/17/2024 at 9:47 AM, Alex Weidmann said:

The trills don't sound very nice in MuseScore's standard harpsichord. They're executed too fast, and without any subtleties of tempo variation within the trill. I wondered if there are any hidden settings that would improve them?

I know that if you're using a Musesounds instrument sample, then the trills will be executed more realistically and humanized.  But if the harpsichord is still a MSBasic soundfont then the trills will unfortunately sound very mechanical and artificial.  I've had the same problem with using MSBasic Piano soundfont instead of the Musesounds, because with the Musesounds Piano sample you can't manipulate different notes of chords to be played at different velocities so that was a deal-breaker for me.

I've recently started falling in love with the sound of the harpsichord for some reason.  I've always hated it when it was used as part of early Mozart and Haydn symphonies.  But somehow it's really grown on me.  Perhaps the construction of some more recent/modern Harpsichord models that have the capability of playing micro-tones made me really enjoy them much much more.  Now I want to write my own microtonal pieces too!

I don't know what it is about chaconne's and passacaglia's but, even though I love variation forms, I find them quite boring and overly-long.  There is lots of space in your writing though, which is a good feature to have in harpsichord and piano music as the thickness of chords (if too thick overall) can become the most salient feature of a piece and overpower the ear with it's percussiveness.

I like the prelude and the "fugue" though!  The trill in the prelude was just fine I thought!  It didn't sound too mechanical to me - it was played at the right speed in comparison to the rest of the notes surrounding it.  Your "fugue" has some moments which sound just like some Bach invention or sinfonia, not sure which though.

Thanks for sharing!

Thanks Peter.

I've discovered the tremblement ornament in MuseScore sounds better than a regular trill.

Another workaround would be to write out the notes of the trill in full, exactly as I'd like them to be played.

They do also have a harpsichord add-on; but it's a bit pricey for just one instrument: so I probably won't bother with it.