String Sextet in G flat Major, 2nd movement (My best mov in my life)

So this is the final draft of the entire 2nd movement of my String Sextet. I can confidently say this is my best movement of music ever written up to date. The movement is divided into three parts: Lamentoso, Fugue a6 and the Return. The first two parts of the movements have been posted before in below links:

Lamentoso:

Fugue a6:

If you want to skip to the newest content I compose, you may skip to 20:16. The musical analysis of the Lamentoso and Fugue have already been done in the link posted above so I won’t repeat it here.

Here is the YT link and score of the movement:

(Final Draft) String Sextet 2nd mov with last page.pdf

Here is the YC post to the first mov of the same Sextet:

Here is the structure of the movement:

00:00 Lamentoso The Eden in the 1st mov is great but man, come on and live in the real world. All sorts of tragedies happening and what ground do you have to claim the transcendence? I especially love the outburst in 4:59 and the passage starts from 8:53.

11:47 Fugue a6. This part is totally inspired by Vince’s @Thatguy v2.0 comment on my first movement “to write a dense fugue”, also to further explore the fugato in the 1st mov. Like @Giacomo925 said, this part summarises the sadness of the first 20 minutes of the movement. It always leaves me in awe that my favorite C minor passage, the absolute climax of the whole piece, lies in minute 30 exactly.

The fugue aims to end on desperate terms but I won’t allow it. I try to give it a fight by recalling the pentatonic ideal even though in the wrong key of the tritone C major as hinted in the pentatonic section of the fugue, but the power is diminished. I need some purification for the paradise regained. Thx to @Luis Hernándezfor introducing me to tritone substitution in this part. 

The chant (22:01) begins with self murmuring of viola, occasionally inviting mysticism recalling 7:55 in Lamentoso and sadness of the 1st subject of the fugue. Two violas play together with the texture of a parallel organum. After a sad cry some more primitive power comes in to recall the passion and good of human beings, the theme is from b.27 of 1st mov. It gets agitated and experiences an epiphany in the form of Bartok Pizz. Both the chant and the folk melody is built around the 025 set! And the 025 set is the essence of the pentatonic scale! Furthermore a quartal chord is the further essence of 025 set, and hence the core of the whole pentatonic scale! Discovering this, the fury cannot be stopped. It leaves me in wonder how on earth can I write this thing out.

After returning to the tonic key in 27:00, I decided to conceive it as a one off climax with build up. The  idea is inspired by my playing of Beethoven’s op.110 when he did the same thing in the last movement as well. There is no “development” but only realisation of Tao in this imperfect world. There are appetizers to the ultra climax, first introducing the two most important themes sparingly, then in 27:16 theme in b.35 of 1st mov which is in fact inspired by my own Clarinet Quintet in C minor, and then an appetizer fugato responding to the lament in b.148 of the Lamentoso which is based on the opening theme. 

The entrée of Ultra Climax appears in 28:38, first is the first theme in tonic by first violin, viola, and cello, then second theme in C major by second violin, viola and cello. The playing of tritone is to prove Tao‘s omnipotence, also respond to the first mov and the fugue with the F# and C minor relationship. Using all 3 instruments for me is the resonance of Heaven, Earth and Human when they finally sing together the Tao they shared. I think I really feel the Chinese philosopher Tang Chun-i’s Realm of Heavenly Morality here. The modulation to Ab major, responding to b. 294 and 644 of 1st mov, complete what’s left undone there and finally Gb major is in triumph. A pedal point on a tritone is funny for me. The cello overlapping the violin is signifying earth and heaven interaction which is considered auspicious in Chinese classics I-ching. I am always in awe of the power exhibited here and wonder who’s actually the composer of this passage.

The next passage in 30:07 is the heterophonic version of the 1st theme, which is where I was inspired miraculously by a Chinese music group. 

Next is the in extremis passage in 30:57. It’s the immanent version of the 1st theme. I was imagining what my friend’s thinking on his last day of life. The texture is probably inspired by the film music in Kurosawa’s Ikiru when the main character was swinging on the park’s swing to await his death. I quote Bach’s St. John Passion here for my friend’s name, and I find out that the lyrics fit too. I wish him to rest in peace and return to Tao. The final ending is probably inspired by the ending of Chopin’s Fantasie in F minor. I can never believe I would end the whole thing this positive in an absolute way. The whole passage always leaves me in tears.

After writing the Lamentoso in May 2024 I had no power and inspiration at all to write anything in the Sextet since I was suffering in my full time job. I started picking up by working on the C# minor Piano Sonata first. After finishing that in Jan 2025 I felt like my negative power was expressed out, leaving the goods for this Sextet. I then went for a walk on 10 Feb 2025 and had a miracle, inspired by a Chinese music group, which turned on my creative power and I fervently completed the entire thing in just 18 days, when I had zero notes written in the past 9 months. It’s such a miracle I could have finished this piece this quick and good.

My dedicatee Mr. Johnson Ho had already passed away last year. It's a shame that this piece couldn’t be completed when he’s alive, but I would be forever thankful for his inspiration. Special thanks must have been granted to my great friend Mr. Vince Meyer @Thatguy v2.0 for making this perfect audio and many ideas, and being a great friend, but I will leave it to the final version of the whole Sextet.  Also a very special thanks must be given to my ex-boss. Thanks to her mistreatment, I have the pain to reflect on my own, the drive to finish the whole Sextet in a fury and the time to complete it when I was forced to resign for my own mental health. Foremost of course I must thank my dearest mum. But lol, the whole acknowledgement will be left to the post of the final version of the whole Sextet, including the first movement and this movement. This is a very long movement and commentary and I don’t expect anyone to listen and read till the end. But if you do so, here is my deepest gratitude to you. Feel free to comment as well, I would be very thankful to have received them. Thank you!!!!!

Henry

IT DROPPED !?!?!?!

Even though this is a second movement, I feel like it can represent an entire 3 part movement in itself. So I will try to address all 3 parts best I can (for now).

Part 1 - The Intro

This very neo classical / early romantic style intro is very strong, and quite dramatic. It reminds me of a Tchaikovsky intro but in a somewhat different style (your style!). 1:50 to 2+ is tremendously well done, with lots of forward progression with your harmony. This is a clear example of how to use harmony to your advantage, for the sake of the piece's progression. Sometimes composers get crazy with harmony but the harmony doesn't necessarily serve the right purpose.

Tell me something, at 4:15, are you trying to show us your fugue subject from movement 1? I think I hear hints of it...

Part 2 - The fugue

The key changing in this piece is both sharp at times, and as smooth as butter at other times. And the many different styles that I've heard displays the turbulence of emotions here. The first major mood change after the intro is when you segue into your fugue subject starting out with the pentatonic scale. I feel like you slowly bring us back to movement 1, then BAM, you hit us hard with the motif from the first movement. I had to rewind a few times so that I could understand how you achieved this smooth transition (around the 9-10 minute mark). The fugue itself is a very complex work, and the recapitulation can be used as a study on how to modulate from key to key. BTW, I love this fugue so much, from both your first movement, and especially in this movement! There's just so much content here, that this piece can't be listened to just once!

Part 3 - The chant, and metamorphosis (as I call it!)

At the 20 minute mark, the last section where your chant begins, it brings me a sense of sorrow, with a hint of peace and finding oneself. And at the 26 minute mark, this is the part of reckoning, or the "return" as you say. This section is like a metamorphosis, transitioning from deep sadness, to a rebirth. It's a grand movement within a movement, but most importantly, it evokes a sense of realization and completion.

And Henry, this is what your music is about. It's not just "music". It's a very well crafted and beautiful story. This one is particularly a sad and emotional one. The ending was joyful, but at the same time, I still felt sadness. I know this is a very long work, but I encourage people to listen through the full piece. Maybe others will have different interpretations, but listening to longer works like this will help you learn how to listen to the story, not just to the tones of the music.

I listened to the whole thing in a beautiful spring day taking a walk through the city and ending up listening to the newest part sitting on a bench in a park. The setting was lovely and it allowed me to fully appreciate the powerful music. I don't have an articulate review, but only a few impressions. I hope I'll have time to deepen analysis and listening.

I did not remember how pulsating with life and intensity the first movement is. There is a moment when the pulsating, breathing vibration crystallizes in the imitative section. Strangely, it is like a oasis of silence and holding of breath, before the pulse comes back, running over everything else. It is joy, but also somewhat sinister, as if it is *too much* joy. At the beginning of the second movement, joy leaves room to tension, breaking, almost cruelty. And then the grosse Fuge begins. Pentatonic melodies disappear, pulsating joy disappears, even the breaking sighs of the initial part of the movement disappear, all swallowed by counterpunctal order. The cosmic clash seems to be between the pulsating, dancing hymn to life (Beethoven 7th...) and the regimented emotions of the fugue: the emotions are there but we look at them as if through the glass of a cabinet. But the glass cracks when pentatonal passages start appearing in the fugue again. In fact, to me this whole composition seems to be a wonderful attempt to join east and west, pentatonic and counterpoint, sonata and trenody, the past and the present, now easing unearthed contradictions, now acknowledging and espousing them. The pulse comes back at the end, closing a circle that invites many listens because has many facets, reflections, sparkles, and dark corners despite the luminous ascending ending.

Thank you Henry!

The dark atmosphere at the beginning is well achieved with the background of the “tremolando”.
The change to a much more contrapuntal part from about 2:10 is very opportune, and I emphasize here the transition from one to the other, which is something that we often neglect, but in this case is perceived without abruptness.
There are super rich and very different textures, as for example from measure 95.
An unexpected and pleasantly new evolution from measure 147, with some very interesting harmonies at 153..... (I had to stop to see what was really going on there!).
Nice surprise with some “advanced” techniques like those beats and portamento.
The truth is that the passage from one theme to another is very fluid.
Good climax up to measure 197.
I find the fugue very beautiful. I am always surprised by fugues based on subjects of short duration. It reminds me of those very contrapuntal pieces that I like so much (Metamorphosen by Strauss and Verklärte Nacht by Schönberg).
The part from measure 754 is amazing, it sounds like an organ.

Congratulations for such a huge and beautiful work.

like I said, huge practice and rehearsal skill issue

anyway

again like I said, I only listened to the piece very fragmented, so i don't have an overall opinion. however the score looks like it gives great pathos like schubert, and complex perhaps like the peak of late romanticism

bar 30. the tremolo quaver. I think it feels weird on the bow. just take out the tremolo on this last note of the bar?
bar 170. I hate you. jk. moving on...

I love the melodies on the cello, I'm sure if it's played irl it will sound very attractive

Henry,

many many good things in these two movements. I can hear a lot of pain, and remorse but also rebirth and transcendance which is a rather unique emotion to explore. There are so many extended techniques here, but they all serve the narrative of your story. I regret to say that I am not a big fan of fugues, and couldn’t get to reviewing the fugal bits of your work since it was so dense and harder to understand, but it definitely fits the story well. I tend to prefer fugues with greater rhythmic vitality and interest since it gives the textures and lines more clarity. The transition into the giocoso is wonderful, and the climax is so energetic and blissful. The transitional material into the coda is also done well, representing the final transcendance of your character, almost akin to swan lake. I have to say there is a real depth of expression there.

Hi all, thank you so much for your detailed reviews! I’m too tired now after finishing this huge project(for me), so I probably have to reply detailedly one by one!

Henry

Hey Mike!

On 3/24/2025 at 10:32 AM, chopin said:

I feel like it can represent an entire 3 part movement in itself. So I will try to address all 3 parts best I can (for now).

Haha yeah, I take the concept of a two movement plan from Mahler’s 8th symphony, and we all know his works are gigantic, so…

On 3/24/2025 at 10:32 AM, chopin said:

Part 1 - The Intro

This very neo classical / early romantic style intro is very strong, and quite dramatic. It reminds me of a Tchaikovsky intro but in a somewhat different style (your style!). 1:50 to 2+ is tremendously well done, with lots of forward progression with your harmony. This is a clear example of how to use harmony to your advantage, for the sake of the piece's progression. Sometimes composers get crazy with harmony but the harmony doesn't necessarily serve the right purpose.

Tell me something, at 4:15, are you trying to show us your fugue subject from movement 1? I think I hear hints of it...

Thx! In 4:15 I think I didn’t quote the fugue subject there, but I did quote it in b.184 consciously!

On 3/24/2025 at 10:32 AM, chopin said:

Part 2 - The fugue

The key changing in this piece is both sharp at times, and as smooth as butter at other times. And the many different styles that I've heard displays the turbulence of emotions here. The first major mood change after the intro is when you segue into your fugue subject starting out with the pentatonic scale. I feel like you slowly bring us back to movement 1, then BAM, you hit us hard with the motif from the first movement. I had to rewind a few times so that I could understand how you achieved this smooth transition (around the 9-10 minute mark). The fugue itself is a very complex work, and the recapitulation can be used as a study on how to modulate from key to key. BTW, I love this fugue so much, from both your first movement, and especially in this movement! There's just so much content here, that this piece can't be listened to just once!

I always love the second C minor section, it’s definitely one of my fav. Section in the entire piece! The modulation to the pentatonic, if you believe it, is a one off writing one day, and I thought then the modulation was easy to handle haha. It’s probably the hardest thing for me to have written and for sure it has a lot of content since it’s a 6 voice fugue!

On 3/24/2025 at 10:32 AM, chopin said:

Part 3 - The chant, and metamorphosis (as I call it!)

At the 20 minute mark, the last section where your chant begins, it brings me a sense of sorrow, with a hint of peace and finding oneself. And at the 26 minute mark, this is the part of reckoning, or the "return" as you say. This section is like a metamorphosis, transitioning from deep sadness, to a rebirth. It's a grand movement within a movement, but most importantly, it evokes a sense of realization and completion.

Thx for your review saying my first movement “from Modern to Baroque”, which inspired me to go even further to Medieval with the chant and parallel organum texture haha. The music fits my real life, as I was myself finding myself and trying to heal myself at that time. I knew I was sad but the sadness would go over. Your reading of the final moments is very similar to what I think towards mine. I finish this piece and finally realises myself, and I am so happy for it.

On 3/24/2025 at 10:32 AM, chopin said:

And Henry, this is what your music is about. It's not just "music". It's a very well crafted and beautiful story. This one is particularly a sad and emotional one. The ending was joyful, but at the same time, I still felt sadness. I know this is a very long work, but I encourage people to listen through the full piece. Maybe others will have different interpretations, but listening to longer works like this will help you learn how to listen to the story, not just to the tones of the music.

The emotion there is definitely complex there especially in the Larghetto in extremis passage. I am happy and confident that my dedicatee would return to Tao since he’s such a wonderful stoic, much like Zhuangzi celebrating his wife’s death, but sad and regret for his passing way. You are so sensitive to that and I love your interpretation very much Mike!! Thank you!

Henry

Such a masterpiece, Henry! I definitely savored the beautiful harmonies in the chant section, and the fugato passages, as I'm a bit of a counterpoint buff. At first I was worried about the coherence of the movement as a whole, but I can tell that you put in a lot of hard work in to develop existing material in a convincing way. I also like the accumulation of historical techniques from organum to fugue to more dissonant (quartal?) harmony, spanning and summing up many centuries of music history.

All my compliments, and know that I sincerely admire your work!

We've talked at length about this, and I've heard it more times than I can count lol. Well done buddy, this is a masterpiece to my ears.

41 minutes ago, Thatguy v2.0 said:

We've talked at length about this, and I've heard it more times than I can count lol. Well done buddy, this is a masterpiece to my ears.

haha! I expect you write a review in a dictionary's length haha! Thx buddy, I can never finish this without your inspiration, ideas and our numerous talks, and I can't thank you enough, but lemme leave this in the full acknowledgement section in the post for the whole Sextet. It's such a huge regard from you. Also, thx for all your effort for making the audio, I know how hard and tedious that is. Thank you for loving the piece. Thank you for kept saying that I can finish it when I kept saying I can't. Thx buddy 🙂

Also, the larghetto section at bar 817 is my favorite part of the whole 2 movement piece. I've relistened to it so many times, it's the perfect summation to the entire work to me.  

On 3/29/2025 at 11:08 AM, Thatguy v2.0 said:

Also, the larghetto section at bar 817 is my favorite part of the whole 2 movement piece. I've relistened to it so many times, it's the perfect summation to the entire work to me.  

I’m so happy and grateful you love that passage Vince. It’s definitely one of my best passages, it took me 11 months to grow before I could write it out in one take. I was just too shocked to my friend in his deathbed for his last day of life, but it took me 7 months after that day to finally write my thoughts out. It all worths it however!

Btw, where is the “Henry Ng is cool” signature lol!

Henry

Hey @Henry Ng Tsz Kiu!

I'll review the whole movement as a unit even though I think I already reviewed the beginning of it once - I don't even remember what I said.  The beginning is quite foreboding and starts with quite a bleak theme!  And there is some very logical and crunchy dissonant chromaticism in it which quite naturally leads to some distant key modulations in a short time.  In the beginning, the whole is very contrapuntal and the themes are very lucid and lead the movement towards the logical fugue where the piece becomes hyper-motivic.  After that it sort of transcends its own themes/motifs.  The Tranquillo in measure 123 kind of foreshadows the later religioso.  The Mesto section in measure 148 gives a sense of lightness still tainted by the chromaticism of the lamentoso and its mourning.  The fugues subject sounds even darker with the seemingly constant dissonances between the natural and sharp 4th degrees which the subject necessitates.  Writing a 6-voice fugue must really have been a mind warping experience.  Perhaps you wrote it in a trance much like Wagner claimed to have been in while writing the Prelude to Tristan & Isolde?  LoL  It's very good and never dull or overbearing in its contrapuntal complexity.  There is plenty of space and harmonic variety to keep musical interest.  I like how the end of the fugue gradually introduces the relatively happy sounding pentatonic figures.  There's also a subtle metric modulation that brings you from the fugue to the Misterioso in measure 439.  The Chant - Adagio Religioso section very naturally emerges out of all the previous material like the Tranquillo in measure 123.  There is a real sense of piety or worship and spirituality and respect for your friends passing in this part.  In measure 565 I perceive the on-beats and off-beats to switch places.  For some reason I naturally hear the lower notes as being the strong beat in an oom-pah pattern.  The pizzicato glissando from the major 6th degree to the tonic further foreshadow the transcendence you achieve later with the pentatonic figures.  Measure 601 almost sounds like the beginning of a Western!  LoL .. or should I say "Eastern"?  This part is so ebullient and overflowing with positive energy and celebration!  The very last section is especially transcendent where the celebration of his life is mixed with a bittersweet reflection.  The pizzicato glissando at the end really sounds very Eastern and rounds out the movement quite nicely!  Very well done, Henry.  I 2nd that this is thus far your biggest masterpiece.  Question is, where will you go from here?  Thanks for sharing and I'm looking forward to your next piece!

Hey Giacomo @Giacomo925,

Thx so much for sharing your detailed and very acute response!

On 3/24/2025 at 10:05 PM, Giacomo925 said:

did not remember how pulsating with life and intensity the first movement is. There is a moment when the pulsating, breathing vibration crystallizes in the imitative section. Strangely, it is like an oasis of silence and holding of breath, before the pulse comes back, running over everything else. It is joy, but also somewhat sinister, as if it is *too much* joy.

 I have the same opinion. As the composer for finishing both movements, I feel like the joy in the 1st movement unearned and ungrounded, so that may sound sinister. It’s the naive version of myself who never suffers pain at all so I was naively having positive feelings then.

On 3/24/2025 at 10:05 PM, Giacomo925 said:

At the beginning of the second movement, joy leaves room to tension, breaking, almost cruelty. And then the grosse Fuge begins. Pentatonic melodies disappear, pulsating joy disappears, even the breaking sighs of the initial part of the movement disappear, all swallowed by counterpunctal order.

Wow this description is so good! In the Lamentoso, I wanna have myself realised the tragedies in the world happening right now, wars and pandemic, so there’s only room for cruelty but no room for joy or ideals, even though I try to bring it back at the end starting from 9:00 or so. In my original thought I think the fugue is when I objectively evaluate my own emotion, but your view is maybe more accurate than mine!

On 3/24/2025 at 10:05 PM, Giacomo925 said:

The cosmic clash seems to be between the pulsating, dancing hymn to life (Beethoven 7th...) and the regimented emotions of the fugue: the emotions are there but we look at them as if through the glass of a cabinet. But the glass cracks when pentatonal passages start appearing in the fugue again.

Yup, I was trying to find my inner rhythm of life both in the music and in my personal life. Also, realising your pain is the best way to dissolve it, you can never heal yourself if you never admit yourself that you are in pain and need help. Only by noticing pain, ideals are possible, and that would be a real ideal, not a naive one as in the 1st movement.

On 3/24/2025 at 10:05 PM, Giacomo925 said:

In fact, to me this whole composition seems to be a wonderful attempt to join east and west, pentatonic and counterpoint, sonata and trenody, the past and the present, now easing unearthed contradictions, now acknowledging and espousing them. The pulse comes back at the end, closing a circle that invites many listens because has many facets, reflections, sparkles, and dark corners despite the luminous ascending ending.

Thank you Henry!

Haha thx! In fact I think of nothing east and west when composing, I just write what the music would have needed. I am quite Chinese since I am quite practical right? But I do believe all those “contradictions” are meaningless, because humanity is the same for all people from all countries and cultures. The ending is really mixed with joy and sadness, maybe like the ending of the best Chinese novel Dream of the Red Chamber.

Thank you!

Henry

Hey Luis!

On 3/25/2025 at 1:42 AM, Luis Hernández said:

The dark atmosphere at the beginning is well achieved with the background of the “tremolando”.
The change to a much more contrapuntal part from about 2:10 is very opportune, and I emphasize here the transition from one to the other, which is something that we often neglect, but in this case is perceived without abruptness.
There are super rich and very different textures, as for example from measure 95.
An unexpected and pleasantly new evolution from measure 147, with some very interesting harmonies at 153..... (I had to stop to see what was really going on there!).
Nice surprise with some “advanced” techniques like those beats and portamento.
The truth is that the passage from one theme to another is very fluid.
Good climax up to measure 197.

The low register of the tremolos are probably inspired by @Thatguy v2.0 Vince! It is quite dark as to create a contrast with the bright ending of the 1st movement!

For me I always want to ensure all transitions are smooth and I think it works here!The b.153 harmony is when I want to have the opening melody of the 1st movement crushed by dissonant harmony beside it. I love the climax to b.197 too!

On 3/25/2025 at 1:42 AM, Luis Hernández said:

I find the fugue very beautiful. I am always surprised by fugues based on subjects of short duration. It reminds me of those very contrapuntal pieces that I like so much (Metamorphosen by Strauss and Verklärte Nacht by Schönberg).
The part from measure 754 is amazing, it sounds like an organ.

Yeah the fugue is hard to make but definitely worths it. Thx to your introducing the Metamorphosen to me, it becomes one of my favourite piece now! For b.754, I never think of organ but I think that’s a great comparison!

On 3/25/2025 at 1:42 AM, Luis Hernández said:

Congratulations for such a huge and beautiful work.

Thank you! Also, thank you for mentioning tritone substitution in one topic here. That becomes my inspiration to solve one of the riddle in the passages when I need to use both tritones and modulate quickly!

Henry

Hi @PCC!

On 3/25/2025 at 8:54 PM, PCC said:

like I said, huge practice and rehearsal skill issue

anyway

Haha yeah! But I don't think it would be rehearsed in the near future anyways haha!

On 3/25/2025 at 8:54 PM, PCC said:

again like I said, I only listened to the piece very fragmented, so i don't have an overall opinion. however the score looks like it gives great pathos like schubert, and complex perhaps like the peak of late romanticism

bar 30. the tremolo quaver. I think it feels weird on the bow. just take out the tremolo on this last note of the bar?
bar 170. I hate you. jk. moving on...

I love the melodies on the cello, I'm sure if it's played irl it will sound very attractive

Yeah the beginning I am really lamenting myself with some touches of late romaniticism with those dissonance.

Yeah maybe for b.30 I should. I should take note of this!

And for b.170 hahaha! Look at b.569 too! I think all six players will hate me lol!

I love the cello melodies myself, I always love cello and viola singing, they sing better than violin in their own respective high register!

Thx for listening! Maybe you can finish the rest of the piece when you are very very very free hahahahaha!

Henry

I must admit, at first I unfortunately hesitated to listen to it, knowing full well this gargantuan masterpiece, your self-termed best movement even in comparison to all of your other masterful works, could and would certainly blow me away in such a manner that trying to capture but the slightiest speck of its brilliance into a proper review would be pointless. Even this was a huge understatement, but now, having listened to it in its entirety and starting to recover from such a transcendental journey this masterwork has taken me through, it would be a waste not to express my utter admiration for this thoroughly complex, incredibly expressive marvel of musical endeavour you have managed to outdo yourself with, even to your own high standards.

The solemnity and sorrowfully contained, tragicly yearning character of the first theme, followed by the intermittent protagonism of the cello from 6:00 onwards, all coupled with such a diverse array of accompaniment textures, gives these passages a very passionate and intimate timber which fits quite well with the whole thematic significance of the Lamentoso section. Even with the sheer amount of well-structured passages with enharmonic modulations, the choice of the main key for this first section of the movement is just as fitting: I have some remnants of chromatic synesthesia myself, and the sense of sorrow and despair provided by F-sharp minor in this context is far more intense to me than that of coadjacent keys like G minor or G-sharp minor, making it one of my favourite keys. The imitative build up by the end of the Lamentoso contrasts very effectively with the following passage that ends it right before the fugue. The harmonics in the violins between bars 199 and 202 reminded me of the sonority of the Chinese sheng and bamboo pipes (笙簫), which I find a pretty spot-on idiomatic reference!

Now, onto the fugue: what I found most remarkable from the very beginning is the adventurous minor 2nd dissonances between both voices in each entry pair. The computerized performance doesn't soften them enough, but I'm certain an actual interpretation by real, professional musicians would be able to bring out the most delicate subtlety of these dissonances, though given the character, tempo and dynamics of the fugue, I'm not entirely sure whether they are meant to be subtle or not. Either way, real performers would surely make them sound better.

The development section of the fugue is as immaculate as it is expressive, and the enharmonic modulation to C minor in b. 266, as well as the soothing return to F-sharp minor in b. 271~272, both serve as a contrasting inflection point for the outstanding stretto passages starting at b. 287 and b. 309. The return of the C minor storm at b. 317 serves as a rather pleasingly recognizable pattern leading to the fugue's climax, and the overlapped inversions of the subject's 2nd motivic cell throughout, though somewhat hidden, are incredibly rewarding to find. The following return to F-sharp minor fully completes the circle, giving this whole alternating passage between both keys one tritone apart the cornerstone of internal modulatory coherence.

Following the last motiv cry of desperation in b. 393~394 from the first violin, the unexpected introduction to C major with pentatonic reminiscence all over worked as a rather compelling interlude bridging the gap between the sorrowful tone of the first half of the movement and the buildup towards the climax. The arch-shaped melody on the violins with pentatonic counterpoint underneath was simply superb. The sudden return to tragedy between b. 418 and 424 acted as a reminder of the movements overarching character, without undermining the heavenly order of the previous passage, as well as the selective recapitulation episode between b. 424 and 438, prior to the proper "Return" with the rhythmic ostinato on the 2nd cello and the rising and falling dominant 7th arpeggios on the rest of the voice creating a sense of trance before the final contrast between the rising arpeggio on all voices in C major with its subsequent equivalent in the C-sharp whole-tone scale and the growing tension provided by the repeating 16th-note motif on all other voices for a final return to F-sharp minor and the succinct yet elegant conclusion to the fugue in alternating octaves.

As for the religious chant, the alternating sections between romantic molto expressivo passages and the organum pedal points with modal viola melodies and the reoccourring flautando reminiscent of b. 199~202 provide a devout, serene atmosphere evidently reminiscent of a more medieval atmosphere, and the organum parallelum in 4ths between both violas suddenly reminded me of some of Joe Hisaishi's own applications of these techniques. The sonority of the miniclimax between bars 535~538 reminded me of several romantic composers at once, the likes of Tchaikovsky, Grieg and Rachmaninov in a single, sunset-like chord brimming with secretly coalescing influences. The passage beginning at b. 540, with its pizzicato ostinati and the return of the 1st cello as the protagonist of flowing pentatonic melodies, reminded me of Shinto rituals and their deep sacrality. The exploration of timbral polyvalence here is majestic: one struggles to tell whether the modal mixture in pizzicati on the violins sound like metal or wooden percussion, strings or reeds. As the imitation between the cellos grows and the pizzicati thunder at the end, the glissandi and pizzicati in bars 569~571 call back to those between b. 159~160 and 168~169, granting them new meaning and giving the listener a deeper understanding of what they had heard before.

I looked up the meaning of the poetic line attributed to Venerable Master Hsing Yun at 25:50, and it certainly provided more context for what was coming next. 春天月下一聲蛙，撞破乾坤共一家 - "A frog's croak under the spring moon shatters the cosmos, revealing we all share one home." This rudimentary English translation hardly captures the boundless beauty and eternal wisdom incapsulated in this verse. The following passages, and the reference to 人於天地之間，天地相交 - "Humans exist between Heaven and earth, where Heaven and earth intersect" add even more meaning to the exchanging and crossing of voices... from this point on I find it hard to even conceptualize and voice the way the Tao speaks through your music, through you. Its all-encompassing power in the middle of an imperfect universe in constant fluctuation, destruction and recreation - the music is just so perfect and at the same time so reflective of all the sorrows, the tragedies, the imperfections of this flawed, impermanent world.

The transition from the fresh, flowing character of the whole G-flat major build up to the glory of C major is simply magnificent. The temporary transition to the floral and divine of A-flat major and back to C major through both ethereal and Earth-shattering modulations gives even further meaning to the paradoxical, contradictory appearance of the Tao in contrast to its immanent and unchanging nature. Listening to the inversely rising and rapidly cascading passages of the following return to G-flat major felt like a trance, like momentaneously falling into the eternity of a hypnotic fractal. The last section of this unbelievably awe-inducing climax brings a newly dignified and solemn character amidst the marvels of this reconstitution and recreation painted through music in the highest domes and furthest spheres of Heaven. The themes from the whole piece, the subjects from the fugue return all in harmony. And moving onto the recapitulation of the first theme, now purified and eternal, alternating with the more playful interlude-like passages leading to the finale, one last rise to the Heavens and subsequent cascade back to Earth, unifying them with the last chords and suffusing with Humanity with the subtle yet exceeding symbolism of the last glissando.

Naturally, this review hardly makes any justice to the sheer magnificence of this intertextual nonpareil masterpiece. With such a lush abundance of both internal and external references, I must have missed many details which contribute to the greater hole in these first listening experiences. The internal narrative structure is so incredibly diverse one could mentally recall and recreate an entire universe of sound and color with each listen, and still be eager for the next. This being your best movement to date is hardly an overstatement, it's an epic of biblical proportions, almost like a whole symphony in the span of a string quartet movement, like the entirety of Dante's Divine Comedy spanning multiple cultures, histories and traditions all in one single concert. It might perhaps even sound condescending of me to say this, with my short, humble fugues and monolithically Baroque counterpoint which could hardly ever reach the variety, diversity, internal coherence and idiomatic mastery of yours, but truly, you have outdone yourself on so many levels that not acknwoledging said fact would be even worse: my sincerest bravo, Henry. I doubt I could ever forget my experience listening to the world you have crafted within this single movement. You are a true master, and perhaps without a doubt, the greatest of our day and age.

Hello Pabio @Fugax Contrapunctus,

I was and am in awe after receiving such a monumental review. I am so happy and deeply appreciated for that, especially when you point out the philosophical and Chinese references in the piece! I must take my 200% effort to reply to your great review.

12 hours ago, Fugax Contrapunctus said:

I must admit, at first I unfortunately hesitated to listen to it, knowing full well this gargantuan masterpiece, your self-termed best movement even in comparison to all of your other masterful works, could and would certainly blow me away in such a manner that trying to capture but the slightiest speck of its brilliance into a proper review would be pointless. Even this was a huge understatement, but now, having listened to it in its entirety and starting to recover from such a transcendental journey this masterwork has taken me through, it would be a waste not to express my utter admiration for this thoroughly complex, incredibly expressive marvel of musical endeavour you have managed to outdo yourself with, even to your own high standards.

I know it's gonna be my best movement when I was composing the Return part because I was never this fervent in completing a piece at all. I can work at least 5 hours a day on it without feeling tired at all, and was in a hyper mood in those 18 days I was writing the Return part. Of course after that I was tired for a month or so lol!

12 hours ago, Fugax Contrapunctus said:

The solemnity and sorrowfully contained, tragicly yearning character of the first theme, followed by the intermittent protagonism of the cello from 6:00 onwards, all coupled with such a diverse array of accompaniment textures, gives these passages a very passionate and intimate timber which fits quite well with the whole thematic significance of the Lamentoso section.

Yup for me the Lamentoso acts as an awakening call from the idealistic but naive first movement: go look into the reality and the world we are living now, don't live in your own dreams, and that awakens the yearning and sorrow, sometimes passionate like passage near 5:00 or 9:00.

12 hours ago, Fugax Contrapunctus said:

Even with the sheer amount of well-structured passages with enharmonic modulations, the choice of the main key for this first section of the movement is just as fitting: I have some remnants of chromatic synesthesia myself, and the sense of sorrow and despair provided by F-sharp minor in this context is far more intense to me than that of coadjacent keys like G minor or G-sharp minor, making it one of my favourite keys.

Yup F# minor is so great for the passion and sadness. At least for me, I think each keys have their own significance and own special colour. G minor will be too light here and will be much better used by Mozart's two great G minor pieces, the Quintet and the no.40 symphony, while G# minor would not be direct enough as F# minor. One little sad thing is that F# minor takes away the presence of my fav. key C# minor here, but at least they are related keys haha and I'm sure C# minor won't mind.

12 hours ago, Fugax Contrapunctus said:

The imitative build up by the end of the Lamentoso contrasts very effectively with the following passage that ends it right before the fugue.

Yup having composed the fugue before the Lamentoso, I deliberately used the head of the 1st subject of the fugue in the transition by the end of the Lamentoso to the fugue!

12 hours ago, Fugax Contrapunctus said:

The harmonics in the violins between bars 199 and 202 reminded me of the sonority of the Chinese sheng and bamboo pipes (笙簫), which I find a pretty spot-on idiomatic reference!

Such a great comparison! To be honest, even I myself don't make this connection until you point it out here! I definitely agree with you here!

12 hours ago, Fugax Contrapunctus said:

Now, onto the fugue: what I found most remarkable from the very beginning is the adventurous minor 2nd dissonances between both voices in each entry pair. The computerized performance doesn't soften them enough, but I'm certain an actual interpretation by real, professional musicians would be able to bring out the most delicate subtlety of these dissonances, though given the character, tempo and dynamics of the fugue, I'm not entirely sure whether they are meant to be subtle or not. Either way, real performers would surely make them sound better.

For me I would want that dissonance to be more crude, just like the world now.

13 hours ago, Fugax Contrapunctus said:

The development section of the fugue is as immaculate as it is expressive, and the enharmonic modulation to C minor in b. 266, as well as the soothing return to F-sharp minor in b. 271~272, both serve as a contrasting inflection point for the outstanding stretto passages starting at b. 287 and b. 309. The return of the C minor storm at b. 317 serves as a rather pleasingly recognizable pattern leading to the fugue's climax, and the overlapped inversions of the subject's 2nd motivic cell throughout, though somewhat hidden, are incredibly rewarding to find. The following return to F-sharp minor fully completes the circle, giving this whole alternating passage between both keys one tritone apart the cornerstone of internal modulatory coherence.

Thx for noticing the stretti haha! Also the overlapped subjects at b.317! That C minor section after b.317 is always my fav. climax in the fugue and one of my fav. in the whole Sextet. And yes, the tritone modulation indeed is the cornerstone of the internal coherence, you are so acute on that! Tao can communicate between tritones btw G-flat major and C major, and pain can communicate between tritones between F-sharp minor and C minor. In fact Tao and pain cannot miss one and other, because without any one of them pain or Tao don't exist.

13 hours ago, Fugax Contrapunctus said:

Following the last motiv cry of desperation in b. 393~394 from the first violin, the unexpected introduction to C major with pentatonic reminiscence all over worked as a rather compelling interlude bridging the gap between the sorrowful tone of the first half of the movement and the buildup towards the climax. The arch-shaped melody on the violins with pentatonic counterpoint underneath was simply superb.

Thank you!  I use Bach's method here by treating the fugue subject as chorale in b.393-394. I do plan for the return to pentatonic C major because I know after the fugue I have to slowly return to pentatonic, so I have to kind of foreshadow its coming here first to make it less awkward. That arch shared melody of violin actually comes from a very important motive in both the 1st and 2nd movement, it first appears in b.19 in second viola, and in 2nd mov it appears in b.607, but here it's in C major.

13 hours ago, Fugax Contrapunctus said:

The sudden return to tragedy between b. 418 and 424 acted as a reminder of the movements overarching character, without undermining the heavenly order of the previous passage, as well as the selective recapitulation episode between b. 424 and 438, prior to the proper "Return" with the rhythmic ostinato on the 2nd cello and the rising and falling dominant 7th arpeggios on the rest of the voice creating a sense of trance before the final contrast between the rising arpeggio on all voices in C major with its subsequent equivalent in the C-sharp whole-tone scale and the growing tension provided by the repeating 16th-note motif on all other voices for a final return to F-sharp minor and the succinct yet elegant conclusion to the fugue in alternating octaves.

Yeah the power to return to pentatonic is still here without purification, so it's temporarily defeated in b.418. The rhythmic ostinato on 2nd cello comes from the coda of the 1st mov, b.708 violins, which was noticed by Vince @Thatguy v2.0 and he encouraged me to use more of that in the 2nd mov, so I used them here! Thx to him!

The reply would be too long, gonna continue in the next post haha!

Henry

14 hours ago, Fugax Contrapunctus said:

As for the religious chant, the alternating sections between romantic molto expressivo passages and the organum pedal points with modal viola melodies and the reoccourring flautando reminiscent of b. 199~202 provide a devout, serene atmosphere evidently reminiscent of a more medieval atmosphere,

Oh you notice that fluatando and relationship with b.199! They both resonate with 1st mov's b.401 section. Thx to @chopin I have introduced a more medieval atmosphere here after a Baroque treatment.

14 hours ago, Fugax Contrapunctus said:

and the organum parallelum in 4ths between both violas suddenly reminded me of some of Joe Hisaishi's own applications of these techniques.

In fact I'm listening quite some Hisaishi's music now becuase I am watching Hayao Miyazaki's films. Maybe I will notice it in the near future!

14 hours ago, Fugax Contrapunctus said:

The sonority of the miniclimax between bars 535~538 reminded me of several romantic composers at once, the likes of Tchaikovsky, Grieg and Rachmaninov in a single, sunset-like chord brimming with secretly coalescing influences.

I love that chord! Such a great description as "sunset-like"! I think it is sad but invites hope in it, which augurs the next section.

14 hours ago, Fugax Contrapunctus said:

The passage beginning at b. 540, with its pizzicato ostinati and the return of the 1st cello as the protagonist of flowing pentatonic melodies, reminded me of Shinto rituals and their deep sacrality. The exploration of timbral polyvalence here is majestic: one struggles to tell whether the modal mixture in pizzicati on the violins sound like metal or wooden percussion, strings or reeds.

I like the vivacity of this part, and as you said it's ritual like. The pizzicati on violins playing the chant theme and the cello playing the dance theme, and it is like a internalized ritual in my heart to find myself. And like you said, the pizzicati does sound like percussion instrument here as in a ritual.

14 hours ago, Fugax Contrapunctus said:

As the imitation between the cellos grows and the pizzicati thunder at the end, the glissandi and pizzicati in bars 569~571 call back to those between b. 159~160 and 168~169, granting them new meaning and giving the listener a deeper understanding of what they had heard before.

Oh wow you notice the connection! Here things undone is finally done! What is not understood is finally understood here in an epiphany in the form of snap pizz.

14 hours ago, Fugax Contrapunctus said:

I looked up the meaning of the poetic line attributed to Venerable Master Hsing Yun at 25:50, and it certainly provided more context for what was coming next. 春天月下一聲蛙，撞破乾坤共一家 - "A frog's croak under the spring moon shatters the cosmos, revealing we all share one home." This rudimentary English translation hardly captures the boundless beauty and eternal wisdom incapsulated in this verse.

This verse is so wonderful. It's one of my philosophy professor's favourite quote and I can immediately feel the beauty and wisdom the moment my professor told me the verse, and I couldn't forget it at all, so I used it here, with the pizz. glissando sounding quite like frog's croaks, or the heart's shake. Although there are two croaks here lol, possibly the first one by a younger frog and second one by an older frog haha.

14 hours ago, Fugax Contrapunctus said:

The following passages, and the reference to 人於天地之間，天地相交 - "Humans exist between Heaven and earth, where Heaven and earth intersect" add even more meaning to the exchanging and crossing of voices... from this point on I find it hard to even conceptualize and voice the way the Tao speaks through your music, through you. Its all-encompassing power in the middle of an imperfect universe in constant fluctuation, destruction and recreation - the music is just so perfect and at the same time so reflective of all the sorrows, the tragedies, the imperfections of this flawed, impermanent world.

This phrase is added and framed by myself. You are so right to link the crossing of voices with heaven and earth because that's my intention here. It also happens in b.756. I do this because in Chinese I-Ching, the intersect of Heaven and Earth means auspicious, because there is interaction between them and hence the Qi (air) can constantly flow. I think I somewhat feel Tao myself. You can call this act as "escaping from reality", but I cannot undermine what I feel. I know wars and tragedies are happening, but my feeling and hope and reflection for transcendence should not be undermined.

14 hours ago, Fugax Contrapunctus said:

The transition from the fresh, flowing character of the whole G-flat major build up to the glory of C major is simply magnificent. The temporary transition to the floral and divine of A-flat major and back to C major through both ethereal and Earth-shattering modulations gives even further meaning to the paradoxical, contradictory appearance of the Tao in contrast to its immanent and unchanging nature. Listening to the inversely rising and rapidly cascading passages of the following return to G-flat major felt like a trance, like momentaneously falling into the eternity of a hypnotic fractal.

Exactly!!!!!!!!!! Like Lao Tsu said, what is speakable (道) is not Tao (道), and this already sounds paradoxical, at least in appearence. But all this paradox are just the appearence, if you get deeper, all those paradoxes and contradictions can be eradicated, just like the tritone of G-flat major and C major here. I feel like this passage is not composed by me at all, as I am always in awe of its power myself. I feel like I'm never capable of composing this passage.

14 hours ago, Fugax Contrapunctus said:

The last section of this unbelievably awe-inducing climax brings a newly dignified and solemn character amidst the marvels of this reconstitution and recreation painted through music in the highest domes and furthest spheres of Heaven. The themes from the whole piece, the subjects from the fugue return all in harmony.

I thank myself for having a walk so I could miraculously write this theme and light up my creative power for finishing this piece. In Heaven or Tao or whatever, everything should be in harmony, and not just a primitive Eden in my opinion.

14 hours ago, Fugax Contrapunctus said:

And moving onto the recapitulation of the first theme, now purified and eternal, alternating with the more playful interlude-like passages leading to the finale, one last rise to the Heavens and subsequent cascade back to Earth, unifying them with the last chords and suffusing with Humanity with the subtle yet exceeding symbolism of the last glissando.

That final recap is so wonderful. Again I think this passage is not written by myself at all. The more playful interlude is a joy after all the realization, and that last rise to heavens is probably inspired by the ending of Chopin's Fantasie in F minor. And I don't know why I end the piece in pizz. gliss, but like you said it is symbolic.

14 hours ago, Fugax Contrapunctus said:

Naturally, this review hardly makes any justice to the sheer magnificence of this intertextual nonpareil masterpiece. With such a lush abundance of both internal and external references, I must have missed many details which contribute to the greater hole in these first listening experiences. The internal narrative structure is so incredibly diverse one could mentally recall and recreate an entire universe of sound and color with each listen, and still be eager for the next. This being your best movement to date is hardly an overstatement, it's an epic of biblical proportions, almost like a whole symphony in the span of a string quartet movement, like the entirety of Dante's Divine Comedy spanning multiple cultures, histories and traditions all in one single concert. It might perhaps even sound condescending of me to say this, with my short, humble fugues and monolithically Baroque counterpoint which could hardly ever reach the variety, diversity, internal coherence and idiomatic mastery of yours, but truly, you have outdone yourself on so many levels that not acknwoledging said fact would be even worse: my sincerest bravo, Henry. I doubt I could ever forget my experience listening to the world you have crafted within this single movement. You are a true master, and perhaps without a doubt, the greatest of our day and age.

Thank you so much for your huge compliments, I am really flattered by it. For me, I am happy I've outdone myself, and I will never be a master and remain a student to those real masters in my whole life. I do have some hard work for this Sextet and I'm so happy I've finished it in a way that even I myself don't imagine its coming. For me viewing the whole Sextet, I would relate it to Milton's Paradise Lost and Paradise Regained which I would want very much to read in the future. The Divine Comedy would also be my goal. And, a secret wish is that I hope the Sextet can match a bit of the momumental level Beethoven achieves in his late quartets.

Thank you!!!

Henry