Suite for Winds No. 1 Mov. I: Allegro

[crimson]

After a few months of silence I finally got myself to compose something new. I have wanted to compose something solely for winds for some time now, but I never did until now.

I had trouble naming this piece, and I'm not sure whether it is correct to call this a movement from a suite. Is it? I have planned to compose two more movements for this series. First I thought to name this a fantasia since I thought a fantasia to be a freer form but changed my mind about it. I paid no attention to conforming to any classical form in particular, and composed it like I have done before, according to 'instinct'. Perhaps it would be more suitable to name this something that is not related to any form.

I think it would be appropriate to call this piece's style "chamber music". Or maybe not, I'm not sure. But anyway, I got the most classical sound in this piece that ever before. I don't mean the form, but the melodies and the general style of the music.

There is supposed to be a direct modulation from F to C somewhere in the middle and then back again, but I think it became just a transposition. Somehow playing B in C Maj sounded way out of place, so I avoided it, which probably messed up the modulation Well, at least the piece somewhat resembles music...

This is a work-in-progress, and I'd very much like to hear your comments and especially suggestions for improving it!

Divertimento for Winds No. 1 Mov I: Allegro

[MaestroX]

A charming piece indeed.

It definatly has the "classical" sound you were after, but if you wanted you could have enchanced the classical feel by the use of some classical cadence forumlas such as the cadential 6/4 (Ic - V) or a double suspension on either a perfect or imperfect cadence.

Good job at trying to get a modulation in their. Classical music is all about balanced phrasing and modulations.

Perhaps you called this a Divertimento? Divertimentos tend to have no specific form wheras a suite one would expect an extensive first movement form such as sonata form.

Good job, keep working at it! I'm looking forward to any future movements you write

[crimson]

Thanks for the comment, Maestro!

Divertimento sounds perfect, I looked it up from Wikipedia (I had never heard of a divertimento before ) At the planning stage I actually considered to compose a sonata for winds. I even made notes from an analysis book about it, but my nerves failed and I fell to just scribbling down the music. However, I made one advance in my compositional technique as I purposefully tried to come up with variations for the themes (omg!). I meant to grow a single motif all the way through the piece, but I ended up stuffing all kinds of ideas into it as I have before...

[MaestroX]

No problem

There was a consistent motif throughout the piece (the running quavers) and I thought that was sufficent enough for the piece to hold together. There is always the possibility of extending the way you manipulate the theme throughout the piece if you plan to revise it.

A possible suggestion for a future piece; how about a theme and variations? Brahms recommends student composers to begin with them as they build up knowledge of theme and motif manipulation. Its quite fun aswell as the possibilities are endless!

[crimson]

Theme and variations sounds great, too. I've sometimes thought about it but have never really looked into it. However, I just might make one (or both) of the future movements for this divertimento (thanks for the name ) in that style. It sounds interesting, perhaps a theme and variations isn't too strick about form? Thinking too much about form seems to give me an allergic reaction...

[MaestroX]

Theme and variation can be as strict or loose a form as you like. For college coursework I've composed a double variations (Theme A, Theme B, Variation A, Variation B, Variation A2, Variation B2, etc) in quite a strict form (is written in the classical style) of 8 bars, 10 bars. I can't post it online yet (due to my fear of plagiarism as it has not been handed in yet) but I can PM you a midi if you like?

The post important point is to have fun with it. When you can literaly do whatever you want and it can be very enjoyable. Try changing time signatures, modulating to a distant key, inverting motifs etc its all good

[reith]

An interesting piece: light and easy to listen to. Hard to suggest improvements without a score because it sounds fine!

Scoring excellent. Melodic structure works well and idiomatic for winds. It holds together well and the production is fine.

Hope to listen to further movements when you're ready.

What samples/sequencer are you using?

cheers,
reith

[crimson]

MaestroX: Well, if it's ok with you, I'd be happy to look at the midi of your theme & variations. I'd probably get a better idea of the thing, although I think I have a hunch allready But the loose strictness of form definitely sounds promising.

reith: Thanks! About the winds, do you think they get to breathe enough? I was worried that I had made the music too dense, so that any real players would faint. I'm most concerned about the oboe, and maybe the clarinet.

I did not use a sampler this time, but a VSTi synth named Synful Orchestra (you may remember me mentioning it in a PM to you). As a sequencer I used Cubase SX3 with SIR Impulse Reverb, a touch of equalizer, and heavy compressing.

About the score/midi, I might upload it if you want to see it. I don't know whether I'd post it in SibeliusMusic.com or just as an attachment here. Be warned that there are probably some notation errors in it For example, I didn't bother to add markings for staccatos, as I was unsure how to go about it (adding that little dot to every single stacc. note seemed weird).

[MaestroX]

Sure, PM sent. Hope you like it

[crimson]

Here's the score to my piece if anyone would like to see it. It's in gif images as you can see. I hope this gives you a better view of the piece. Feel free to point out any errors


Divertimento for Winds 1 mov I 0001.gif Divertimento for Winds 1 mov I 0002.gif Divertimento for Winds 1 mov I 0003.gif Divertimento for Winds 1 mov I 0004.gif