Trio Sonata for Piano Violin and Bb Clarinet

[Marsmallos]

Hi!
This is a piece i completed a month ago or so, and its the first piece i have written for multiple instruments, so any comments whats good/bad etc. would be appreciated

First movement: http://www.sendspace.com/file/3uvarq 5mb. (5:24)

Second movement: http://www.sendspace.com/file/9eg7fg 6.5 mb. (7:06)

Third movement: http://www.sendspace.com/file/ja0qlt 4.8 mb. (5:09)

All files are MP3, and i hope you dont think the filesizes are too big to download...

[crimson]

I think this is very mature music for someone of your age. The musical ideas are colorful and the pieces really sound classical (unlike some of my own scribbles). I think the choice of instruments works well here; each brings its own flavour to the music. The piano is light and 'busy', the violin adds some drama, and the clarinet has a lovely mellow and melancholic sound.

Despite the rather thin musical texture, this is very inspiring music and keeps up my interest till the end. I'm no expert in what comes to classical forms, but to me this work seems successful. The different movements each have their own feeling and ideas but they still have something in common, they really feel like they're part of a larger whole.

My favourite was probably the third movement. I didn't get into the music so well in the beginning of the first movement. It seemed there were some oddities at the beginning of that movement (prolonged notes on the clarinet etc.), but I think it improved to the end.

By the way, is it you playing the piano? It seems you have quite a good grasp of playing it if that's the case. I have to say I'm quite impressed by your music!

[Marsmallos]

Thank you for the quick reply!

No one is playing any of the instruments xD, they where all sampled using Finale and GPO and some ambience reverb, but i am able to play the piano part myself (i usually dont write pieces that i cant play because then the whole point of writing the piece would be lost).

The first movement was the one i wrote first, the third came next, and the second was written last, so in the first movement i didnt really know what to do when i suddenly was supposed to compose for multiple instruments (this was an assignment i got from my composition teacher), but the more i wrote, the more ideas i got

(And by the way, what does prolonged mean? :O)

[crimson]

Prolonged means 'lengthened', or "made longer". What I was referring to can be heard in the very first phrase of the clarinet (in the high note). I think you meant to play two notes of the same height after each other but because of the samples it kind of sounds like one long note which doesn't quite fit my ear. Later in the movement I can hear the two notes serparately when the theme (?) is reintroduced.

[Marsmallos]

Hmm thats strange... Because the notation of the theme in the exposition and recapitulation are exactly the same, and im quite sure the sampled sounds follow the notes i wrote down in finale . This is the notation of the phrase i believe you are referring to (2 bars after the clarinet makes its entry in the first movement):

[crimson]

Yes, I think that's the part. Sometimes samples may be a little quirky in what comes to playback. If it's possible for you to edit the midi of the piece, you could try something like tweaking the channel volume of the clarinet for those two notes (lowering the channel volume at the end of the first note etc.). Or perhaps it would make the notes sound separately if you 'disconnected' them from each other (that's what the tie on the notes does, right? It connects them. And I'm sorry if I'm wrong as I don't completely understand notation). With samples, you often have to fiddle around a bit to make the piece sound right.

[Marsmallos]

Oh i forgot to mention that they are supposed to be tied together and that they have the tie in both the exposition and the recapitulation
So now i dont know if i should change it or leave it like that... It is supposed to be a kind of effect that the violin and the clarinet first plays Eb-C-G-Ab (and holds the last tone) and then the piano echoes G-Ab two times on the four beats in the next measure, but maybe the midi doesnt play the piano line clear enough...

[crimson]

Your idea about the piano echoing the clarinet and the violin seems good, but somehow the lenghtened note doesn't fit my ear. It may be because of the sample playback or because the clarinet and the violin are so much louder at that spot than the piano that it hides the correct effect. I would prefer the two tied notes were separated, but it's just my personal taste. You're the real composer and you naturally know what's best for your piece

[Marsmallos]

Ahem, i would still like some more comments ... It would be nice to get more than one opinion... ;-)