I'm working on another miniature. Are you going to create a February deposit?

Of course WE are!

This is a community thing. I just create the thread and basically it's better that I do it, because I have the powers to edit 'forever and ever and ever and ever' in the composers forum... Otherwise anyone can do it...

And since there will be a February, there will also be a deposit!

Hi Ed,
According to the guidelines, this forum is dedicated for composers and I do not consider myself as a composer. (although I have contributed here with a few simple pieces)
Therefore I feel not qualified to make judgements about professional works like your String Quartet.
Nevertheless, I found the piece athmospheric and interesting. I got associations to music on old black/white Swedish nature films I watched at school when I was a kid.

Rune

Just in case...

Rune it's exactly the opposite of what you say. Even on the first post of this thread (and the previous, since I copy pasted it), I mention this:

pianoworld members and composers... Pianoworld members as well...

There's no reason to think that you're not qualified to do anything. And you shouldn't feel intimidated the least by anything you see here. It's about sharing, and discussing more than anything else.

That's more like it! and I agree, the quartet has this old-ish (60s) quality, because it was composed around that time (right Ed? Or 70s...).

Has anyone here heard of SoundCloud? I just discovered it and I think it's a really cool hosting site.

[/quote]
Just in case...

Rune it's exactly the opposite of what you say. Even on the first post of this thread (and the previous, since I copy pasted it), I mention this:

pianoworld members and composers... Pianoworld members as well...

[/quote]
Ok, Got it :-)
I was referring to the text on top of the "Composers Lounge" page
"Please limit this forum to discussions by composers or about composers. Of course, this is the place to ask composers questions too"

Rune: Oh... that makes sense... I guess I didn't read the fine lines in the forums... Took them for granted and with a pinch of freedom there... but still, it's so difficult to say who is a composer and who not. I mean Becca just started out, and this was her op. 2. Yet she deserves every right to post here, to post comments and wonder what pencil she should use (which got a fair share of replies... :)).

Joel: Yup I know about it, but in general, with 3 websites under my belt I prefer uploading my stuff to my own site! I do have a soundcloud account, but it's limited to my computer games tunes, rather than anything else...

Hi Rune

Thank you for giving my work a good listen, and for your very generous evaluation of how I used to work. I certainly do not consider this a professional-level work, although one might cite it as an example of what a few of us amateur composers were writing thirty-some years ago.


Inspiration! I am trying to remember . . . I may have had my eyes on a nice Swedish girl at that time - a Swedish Nature Girl, as it were. I may even have taken her to the movies . . .

More likely: At that time, I was listening to a lot of Bartok, Shostakovich, and William Schuman string music, so think 80-90 years ago. Not Neilson, but perhaps those are where your Swedish film writers also got THEIR inspiration?

Ed

Are you referring to the Danish composer Carl Nielsen?
I listened to some String Quartets by Swedish composers at YouTube but most of them have a more romantic touch
My closest find was Hilding Rosenberg (1892-1985)
String Quartet No. 12
Sorry moderator for going off topic

Rune

Ed, I really like your string piece. The beginning is just beautiful and kind of haunting. The second part was just messy (not in a bad way more like watching someone go down in a wreck in slow motion.. imagine it with a movie playing.. it fits perfectly.)

Very visually evoking. Thanks for sharing it!

Thanks Scorpio It's a bit nerve wracking being so beginnerish but nice to have friendly people helping and encouraging.

Rune I figure if I count then you count! lol

Hello everyone. This is my second composition.

Miniature in D-flat major

JoelW, that is a really great little piece! As fascinating as it is charming.

Thanks.

Joel,
I listened to both your pieces and they got me in a good mood!
Thanks for sharing. Looking forward to Miniature #.3

Rune

Joel,

I already know about this miniature, but I think that posting in public is better...

I think that this is a marvelous little miniature. It's great, because you said what you have to say in less than a minute, and you're done with it! It's a miniature that's not missing anything. Your music language works great and so does the melodic fragments here and there! very well done mate!

Thanks you guys. That means a lot.

As a counterbalance ;-) I am re-posting a sentimental piece, composed a long time ago. The news is that I managed to make a score for it in MuseScore. (note by note!)
With my limited knowledge, I´m sure there´s a lot of errors. I would highly appreciate criticism.
Interestingly enough, It was possible to save the score as a XML file, which means that I can open it in my trial version of Sibelius. No changes can be saved though, as the trial period has expired.
Pdf. score
XML file
Sound file

This is a nice piece. I enjoyed the choice of chords. The first theme and its repeat has a nice progression. At one point it even reminds me of Chopin's first prelude. Good job overall.

What is this talk about errors? It is YOUR piece, no?

Yes, he's talking about his score...

Rune, it's a very nice piece... And an interesting chord progression. If I was to offer any kind of criticism for the music, I'd say that the tempo and rhythm remains too static; but that's just me.

For the notation there are various things that I'd do in a different way, but I'm running out of time right now, so if you'll forgive me I'll offer some feedback later on tonight (Europe here)...

Thanks for sharing!

Hi Rune,

Thank you for correcting my spelling, and it certainly was Maestro Nielsen to whom I was referring - unfortunately from memory. One of the primary aspects that first attracted me to Nielsen's music was the noble, neo-Romantic flavors.

I enjoyed the Rosenberg very much! I had not heard it previously.
Ed

Hi ‘Becca,

Thank you for the lavish praise. I am so glad you took the time, and enjoyed it. When recording, we got very lucky, because those opening harmonics in the First Violin are treacherous. Our man hit them right on the money, and that did make for a beautiful result.

In the middle section of the Movement, “go down in a wreck . . .”, I think you may actually hear some of the struggle I had in getting my notes down on paper. There are essentially two, very different themes, competing for (insisting upon!) prominence. I was constantly working in an attempt to control the dissonance as these two flipped, and turned, and fought for attention.

I wish to thank you especially for this.

Most people read to get words and ideas into their brains. Some of us read to draw pictures in our minds. Similarly, listening to music. So, thanks for letting me draw a few pictures for you! (It says a lot about how you listen.)

Ed

Joel and Nikolas,
Many thanks for your comments on my Bagatelle. I do appreciate your input.
And yes, my concerns was about the score where I guess missing notes on pedal usage is a mayor issue. More study in program user manuals and music theory in general is on my priority list.
I have learned a lot though since I started to make recordings in score software and studying the scores. MuseScore was a good find! Thanks for the tip!
I have also tried ScoreCleaner, as recommended in another thread. I seems to be even more user friendly but unfortunately the program crashes after a while on my MacBook.

Rune

Rune,

I just listened to your Bagatelle for the first time, and it is ABSOLUTELY BEAUTIFUL, with an incredible sense of timing and dynamics. Believe me :: any time you invest in improving your ability to capture your music on paper will be very well spent, indeed! Your music is well-worth "inking", where others can enjoy trying and enjoying it.

Bravo.

Ed,

Thank you sir for encouraging comments on my simple (and rather predictable) piece.
An advantage with scores I´ve never thought about is that one gets attention to weaknesses like poor voicing when capturing the music on paper. I feel that ease of playing easily get priority when composing with all music in the head.
Sorry again for poor English. I blame it on Google Translate :-)

Rune

Good observation! "Voicing", and in particular "voice LEADING", is much more important when writing for groups and combinations of individual instruments. It is not as much of an issue for those who compose solely for piano or organ.

Ed