Piano Concerto No. 1 in G Minor- Mvt. 2

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About this score

Thanks to those who have listened to this. This update has brought the completion of the first draft but please continue giving critique and opinions. Thank you!

Genre: Classical
Format: Composition

Comments (4)

nineage's picture

Keep on composing. This actually made me cry when I first heard it. You may want to look into a young composers competition if you really are as old as you say.

ApresAlkan's picture

Given the menuet feel this piece has, I'm not certain why you chose to put it in 3/8 rather than 3/4, but I'm sure there is a reason.

The introduction in the strings is fine; no qualms there. The piano arpeggios, especially without pedal, seem a little thin. I'd add pizzicato double bass at the start of every two bars to give some emphasis on the bass (an octave lower than the piano).

Then the melody comes in. A wonderful, haunting meditative melody. It wanders a little, but this isn't a problem--the style of this piece lends itself towards that sort of thing. You might want the melody to be this thin, but I think that the piano in octaves, and octave doubling of the melody in piccolo and oboe could give a more mellifluous feel. I'd keep pizzicato double bass every other bar.

The violin rhythm is a little brash, and has a 6/8, barcarole feel to it. This is fine, but I'd put it in a solo line (just mark it with italic text, 'solo', and let your orchestra take care of it--MuseScore playback won't work). Perhaps even put some homophonic chords in the strings beneath, moving with it, all solo, as if a string quintet are playing them, adding to the broad, yet intimate style you've created.

As it goes on, it gets quite interesting; the right hand phrases are 3 or 6 bars in length, whereas the piano accompaniment line is 4. This leads to some interesting harmonic overlaps, which means that although it is slow, there is a pushing, 'Baricades Misterieuses' type background to it.

The clarinet/bassoon part soon just doubles the piano, in the same octave--this just makes the sound larger, and makes them musically superflous. The saxophone can only play one note at a time (as I'm sure you know), so you should separate the notes across voices to show that two players are to perform the chords. I'd also put what is now the bassoon notes into the first quaver beat of the clarinet part. Now the bassoon can play this single note at a lower octave, and give a 'fuller' sound.

Nothing more I'd suggest for the following few bars. The piano line is quite idiomatic of the instrument, bringing Debussy to mind whilst not imitating him. I wouldn't double this line. The 'barcarole' line appears several times, I'd put this in several instruments at octaves each time to draw attention to it.

For the strings section, I'd double the melody in second violins an octave lower. I'd maintain the double basses as pizzicato from earlier. The tuba doubles the double basses--quite a bright sound, I'd mitigate it by also using the bassoons as a mellow tone more suited to this situation. This long conjunct melody I think would lend itself to a countermelody, perhaps. I'll leave that to you.

Just a few thoughts--hopefully they'll be helpful to you. I find it much easier to critique other works than work on my own--just see the poor orchestration on my Battaglia alla Tarantella, for example!

Thank you for sharing such beautiful music with us all. I cannot express enough how great this is.

John Citizen's picture

Thankyou again, your comments are very useful. The suggestions you have put forth are very helpful. I will update both my scores on the 5th of June, and the second movement first draft should be finished by then.

Ronan's picture

Yay! Another movement of your masterpiece! Very subtle, and very smooth and sad, the first part. The second part when it is a little more alive is more cheery, I find this quirky at times. I think It is pretty good. Hope to hear the end soon.

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Info

Uploaded May 14, 2012
Pages 19
Duration 5:44
Measures 277
Key signature 5 flats
Parts 12
Part names
  • Acoustic Grand Piano
  • Flute
  • Oboe
  • Clarinet
  • Bassoon
  • French Horn
  • Tuba
  • String Ensemble 1 (5)
License All rights reserved
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