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Post by driscollmusick on Oct 11, 2019 20:21:52 GMT
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Post by Mike Hewer on Oct 12, 2019 13:00:27 GMT
I like that John, particularly the inventiveness in the scoring and accompaniment. I also like the fact that even in the ff section there is space within the vertical and the rising and falling 9ths are powerful. It reminded me of Britten in places, for the very reasons I've just stated. He was a master of filling up the acoustic bandwidth to no more than necessary in the vertical and you are showing similar talent. Nothing stood out as untoward for me, although for the muted brass entries at b32, did you consider staggering in the players instead of them all coming in at the same time (bones a2 and trpt!)? For the strings at b36 you could stagger the bowing to get a seamless legato as an alternative. Easy enough between vlas and vcs and with the 2nd vlns, you could get half to bow one way and half a different way. It is of course rather good as is because it emphasises the contour of the line very nicely indeed. I don't know if singers prefer the beaming you've written or would prefer separate stems, but I like it the way you have it for ease of reading. You've posted so much good stuff for this project, I can't wait to start hearing some real vocals on it all.
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Post by Tim Marko on Oct 13, 2019 14:48:51 GMT
Wonderful harmonic language in this. I'm with Mike, it's orchestrated quite well. When the work finally settles at m36, it's quite satisfying as a listener. The pacing of your build to this was great.
Only major thing I saw in the score was the collisions in the horns at mm36-40. I see how the problem happens, perhaps open up to 4 staves for the horns. The only other thing, (small nit!) is the ties to measure 35 that cut through the time signature.
Can't wait to hear the opera in it's entirety.
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Post by driscollmusick on Oct 13, 2019 16:01:19 GMT
I like that John, particularly the inventiveness in the scoring and accompaniment. I also like the fact that even in the ff section there is space within the vertical and the rising and falling 9ths are powerful. It reminded me of Britten in places, for the very reasons I've just stated. He was a master of filling up the acoustic bandwidth to no more than necessary in the vertical and you are showing similar talent. Nothing stood out as untoward for me, although for the muted brass entries at b32, did you consider staggering in the players instead of them all coming in at the same time (bones a2 and trpt!)? For the strings at b36 you could stagger the bowing to get a seamless legato as an alternative. Easy enough between vlas and vcs and with the 2nd vlns, you could get half to bow one way and half a different way. It is of course rather good as is because it emphasises the contour of the line very nicely indeed. I don't know if singers prefer the beaming you've written or would prefer separate stems, but I like it the way you have it for ease of reading. You've posted so much good stuff for this project, I can't wait to start hearing some real vocals on it all. Thanks very much for listening, Mike! I am a great fan of Britten--Grimes is my favorite opera. Re: muted brass, yeah, I am trying to get an interesting color, but perhaps layering (shifting the color) is a better approach. Someone also commented on this section, which I don't think is quite right yet. Re: string bowing at b36, yeah, I played with this a lot but decided the glue would be the horns behind them (I kind of want all the strings moving together as a single articulated line). I'm think separated stems for vocal parts is considered out of date now (Gould strongly recommends against it). I'll definitely share once I get a real singer into the mix! You think the opening clarinet solo is too high at a p dynamic?
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Post by driscollmusick on Oct 13, 2019 16:04:17 GMT
Wonderful harmonic language in this. I'm with Mike, it's orchestrated quite well. When the work finally settles at m36, it's quite satisfying as a listener. The pacing of your build to this was great. Only major thing I saw in the score was the collisions in the horns at mm36-40. I see how the problem happens, perhaps open up to 4 staves for the horns. The only other thing, (small nit!) is the ties to measure 35 that cut through the time signature. Can't wait to hear the opera in it's entirety. Thanks, Tim! Yeah, those horn collisions are due to Dorico's new "condensing" feature, which is great, but (as they themselves admitted) not quite ready yet for prime time. I will take care of the tie, too! You think the opening solo clarinet is too high at the p dynamic?
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Post by gx on Oct 13, 2019 23:38:39 GMT
I liked this a lot, John. I thought the emotional arc very powerful, and wonderfully crafted! I liked the play of old and new in your harmonic backdrop. I too found the rising and falling 9ths an effective motif.. especially with the rising tuba near the end. Also, use of the harp worked very well. Not sure about the staggered brass idea, - I was convinced.. but on further listenings (so far listened 3x) I may hear what they're getting at.. It would be great (of course) to hear with real voice. How far along are you with 'Everything is possible'?
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Post by driscollmusick on Oct 14, 2019 14:01:45 GMT
I liked this a lot, John. I thought the emotional arc very powerful, and wonderfully crafted! I liked the play of old and new in your harmonic backdrop. I too found the rising and falling 9ths an effective motif.. especially with the rising tuba near the end. Also, use of the harp worked very well. Not sure about the staggered brass idea, - I was convinced.. but on further listenings (so far listened 3x) I may hear what they're getting at.. It would be great (of course) to hear with real voice. How far along are you with 'Everything is possible'? Thanks, Gx! I've written/sketched the first two acts (about 1 hr 15 min of music), but I was struggling with Act 3 and put it on pause for the past year and a half. I need to get back into it and I decided finalizing the first two acts was the best way to do that...
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Post by Tim Marko on Oct 14, 2019 19:56:53 GMT
Clarinet dynamic shouldn't be a problem. It's going to have a bright quality. I'm more concerned by the use of flutter tongue in measure 13. It can be done but I think the level of player involved is going to determine if it works.
My .02
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Post by Mike Hewer on Oct 15, 2019 13:38:19 GMT
I like that John, particularly the inventiveness in the scoring and accompaniment. I also like the fact that even in the ff section there is space within the vertical and the rising and falling 9ths are powerful. It reminded me of Britten in places, for the very reasons I've just stated. He was a master of filling up the acoustic bandwidth to no more than necessary in the vertical and you are showing similar talent. Nothing stood out as untoward for me, although for the muted brass entries at b32, did you consider staggering in the players instead of them all coming in at the same time (bones a2 and trpt!)? For the strings at b36 you could stagger the bowing to get a seamless legato as an alternative. Easy enough between vlas and vcs and with the 2nd vlns, you could get half to bow one way and half a different way. It is of course rather good as is because it emphasises the contour of the line very nicely indeed. I don't know if singers prefer the beaming you've written or would prefer separate stems, but I like it the way you have it for ease of reading. You've posted so much good stuff for this project, I can't wait to start hearing some real vocals on it all. Thanks very much for listening, Mike! I am a great fan of Britten--Grimes is my favorite opera. Re: muted brass, yeah, I am trying to get an interesting color, but perhaps layering (shifting the color) is a better approach. Someone also commented on this section, which I don't think is quite right yet. Re: string bowing at b36, yeah, I played with this a lot but decided the glue would be the horns behind them (I kind of want all the strings moving together as a single articulated line). I'm think separated stems for vocal parts is considered out of date now (Gould strongly recommends against it). I'll definitely share once I get a real singer into the mix! You think the opening clarinet solo is too high at a p dynamic? No I think the clt part is fine at p. Speaking of Britten, I've just been listening to Gloriana, what a great piece, recommended if you don't know it.
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