Introversion, a short piece for string quartet (and first atonal work)

[Frej Wedlund]

I wanted to explore new music and get a bit out of my comfort zone, so I decided to take a look at atonalism and twelve-tone serialism, and here's the result, which I'd like some thoughts on! Except for a few compositional exercises, this is the first thing I've written using twelve-tone writing, so I'm rather new and clumsy at it. It's not exactly the strictest form of twelve-tone serialism, with interrupted tone rows now and then as well as some pure deviations from it.

 

I found it much more rewarding and expressive to write in this style than I thought it would be, but I'm rather nervous as to whether anyone else'll like it at all. It's somewhat inspired by Sartre's Nasuea, and tries to express similar emotions.

 

As ever, I'm trying to learn to put more detail into my scores and convey the musical ideas as clear as I can, so feedback on that, as well as readability and playability, is much appreciated. I've been having more problems than usual to make Sibelius do anything like what I want it to, so reading the score as it goes is probably best.

 

One thing in particular with regards to scoring I'm wondering is if the alla ottava marking at the first rehearsal mark is unnecessary, or if perhaps even the next part should have one. I always have difficulties deciding whether they're just intrusive or helpful. I also want the last fermata to end with a typical quickening of the bowing, without a new stroke, on the crescendo, but maybe notating that would be superfluous. Otherwise, how would one notate that?

 

I've attached the score in PDF and an MP3, but here's a link on Google documents if anyone prefers that: https://docs.google.com/viewer?a=v&pid=explorer&chrome=true...

 

 

Please feel free to leave a link to any of your threads or pieces if you reply!

[Fredrick zinos]

I like it. its easy to follow and it appears that the parts are all playable. you've taken care to provide ample performance directions. It is not too long for its content and it hangs together nicely.

 

Perhaps a contrasting middle section in which each of the 4 instruments acts as soloist ala recitative, with only the barest of accompanyment from the other three instruments would have provided some relief from the uniformily dense texture.. but thats really a small point.

 

Nicely done.

[Bob Morabito]

Hi Frei--

 

On the whole I really enjoyed your piece--but I feel it really suffers from lack of different kinds of articulations..pizz, stacc, sul pont, trem, gliss., etc,, which would really help and provide some difference..relief..from the same basic sound..

maybe also more dropping out of voices--thinning of texture..

 

Nothing really major--just to help, and prevent "ear fatigue".

 

( As a small side thought, I would also listen to more recent String Quartets--Ferneyhough, Carter, Dillon, etc to hear how this kind of music is and has progressed..its really very exciting:)

 

As far as problems with Sibelius doing what you want, Sib 6.2 is really good--perhaps posting on these two forums for help with what you want to do might be a solution:

 

Tech Support page:

http://www.sibelius.com/community/index.html

 

Yahoo group:

http://tech.groups.yahoo.com/group/sibelius-list/

 

Thanks so much, I enjoyed your music..really nice work..(and title too:)

 

Bob Morabito

[Frej Wedlund]

Thanks for the feedback, you two! Really glad you liked it.

As both of you say, I got my head a bit too far into the dense textures, thinning it out would probably make some for nice change. I should definitely take a look at experimenting with different timbres and articulations as well. Again, got a bit stuck in "arco ord". Just thinking about it now I got at the very least a few ideas as to where I could use some tremolo and pizzicato.
 
I'm currently taking a look at the Second Viennese school, as might be apparent, but also want to keep exploring newer music. Thanks for the tips!

My main gripe with Sibelius when writing this piece was that it wouldn't allow me to properly set playback settings for fermatas and hairpins, when the two coincided. I should take a look around the support forums.

I felt a bit silly naming the piece as stereotypically as I did, but somewhere it does describe what it is, so I'm glad it fit! :)

[David Kempers]

I like this quite a bit, nicely done.

 

A technical note: string players don't observer "phrasing lines", to them they are "bowings". At letter B for example, those dotted notes in the fiddles have a line over them. To us (I'm a violinist), that means to play all those notes in one bow. You probably don't want that. Likewise in the viola, you have 2 whole measures on one bow, which will be very hard to do and the player will have to play quietly to save bow. You might want to break up the long lines, and think of how many notes in one drawn bow a player can reasonably do.

 

The 8va is good, it's very readable that way.

[William Rayer]

Well, if this is your first ty at atonal, you have succeeded very well. It has motion and it creates a musical atmoshere. By that I mean it makes musical sense. It lives and breathes. I especially liked the first section. Elements you have present which you may not have thought you were creating are the effective 'blurring' of the barline. You don't always succeed, but the appearance is there. By that I mean you don't start everything at a barline, you tie accross or enter early disguising or losing altogether the feeling of the barline. This technique has become more and more present in the modernists and post modernists movements of the 20th and now, 21st century. What I don't like is the cdential feel you give the work with the rhythmic cadence and the chord (meas. 18-19, 35-36, 70-71). Nice once, but repeated too often. Parts of your music are very organic with ideas growing and spreading to other voices (6-16, 40-48, I especially like letter C to 68). Parts seem very mechanical and constructed (letter A to letter B). I get the feeling you were looking for something to do to get to the next section. The concept through that section is good, but the whole notes in the cello detract - I would like to see more blurring there with less precision on the beat. You might think about including solistic sections for each instrument letting them speak on their own before the dialogue begins again.

 

Anyways, that's my 2 cents. Please keep on writing in this style, it can open new vistas even in your tonal writing.

 

Best regards

Bill