Having finally acquired the last of the new VSL solo strings, I lost no time in putting them to work and the result was a piano quintet which I completed in the, for me, record fast time of ten days for a piece of this length. The great 2nd quintet of Fauré was the inspiration and - apart from a direct quote -- the way the themes unfold owe something to his example though the actual character of this work is pretty different. It's probably as competent as anything I've written in "traditional" style (which I'd like to move away from in my next piece) though folk are of course welcome to make suggestions for improvement.
As usual, it can be found on my "latest works" page https://play.reelcrafter.com/dko22/latestworks
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I listened to this yesterday and am impressed beyond words that you could write something of this length and complexity in 10 days! I think this is the most overtly Romantic work of yours that I've heard so far, though parts of your 14th String Quartet are similarly tender and lyrical. The coda of the 1st movement and the opening of the Adagio are especially beautiful, and there are many surprising changes of mood and texture, as well as some adventurous chromaticism. The harmonic vagaries seem more designed for contrast in this piece though, as it is more solidly anchored in well-defined keys for longer periods. Overall I enjoyed it, and only had reservations at two points:
(1) Most importantly, the ending just "happens" and sounds completely unexpected and unprepared. Much more so than even in the first version that I heard of your 14th SQ. I think I commented that in its latest incarnation, the ending of your Quartet reminded me of how Holmboe's last Chamber Concerto ends, feeling maybe a tad unexpected but still satisfying. IMO the ending of your newest piece needs some work, but of course you're the composer, and have to go with what feels right to you.
(2) There was one sudden change of texture, key, and mood at the same time in the first movement - I think just after 08:00 though I'll have to listen again to be sure - that i felt was too abrupt, too discontinuous. This one is not a biggie, and my impression might be very different on second listen.
This is an engaging and beautiful work and if I were you, I'd consider trying to get it performed, as I think most lovers of 19th century chamber music would find it quite attractive, if a little ear-stretching in places. (Of course, I feel the same way about your 14th Quartet, especially after your most recent revisions!)
One question: what are you using for the piano?
I would say all my works are Romantic in some way, though the style varies considerably and I think those that pay lip service to Faure are perhaps more romantic than some others. The coda of the first movement (and probably the secondary theme in the second which I repeat ad nauseam) is probably my favourite thing in the piece so I'm particularly glad you picked up on that. And I knew you'd mention the coda. This time i have no plans to revisit it as I went over it countless times before deciding that I wanted - more than in the quartet -- to finish rather abruptly. I'll look up the Holmboe as a comparison out of interest. As to the passage around 8', you'll need to be more specific I'm afraid as I'm not sure exactly what you're referring to here.
The piano is the VSL Fazioli. During the composition I'd actually used my standard Vienna Imperial Bösendorfer but in the end found that very distinctive tone worked quite well -- don't know if you agree?
Anyway, I'm most grateful to you for taking time off from your moving to listen to this and I'm glad ir seems to have generally found favour.
Two things that struck me on second listen (late yesterday): first, whatever bothered me before in the first movement, didn't faze me at all this time and in fact I'm not even sure at exactly what point my objection was; and second, I agree about the secondary theme in the Adagio: a bit ad nauseam, at least the first time the theme is heard. It's a beautiful, very Romantic melody and you do give it varied accompaniment the many times it's repeated, but IMO it's just too many times and becomes cloying on the third repetition or so. The second time it is heard fully, in what sounds like a sonata form recap, the repetitions are mercifully much fewer, but my advice would be to cut some of them in the exposition as well, or else add a counter-theme (think Bruckner!) or even elaborate the theme itself with chromatic inflexions to other keys, something you do extremely well.
Unfortunately the playback is so quiet on Reelcrafter that I don't really have a good idea of the tone of that particular piano. There are places where the strings become effectively inaudible as well. It could be due partly to audio playback limits on my computer, but I've noticed that Reelcrafter (and Soundcloud, too) tend to keep the volume level mostly quite low compared with other audio hosting sites (e.g. YouTube).