This is a chaconne for alto flute and guitar I wrote over the past 2 months or so.
It is based on the following chords (sometimes they don't all appear in proportion, for example: before the last variation there is a repeat of the "phrase is ending" motif (D-Eb-C-B-Bb etc.):
D Minor - D Minor Added 9th - Eb Minor - EmM7 - Abm(add6) - GMajor 7 - cm7 - Ebm (and then it repeats)
A few things I would want comments on: the triplets variation, is that too hard for the flautist to count(starting measure 37)?
are there some parts on the guitar that are just unplayable?
Also, are there parts on the alto flute that are unplayable?
Any sections where you can't feel some sort of pulse (not necessarily 6/4, I have parts with 12/8 and other meters implied)
Anything else you'd think would be helpful?
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Replies
Hey Clark,
I looked through the guitar part. For the most part, it can be done, but two spots you may want to make more finger friendly are the B-D#-G-D#-G chord of m.33 (maybe drop the D# next to the B, makes the chord nice and easy to play) and then the Ab minor add 6 chord in m.50 is pretty much impossible (at least on a nylon string, may fit a little better on an electric, but still unnecessarily hard). The difficulty arises because of the Eb-F, which you can only play from the 4th to the first fret (if you want a 6 note chord that is). A voicing that falls nicely for Ab m add 6 is Ab-F-Cb-Eb, maybe that would work there? The guitar notation could use some more pointers, like barrings, positions, string indications and such. Us guitarists need all the help we can to read a score! Anyways, quirky little chord progression here, I like it.
There is a lot of good music here. I like the harmonic language and the development of the piece overall. I only have one musical critique is that towards the middle to end some of the sections seem disjointed from the rest of the piece.
My main critique is notational things which will keep your music from being performed. One must remember It may make sense to you but you have to keep in mind other people have to read this. Your music has to be a clear and readable as possible to cut down on rehearsal time and questions they may have.:
I wish I could have the implied meter in parentheses above the 6/4 (because in a chaconne you aren't allowed to change the meter on the page D: )
:O
Raymond Kemp said:
Oh really? really? you really went as far to insult a 16 year old over the internet? I spent time making sure that all of these chord voicings worked with a guitarist (special thanks to Adrian Allan for this). Do you realize that I am not a musician compared to the people who will be premiering this? A Chaconne, doesn't have to be a tear jerker. A chaconne can be angry, weird, disillusioned, etc. You clearly have any manners. Why not take a listen to John Adam's Chaconne from his violin concerto? What about the passacaglia from Shostakovich's violin concerto? Those two are what inspired this chaconne (as well as Bach's Chaconne, but not the emotional part of it, the logical part of it). I enjoy a good puzzle, perhaps you would too. This took 6-8 weeks (I forget the exact) to write. This chaconne in particular is supposed to be creepy and weird.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tx1ktwTcPz0 (John Adams Chaconne)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=17dAq5DfVog (Shostakovich Passacaglia)
This chaconne isn't supposed to be a tear jerker, it was me getting anger out. Also, Toru Takemitsu was another influence in this chaconne.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j_JkZs1Ku9c
I enjoy waiting for an actually constructive intelligent response from a real adult. Ciao.
also, that's very hypocritical of you. Also, I have talent. Two successful premieres with a 3rd coming. I must be doing something right for people to play my stuff!
Raymond Kemp said:
I found this comment very inappropriate for this thread. Insulting another composers, especially one that is very young and still very much learning, based on his composition and the comments he makes in other threads in the Music dissection forum does not seem to be the spirit of this forum.
These types of comments do not serve to help or inform anyone except yourself and are best left to ones self.
Raymond Kemp said:
also. Ray. Might I cite a source of what a Chaconne really is? Wait, I don't need your permission!
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chaconne
Ray has a way of being an asshole every time he hears music that doesn't fit his taste. Clark: relax ;>>>
I think meter changes should be avoided unless absolutely necessary, they definitely confuse the perfomer more than a tie or two. You might want to think about notating several places differently, like in measure 23 - flute part looks like 12/8, writing it correctly would make it easier to read.
Overall, I like the harmonies and harmonic language. However, you could try experimenting with tempo change and range more to add contrast. I would personally like more contrast here, and the introduction felt a little long maybe. But other than that, I think it has potential.