Hello everybody,
Finally something new from me, it has been a while. What you'll find here is my first resignation, a piece I wrote for the churchchoir (nice word...) where my parents sing in. It is sort of finished, I have to review it but basically this is it.
It will also be reviewed by the conductor, of course, but I would like your opinion, as always.
Let's be short about it: I choose the Magnificat text, but also disided (still don't know how to write that word) to leave out the last line, for Maria could never have sung 'In the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit' and being able to use the freedom we as composers have, I choose to leave it out. :D
Any way, please listen and feel free to comment, and give help. The fingering for the organplayer is still being worked on, btw.
Greets,
erwin
Replies
Erwin,
I liked what you did here. Would have been nice to hear a few more softer sections to give life to the loud parts, but that's just a personal observation.
Where did the F major at the end come from? I would put the bass on the tonic. The fifth makes it feel as if it's not final fwiw.
Will they be performing and/or at least give it a read for you?
I will take a relook at the last chord.
Yeah, I was also thinking of adding some softer parts in it, thanks for confirming.
Don't know yet, but an old conductor of my former choir will give it a shot.
Hey erwin I like this, it has a very full sound with a traditional character but some modern touches I think. I'm not familiar with choral work in general but your harmonies here have some extra spices that I doubt are traditional, but thatI like. The ff D#m in an Am work is very nice! And then you end on F after flirting with it a couple of times earlier which is cool. You use closed voicings with doublings and unisons which gives this a dense sound and lots of chord changes with quick runs in the organ part, the recording probably doesn't do justice to the live sound you will get from all of that. I think the "softer part" idea is something to consider, perhaps with some open voicings and sustained harmonies to contrast with the busier sections. Very nice!
It sounds good, though there is room for improvement. I like that we get a lot more rhythmic variety than previous pieces, and that you are venturing out into non-diatonic chords. The text is also set very nicely and is very readable.
I still get a sense that the piece was more or less meandering than going towards a goal. This does the text a disservice as I dont get a sense of the text's meaning from the music. There is also a sense of monotony as the organ particularly does the same thing for the entire piece. I wish their was a more sense of blossoming or text painting in the piece to break up the sameness of it all. We talked about stops and pipes and this piece could use some more specifics on what you want the organist to play. there are moments where I think switching from tutti pipes to a harmonic flute pipe or even switching to different size pipes like 8'would create the contrast this piece needs.
Other than that its sounds pretty good. just look into what else you can do to make the piece shine more.
@ Ingo:
Thanks, that full sound is what I tried to reach. I was trying to make it sound a little Majestic, don't know if I succeeded there... I know my work is not really traditional, I don't try to, either. I write it how I think it should be done and then try to learn from the comments, for what I am always thankful!!
Thanks for the compliment about the D#m. The FM is going to be changed, I wanna close it off with a CM, may be too traditional, but I wanna change that.
I will definately change some of the louder dynamics into softer ones, I already was thinking of that when writing, but I did want to have some opinions about it, I have them now...
There is one line, however, where the sopranos touch the G5 (m90 - m94) I am going to change. The tenors are dropping an octave there. Want the sopranos to stand out there.
@ Tyler:
Thanks, and I had no doubts about that, don't get me wrong, but I know I have a lot to learn, so... Thanks, I was also experimenting with the rithm, and I tried not only to make it sound good, but also to try something that is new for me, so this was the result.
You might be correct. I took each sentence on itself and perhaps I could have done better, although at this moment I do not really know how. Learning process. I shall have to look up a lesson about that! Could you explain what you would have expected from the organ? Are you referring to the melody line or to the left hand?
About the registers for the organ, I was talking with this director and he suggested to use Hollow Flute and Prestant for both manuals, just he didn't know about the pipe length, so I was thinking of 8'. If I am correct, that should be an 8vis, right? And what moments for switching did you have in mind?
I was planning to have the whole thing played in 8', actually, so that the choir stands out better.
Thanks for the compliment, as long as I improve with every piece I write, I have done well, right?
@ Rick:
Thanks. I know, my choices for melody line and harmonics are not always traditional, I cannot help that. What would you change in the organ, if I mamay ask? Feel free to suggest and I will see what I can do with it. Are you talking about the left or the right hand, or even the foot? What did you think of the change in m58 - m65? Are you referring to doing more like that?
Thank you all for the comments, advice and everything!
I have done some minor changes already. In the PDF, don't mind the 8va and 8vis clefs, they are there purely for the MP3, when it is definit, I will get the cleffs out, it is for the sound at the moment.
That is basically what I changed, plus the final chord (CM)
Oh, btw, Tyler, I now know that 8' is on pitch!
Magnificat.pdf
Magnificat.mp3