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Works in Progress: Junior / Re: String Quartet No. 2
« Last post by Jerry Engelbach on Today at 11:27:00 AM »
Quote from: whitebark on Yesterday at 02:17:01 PM
The sudden transition to traditional chords was striking at 3:58 - was there some programmatic meaning to this?

No, it just seemed to fall into place by itself. It jarred me, too, but maybe it can work as an ideosyncratic punctuation.

Quote
Perhaps I wanted to hear some more structure in the work - more defined sections and climax points.

Hear, hear. That's my most frequent critique of the work of others. Pot, kettle. (Which item of crockery am I?)
 
The piece is too episodic. It needs a series of arcs to hold it together.
 
As always, your close attention is much appreciated.
 
Cheers,
Jer
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Works in Progress: Junior / Re: String Quartet No. 2
« Last post by Jerry Engelbach on Today at 11:15:37 AM »
Quote from: Gillespie on Yesterday at 02:09:15 PM
My favorite snippets: mm 398..  and the run at m. 425 made me smile, too.
You should ask others, but not sure pizz strings need sfz marks.
Dynamics markings for vln: m 336 through 362 are needed: especially for the harmonics.
Clay,
 
I appreciate your attention to the details. I left out a dynamic marking at the end of the decrescendo in bar 335, and I'll look at the rest of that line.
 
I do overuse sfz, don't I? But I can't find any information about not using it on pizz.
 
Many thanks for the comments.
 
Cheers,
Jer

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Works in Progress: Junior / Re: String Quartet No. 2
« Last post by whitebark on Yesterday at 02:17:01 PM »
Hi Jerry
Talk about Halloween music - your piece had a bit of a Halloween vibe with its near atonal harmony and crazy glissandos. I liked all the special string effects you incorporated into the piece, which made for a colorful "orchestration".  Interesting harmonies add to the color of the piece.

It sounds like you introduced the main theme right away at the beginning. I enjoyed listening to all the permutations of the theme throughout the piece.

The sudden transition to traditional chords was striking at 3:58 - was there some programmatic meaning to this?

Perhaps I wanted to hear some more structure in the work - more defined sections and climax points.

Regards,
Jay

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Works in Progress: Junior / Re: String Quartet No. 2
« Last post by Gillespie on Yesterday at 02:09:15 PM »
My favorite snippets: mm 398..  and the run at m. 425 made me smile, too.
You should ask others, but not sure pizz strings need sfz marks.
Dynamics markings for vln: m 336 through 362 are needed: especially for the harmonics.
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Completed Works: Junior / Re: Halloween Scherzo for String Orchestra
« Last post by whitebark on Yesterday at 01:57:08 PM »
Thanks for the high praise, Jerry   :)  It certainly brightens my day.  N

Regards, Jay
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Works in Progress: Junior / Re: String Quartet No. 2
« Last post by Jerry Engelbach on Yesterday at 12:01:55 PM »
Thanks for the tip, Jay.
 
Is that a modern convention? I took my cue from Beethoven quartets, which end a slur on the first of a tied group. But looking at a Bartok quartet, I see that he slurs the whole group.
 
Which opens up another question. Are tied notes automatically played with one bow unless otherwise indicated?
 
Cheers,
Jer
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Finale/Sibelius/Noteperformer and others / Re: Finale 26 worth the upgrade?
« Last post by Gillespie on Yesterday at 10:19:55 AM »
I wish I'd never read this thread.  Now I want to spend $$ on Finale 26, NotePerformer, and Perfect Layout!
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Works in Progress: Junior / Re: String Quartet No. 2
« Last post by whitebark on Yesterday at 10:03:19 AM »
Wow, your string quartet is a complex and ambitious project. I looked over the score for oddities and noticed that some slurs are not notated correctly, for example at M. 10-11  in the top violin part.  When a slur is attached to a tied note, the slur should cover all of the tied notes.  Unless a bunch of tied notes are involved, and covering them with a slur would look ridiculous. . Otherwise you score looks great! 

As for the music, I'm still digesting it and will comment eventually.

Regards,
Jay
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Completed Works: Junior / Re: Halloween Scherzo for String Orchestra
« Last post by Jerry Engelbach on Yesterday at 10:00:27 AM »
Ah, Jay, another reason why it's so good to have you back.
 
What a winner. The themes are wonderful, the rhythms infectious, and you squeezed (squoze?) a remarkable variety of tone colors out of the instrumentation.
 
I concur with Art's praise for the use of pizz and arco, and the percussive sounds.
 
Cheers,
Jer
 
P. S. To all, it was Jay who opened my ears to Note Performer 3, which I use with Finale on my iMac.
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Works in Progress: Junior / String Quartet No. 2
« Last post by Jerry Engelbach on Yesterday at 08:53:43 AM »
This is the draft of the first movement of my String Quartet no. 2. I call it number two because I previously wrote a four-minute quartet movement for a contest last year, which became String Quartet no. 1, of course, which I have subsequently subtitled "The Abandoned Quartet."
 
Besides, calling this one number two makes it sound like I'm more prolific ...
 
Anyway, this took two months, and with revisions to this based on your forthcoming comments and the geologic time it requires me to write a second movement, it may be a while before I come back with it.
 
Cheers,
Jer
 
The Score, String Quartet no. 2, Movement I
The Audio, String Quartet no. 2, Movement I
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