Topic: Need a little help from my "Music Friends"

[GE-Raven]

The WCDA (Wisconsin Choral Director's Association) is holding a composition contest for a new choral work.  I would love any help, input, suggestions, critiques that I can get.  I have a MIDI and a PDF file so you can hear and see it.

Thanks in advance for any and all help you can give me.

MIDI

http://people.dbq.edu/staff/swolfe/audio/GLORIASATB.MID

PDF

http://people.dbq.edu/staff/swolfe/audio/GLORIASATB.PDF

GE-Raven

[Sirgod]

It sounds Very good Raven. The only thing I would change, is abit more Vibrato on the Base line when It's By Itself after the Intrance to the Piece. It could have been My Poor Speakers on my PC , But Maybe Increase It's volume abit also. The Bass that is.

Then again, My hearing is getting Pretty Poor so It might be fine.

all In all a good Piece. I think I'll Put It on repeat tonight while I finish the DaVinci Code.

Stephen

[J. Carney]

I don't know much about composition (I sang in a college choral group for 3 years) and have little or no knowledge of music theory, but to my ears it was quite well done.

[L0vetobowl]

The last time I seriously played music was on 12/31/1999, but I'll try to give a little help. It sounds to me like the 2nd to last bar doesn't want to resolve to the final chord ( but that could just be me ) I'm guessing that the piece is in E minor, which ends the song on a major chord ( called a picardy third). So I would change the 2nd to last bar to a iv resolving to the I. Use the notes A C & E in the second to last bar which will create a plagal cadence. And whoever ends on the G# should play the A before. Hope this makes a little sense to you. I'm not very good at trying to explain things  But it is your song so do what you think sounds best. Just wanted to say that the Nutcracker Suite by Tchaikovsky became one of his most popular pieces of music, but the funny thing is that he ended up hating it   

[GE-Raven]

The last time I seriously played music was on 12/31/1999, but I'll try to give a little help. It sounds to me like the 2nd to last bar doesn't want to resolve to the final chord ( but that could just be me ) I'm guessing that the piece is in E minor, which ends the song on a major chord ( called a picardy third). So I would change the 2nd to last bar to a iv resolving to the I. Use the notes A C & E in the second to last bar which will create a plagal cadence. And whoever ends on the G# should play the A before. Hope this makes a little sense to you. I'm not very good at trying to explain things  But it is your song so do what you think sounds best. Just wanted to say that the Nutcracker Suite by Tchaikovsky became one of his most popular pieces of music, but the funny thing is that he ended up hating it   

Thanks for the tips... To be honest the Cadence is actually from the fourth bar from the end (45) to measure 47.  It is indeed a plagal cadence as I am giving it a modal feel, specifically the plagal "church" modes.  The piece uses some 20th Century harmony (9th chords) but is also reminicent of the early church music and fanfares.  I would say the peice is in Aeolian mode (E).  In measure 45 I use the A minor (Alto voice has suspensionin next measure) in second inversion so I have a "pedal tone" in the bass that will hold true.  Measure 47 is the Final chord but has a suspension in the 1st tenor part.  The third will indeed resolve from this voice part as it moves from A to G#.

The picardy is dead on, as that is how most any piece in this mode would end.  My best explanation for my composition style is "neo-renaissance"  I pay far more attention to the text stress in the original chant lines than I do key.

GE-Raven

[jualdeaux]

I would love to have the knowlege to help out but what you just said is, unfortunately, greek to me.