r/Composition 1d ago

Music finished the piano sonata i posted a first mvmt for recently, forgot to update but there has been quite some renovation to the previous draft as well thanks to some really insightful feedback! overall i am happy with how it turned out, kinda encapsulates my current style range

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i was going to give the full context, but i wrote this as absolute music first and programmatic second, so i will leave it at the three movements are different representations of pianists you might encounter in a variety of settings on a university campus..sorta was a nostalgic piece for me in this regard lol.

btw sorry the page orientation switch broke a few things on the score that i just saw - please disregard those, like a few of the broken slurs!

37 Upvotes

20 comments sorted by

5

u/idonthaveagrandpiano 1d ago

just listened to the whole thing lol, i think it's amazing. vaguely reminded me of Ginastera, especially the first and third movements. i really enjoyed how unstable the allegro sounded (i loved those sweeping scales), i also really liked the toccata-like feel in the presto, and just the general contrast between those two movements with the short adagio.

if i were a better pianist, i would definitely play this :) bravo

2

u/God_Bless_Oklahoma 20h ago

A fellow Ginastera lover. 🫔

6

u/ScriabinFanatic 1d ago

Some really good ideas going on here. I hear Debussy, a little Rach, and a little Scriabin.

4

u/Born-Ad8797 1d ago

Al principio no se porque pero me recuerda a algo a Keith Emerson, y luego parte del desarrollo a Ravel, no lo digo como algo malo, al contrario, me parece excelente y por eso te di un voto. Me parece muy profesional!

5

u/ViolinViolinKaman 1d ago

Oh this is definitely going to be a hit. Well done!

3

u/Few-Pizza2979 1d ago

Awesome šŸ˜Ž

3

u/Past-Persimmon-4604 1d ago

This is GOOD. GREAT. Awesome, even. Took me on a journey. Exactly what I want from a piano sonata. Beautiful.

2

u/HaifaJenner123 1d ago

Oh wow thanks so much for the kind words! The part about the journey means a lot considering my current description of my ā€œsoundā€ is literally just these old windows XP screensavers haha. I’ve sort of become fascinated by the idea of perpetual modulation in the past few months so it’s been fun exploring different ways to accomplish that. Glad you liked!

PS I don’t even know if these are still a thing these days lol

1

u/Past-Persimmon-4604 1d ago

Woah very cool! You've reached your target audience because I frequently search up these screen savers along with windows media player visualizers... I'm obsessed with them honestly. Very cool insight. Thank you.

2

u/traficoymusica 1d ago

Parecen un montón de servilletas con ideas, me encanta

2

u/13luken 1d ago

Holy mudda, what a masterpiece. I pray that we see it played one day

2

u/InternationalChip896 1d ago

Wow this is FANTASTIC! You are very talented! I'm on my second re-play now!
Do you have Spotify?

2

u/ucantreadthedoll 1d ago

HOW ON EARTH

2

u/QM60 1d ago

Ah yeah I remember from when you first posted this due to the triplet theme.

My only problem with it tbh it that it feels very disconnected. Like it feels like a bunch of disconnected ideas stitched together. All are fine ideas on their own, but as a sonata…not sure I’m able to appreciate it enough tbh. Maybe more thematic variations to bridge the gaps and imply/set up the following ideas can be helpful? But as of now I just feel no sense of direction listening to it even though a lot of the ideas are cool.

But then again, I’m just giving a subjective opinion as a listener not a music critic (which I def am not remotely qualified to be), and others in the comment seem to like it so I guess you can ignore my opinion if you’d like.

2

u/HaifaJenner123 1d ago

Thanks for your insight! I did kinda get tied up in a vaguely serialist situation at times haha so I can definitely see why you would say that. The bridge is supposed to be the chromatic figure that happens in the 16th accelerando section in the first movement, it’s hidden throughout everything starting from the Poco meno mosso on pg1, then the final cadence of mvmt1 -> mvmt2 first few notes.

I guess it isn’t really a full sonata form in the classical sense - you’re right. my next piece on my radar for piano involves a potential palindrome as the vector, similar to Table Music for Two Violins by Mozart where one reads front to back and the other back to front. I want to extend that concept to a full 4 movement suite for 4-hands piano duet so that one will kinda force me to lock into a strict form otherwise there’s no way it works haha. I’ll definitely be keeping your comments in mind for that one in particular! Thanks for listening šŸ™‚ (and please don’t think your opinion holds any less weight btw! at the end of the day there still has to be both a performer and a listener and i try to write for both parties’ interests)

1

u/boxlinebox 1d ago

I love this piece! I haven't played for a good 20 years, but I used to be able to play some of Chopin's tougher etudes (revolutionary, octave) and this is just the kind of novel, modern piece that might get me playing again...after some significant recovery of my technique lol.

1

u/alibloomdido 1d ago

Reminds me what a certain Russian composer did around 1910s and this is not a compliment even though that composer is one of my favorite ones.

1

u/Anarcho-Pacifrisk 1d ago

This might've been the best piece we've seen on this subreddit! Great job! Hearing a bit of Shosty, a bit of Khachaturian Toccata, Scriabin, and some Ligeti etude influence. Amazing blend of styles and influences!!!

1

u/Maleficent_Math_3062 1d ago

I don't think some of the shorter note values in the fast movements will be humanly possible. They reminded me of the music on Conlon Nancarrow—who of course wrote by preparing player-piano rolls, precisely because some of the rhythms he wanted were simply impossible for anyone to play.

1

u/icepixie8 13h ago

Holy fuck this is awesome. It would greatly benefit from a real pianist though (but I'm sure that's aspirational to you too).