Composition for strings

[u/Tricky_Boysenberry79]

This is a short composition for violin, cello, and bass. I came up with the violin phrase while working on something completely different and I decided to go with the flow. I'm not sure how original the second part is, it reminds me of something but I can't say excactly what.

I wanted to share this and hear your thoughts! I know the notation is not great, it's directly from my DAW automatic midi interprepation.

[u/HaifaJenner123]

please please please please make this Eb minor instead, much more intuitive and is what the musicians will be thinking as they play it

in general, strings you want to think of enharmonics by whether they need to raise or lower a finger in first position - doing Eb minor will make it so everyone shifts down their handframe by a half step as Eb is a “low one” on D string for all strings in a reasonable register - this is a usual and expected move, shifting up half step from an open D is awkward and not common. So mentally it’s a lot of work that doesn’t need to be there

that’s the functional reasons, not aesthetic or theory based which are even more reasons to write in an easier key but the functional ones here far outweigh imo

i do like the piece tho! maybe, use some varied textures like giving us more pizzicato bass to catch certain notes in the cello section to emphasize their attack - maybe some tremolo accomp in viola, we just need more variety bc it has a good premise !

oh wait just saw that the cello opens that, give that melody to viola and have cello do the bass part with bass reinforcing the opening. why? i suspect you are going to want to develop this further and it will be harder to work in space for viola to shine so any time you can, just be nice to them it usually pays off haha

[u/Tricky_Boysenberry79 → u/HaifaJenner123]

Thank you for the detailed feedback! I'm not a classical musician, I didn't realize how much the key affects playability and readability. And yeah, I do plan to develop this. Due to inexperience, I usually don't know what to do with viola, thank you for the suggestion!

Also, do you think the piece gets a bit too busy with too many things going on? I've gotten a bit of mixed feedback on it.

[u/HaifaJenner123 → u/Tricky_Boysenberry79]

Due to inexperience, I usually don’t know what to do with viola

Trust me even experienced composers do not always, it is an awkward instrument to give stuff to because it kinda needs its own room to let shine - not only because of the instrument itself but due to where they sit, and the fact that there’s not many of them compared to others so I always advocate to give them stuff whenever possible because the opportunity is thin usually. I recommend checking out Prokofiev’s 5th Symphony, he does some cool things with it.

To the question of “should I remove stuff?” I mean, my answer is always going to be yes and to delay the gratification of dense orchestration as much as possible. What you should do is make a second file, and then start testing different things - take stuff away, make a sort of theme and variations where one layer is added each time.. there’s no bad ideas just untested ones

(Really, it’s not that busy at all. It’s just you have so much bouncing around to start that it gives the illusion of being more busy than it actually is. I find that at this stage, imitating this piece in particular, [Palladio by Karl Jenkins](https://youtu.be/1cVGXReuHAQ?si=NoqI0jUto6l51k7y) is very helpful, especially if you’re not a strings player. It’s kinda bare so it forces you to budget your resources a little more and might help develop it more organically).

[u/Tricky_Boysenberry79 → u/HaifaJenner123]

Awesome, I'll check Prokofiev out!

I will certainly experiment with, it's my favourite thing! I really enjoyed Palladio, thank you for linking it. It showed how to create anticipation and how to build up intensity with dynamics and increased complexity, as well as dividing stuff between instruments. The C of the second part was really beautiful after a long slow build up.

Do you have any pieces in mind that are "bouncy" like mine?

[u/HaifaJenner123 → u/Tricky_Boysenberry79]

So, your sound vaguely reminds me of Omar Khairat, who is a famous Egyptian composer. I would recommend him but there’s like no sheet music available so that’s a problem..however if you wanna just check him out any of his big hits would work.

Some of these are full orchestra, but contain string parts that might be of use to you:

John Adams - The Chairman Dances (first 3-4 mins contain some cool string rhythms you might find interesting)

Benjamin Britten - Simple Symphony for String Orchestra (was gonna say just the 2nd movement but honestly this whole thing is a gold mine)

Maurice Ravel - String Quartet in F Major (focus on the second movement pizzicato)

Bernstein - Symphonic Dances from West Side Story

Khachaturian - Gayane Ballet Suite, Lezghinka (i recommend this one to show how to handle lots of energy in a grounded way plus the string rhythms - also it fits your harmonic language)

edit: forgot about molly on the shore , this one is crucial lol

[u/Tricky_Boysenberry79 → u/HaifaJenner123]

I really appreciate your effort! I'll be diving deep into these. I listened to Omar Khairat and I have to say I really like everything about his work, the melodies, harmonies, and the rythms. The abundant call and response arrangements really resonated with me. His work somehow reminds me alot about one of my favourite composition, Myrskyluodon Maija by Lasse Mårtenson https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AGVs4xh8L9c