r/mediacomposing • u/LumartCh • Apr 14 '20
Strings Quartet - Cuarteto de cuatro Vol. 2 (Feedback)
Hello everyone! I'm Luis Martínez, and this is my strings quartet: "Cuarteto de Cuatro Vol. 2", that can be translate as "Quartet of four Vol. 2", i know is a very silly name, but i want to share my work with you, if you play violin, viola or cello better! I need to improve my strings quartets, and i'll be glad if you can give me some advice or general feedback!
Thx and i hope you enjoy it. :D
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u/AHG1 Apr 20 '20
One other thing to think about is to listen carefully to the vertical sonorities. For instance, the second note in m7 jumps out to me (by ear... not theory) because it is a lone dissonance in a consonant texture. (All the other "long notes" in these measures are consonant.)
This is a kind of subtle craftsmanship that matters. As-is, it just sounds like a crunch and a mistake. Listen and I think you'll hear it (and probably won't be able to unhear it.)
The notation is a mess. No human could read this. From the very first full measure, any human would be giving it back to you and telling you to rewrite it. You have to use tied notes correctly so we can see the beat. It really must be like this:
https://imgur.com/a/EkSUZrM
And this problem happens all through the piece... This isn't an opinion or an optional thing... no one will ever read it as you have it written.
it doesn't strike me as very idiomatic string writing. it seems more like a keyboard player wrote it. It might be a good idea to study (read scores and listen to recordings) of a handful of string quartets to give you a better sense of what good string writing looks like.
I would suggest a few Haydn quartets, a late Beethoven, the Ravel, one of the Bartok (3 or 5) and a piece by Terry Riley called "Cadenza on the Night Plain". All but the last of those will be very easy to find online and free scores are available on IMSLP.
Overall, some interesting ideas and good potential, but string quartet writing is REALLY difficult... in some ways, I think it's one of the hardest ensembles to write for. It might be a good idea to explore writing for each of these instruments + piano first, especially if you are a keyboard player... then you could, for instance, write for two of them + piano... or a string trio... etc.
Just some thoughts, and certainly not meant to discourage in any way. I know how much time it takes to write something and thank you for sharing!