I love the chord progression in the beginning of the piece, it just feels so calm and pastorale. It reminds of maybe a stroll through the country, admiring wildlife and nature. That's how I see it. :)
I listened again to your fine work.....reminds me of Elgar at his Very Best …… You Should send this to King Charles...he is a fanatic for Classical Music....perhaps you will get a Knighthood 👑👑👑👑 Best, Alan
Thank you very much for your kind words. I still have a long way to go, but I appreciate your support. How happy I am to have many years of improvement in front of me, because I surely won't stop composing any time soon :) and of course - I will keep studying Bach!
Simple, effective, stunning. Good use of rhythmic and melodic motifs. Would love if both themes were contrasting in nature, part of the beauty of Sonata form is how variety of both themes to give you almost a breath of fresh air, was a little hard to discern when the second theme came in without the score. Don’t let this comment detract from this piece, it truly is a gem. Love your melodic writing here! Am excited to hear more!
Well done! You have solid form and interesting harmonies & ideas. As others have pointed out, definitely add some rhythmic/textural variety here & there. Also, I think the vast possibilities of string techniques & textures could be further utilized-multiple stops, tremolos, string crossings, pizzicato, etc. As a pianist (as I also am), it may be easy to overlook the dexterity of string instruments & the virtuosity they're capable of. You can get a glimpse of this by looking at the solo parts of famous violin (or other string) concertos.
Thank you. This is actually my main Issue. MuseScore - the software I am using doesn't sound good when I get virtuous. This has been hindering and limiting my compositions for a long time now.
@@schlu Yeah, MuseScore is notorious for that. It takes practice to just overcome it, ignore the limitations and learn to know what it will sound like. My primary instrument is cello, and sometimes I will record fragments of all the parts to see what I want to change. Similarly, just listening to quartets play and finding how different timbres are written work. :p
I agree! Usually I "beg" my former guitar's students beginnig study composition, to write something for the Guitar ensemble of the Musical Gymnasium where I teach. Could you consider this possibility???
This is, for me, one of the most beautiful contemporary piece of music i've heard! This Piece has something very heartwarming to it. Keep up that great work! Greetings from a 17-Year old classical Composer from Bavaria :)
Thank you so much! Well, I am an 18 year old from North-Rhein-Westphalia, so this means a lot to me :) But I still consider myself more amateurish than anything. Still - I try to convey what passion I can offer at the moment. Abitur is near you know - a big turning point in life.
Such a stunningly beautiful piece of music, the melody is soaring, and both the harmonies and counterpoint are reminding me of Rachmaninoff (which is definitely a good thing)! I'm really touched by this work, I'm excited to come back here and listen to this work again so that I may enjoy it and also learn from it. Thank you for sharing this Schlu!
i love the baroque inspiration! after listening to the first part, i think embellishment in the middle voices-honestly having a strong, contradicting countermelody line-would do this piece a huge service. I’m rly impressed though and honestly, I hope I can one day get to your level of musicianship!
This is amazing! Your melodies are incredible. If I was only able to be a composer like you. I am currently writing my 2nd symphony but I still don't have such a feeling for melodies. You on the other hand are capable of doing it without any effort. The accompainment is also very good from a perspective of harmony. I am enjoying this work. Keep composing!
Thank you for the kind words! To make quicker progress in your compositions I would really recommend first writing for smaller Ensembles. Tackling a Symphony is the grandest thing a composer can do and can quickly be overwhelming. I don't feel at all capable of writing a Symphony. So. My tipps for you: 1. Scale it down. Symphonies are the final boss of composing. Gain experience by first confronting the common enemies. Limitations breed creativity - having too many instruments restricts what you actually want to achieve. 2. Learn four part harmony. This will result in more coherent melodies as a side product of more coherent harmonies. 3. One thing that helped me personally is actually to not catalogue my pieces. I have stopped using Opus numbers a while ago, because I realised that it makes me mentally mark my pieces as being set in stone. 4. Music theory is your friend and so is grouping phrases into 4 or 8 bar phrases. But the most important thing is: Don't stop writing! Composing is a wonderful thing! I actually think that you and I have much more in common than you might realise. We started in the exact same way. I have hundreds of drafts in my Score folder. I really hope I didn't come of as too pushy with my comment - I just wanted to give what helped me as an example on how one might improve more quickly. We are in the same boat here. I didn't write like this from day one. Nobody did. And oh how much I still have to improve: The staccato accompaniment gets too stale too quickly. I focused too much on the first Violin as the melody. The main and second themes don't feel distinct enough. Octaves in the outer voices are questionable. I forgot the coda. I could keep going, but I already stole enough of your time. You should be writing! I should be writing! Everybody should be writing! :)
Oh my dear god.. yes I would say that worked out! To the point where I don't know if this is a real orchestra or not. Love the way you move around the melody and the voice leading is super pleasing. Wow, love it! You are getting another subscriber.
Really lovely piece, so many great things about it. It's a simple melody and simple harmonies that you expand on and explore really well, and I particularly like the way you pass around certain little figures between the parts. I would say that you mustn't feel like every part has to play all the time and silence can be just as effective when used well (possibly even to offer some textural variety) but It's enjoyable to listen to, and isn't that what music should be!
Very nice! As someone who plays a lot of inner string parts (viola and 2nd violin), one suggestion: please give the inner voices something more interesting to do than endless repeated eighth notes. Mozart and Haydn took the idea of equality of parts to its peak, where a quartet was more of a conversation between four voices rather than a solo and 3 accompanists. I would study their later quartets for that aspect, even if their style is not what you're going for.
I love this. Glad I stumbled onto this. If possible, I’d like to present this to my high school orchestra students and advanced middle schoolers. This is very playable for my small ensemble. I’m willing to pay or score exchange one of my chamber works; piano quintet or string quintet w/ 2 violas. Happy to assist and give you ideas in composition and music in general. Would you be willing to offer a copy of the music?
So beautiful! Original and enchanting... Fantastic work!!! The opening reminds me of Borodin :) My dream is to compose quartets.. one of my favorite genres... do you have any advice on how to study and how to learn? Books resources and whatever can help?? Thank you and congrats for the inspiring music....
Thank you for the kind words! Well I am 100% self taught and just kind of trained my instinct over the last year when it comes to four part harmony and composition in general. I never actually studied any of this so I sadly can't give you any recommendations. I just wrote what I thought sounded nice and slowly understood the dos and don'ts over time. I have a long journey of learning ahead of me and wish you the best of luck on yours! :)
Sounds very nice! The only times I was a bit thrown are the places where there are uncovered octave parallels in the outer voices such as in bar 23 the D-C in bass and 1st violine. They stand a bit out as a "huh" moment while listening.
Wow!! I’m also currently working on a string quartet with MuseScore. You should try changing the musesounds instrument to Solo Violin and viola and cello so it sounds more like a string quartet instead of a piece for string orchestra in the audio rendition. Hope to see the second movement soon!
I wish you the best in your project! Writing a string quartet is quite a challenging thing to do ;) The problem I have with MuseSounds Solo-Strings, is that they just sound incredibly glitchy for me. The dynamics just fluctuate randomly making the sound pretty much unusable. Would you happen to know anything about that?
@@schluthank you! That’s true, I had some bad issues with dynamics on stacatto notes but I didn’t have that many of them so it was still fine for me. You have alot of them so I see why lol I created a post on the MuseScore forum about it but no one has replied. I’ll try creating a bug report on GitHub since this issue is clearly happening to more people. Kind of a bummer but hopefully it’ll get fixed soon.
I have this problem as well. As much of a misfortune it is, I'm glad I am not alone in that experience, and feel free to share if you ever find a solution. Great work by the way; as someone who is trying to get into school for composition, witnessing another share this passion and do it well is a lovely thing. Keep it up! @@schlu
I love your style. I'd say it's quite similar to the style I attempt to convey, as well. Somewhat experimental, but also still conforming to some norms. It sounds great! What instrument do you play?
Thank you! I dabble in cello, but my real passion lies in the piano and of course composition. I might plan to study music as well, when I finish my a levels.
C'est une pièce agréable à écouter dans un style post-romantique qui ne sonne pourtant pas désuet. Il y a de belles recherches harmoniques. Ca sonne un peu "Borodine" du XXIème siècle.
Sound nice, Thanks for sharing. Would be fun te hear with a string quartet. I realize it's digital playback, sound nice though, but it obvioulsy set to an ensemble for each instrument. Maybe there's a setting to change that?
The thing is - I obviously wanted to use the sound of solo-instruments for my string quartets, but the solo string sounds available in MuseHub are very glitchy and unreliable so I tend to use the ensemble sounds instead.
Thank you! Those are the sounds of the notation software I use. It's MuseScore 4 using MuseSounds and it's free. Might want to check it out! I actually used the ensemble sounds for this one since the solo instrument sounds are a bit glitchy on my pc, but I think it still works well. They have pretty much every instrument. I used MuseSounds for a whole orchestra in the past.
Your compositions are very pleasant to listen to and show a lot of potential, but what also impresses me is your openness to criticism and feedback. If you don't know them, you might want to check out Alain Mayrand's 'Scoreclub' courses on traditional composition and orchestration techniques. They are really helpful, I think.
Sounds good but i still think it can have some more surprising harmony. Also make sure to vary accompaniment parts like at the start. It’s ideal to actually try not to have three instruments accompanying one, but if you want to do that, it’d be cooler if you could incorporate different rhythms. And definitely try to give melody to the lower parts more! I feel like you’re a violinist seeing how much you’ve given the violin :). But overall just use different rhythmic figures because I see a lot of quarters half’s and eights, and the parts look too similar. It’s a funny thing to think about, but when you’re composing, think about how you would feel if you were each instrument playing their part. If you feel were a viola playing eights and quarters throughout the piece, might start to feel a little bored. Also include different expressions other than crescendos and diminuendos, such as texture things like sul tasto, or different bow strokes overall. You’re doing a great job! Just gotta allow it to flourish a bit
I wholeheartedly appreciate your advice and will try to take it into consideration :) You know, I just have this problem that things like sul tasto and different bowings don't appear in the sound generated by MuseScore, which makes it hard for me to really get into details like that. I am actually more of a pianist, so I have this inner voice telling me that the melody is always on top. I definitely need to work on that. Thank you!
I linked the sheet music is the description and seperated it into the different parts. I am still no expert at bowing and fingering, so feel free to adjust anything if need arises.
I'm certainly no expert myself, but key is definitely learning and following the rules of four-part-harmony. Don't bend the rule until you can confidently stand behind your decisions. Also keep the players in mind. Too many flats and sharps can prove to be rather tedious for less advanced musicians - I experienced this live, when my first String Quartet was rehersed (this shouldn't be a problem for professionals). Keep the bowing of all the players in sync if possible and have important beats on downbows. Switch up which instrument plays the melody from time to time and use dynamics to bring instrument into or out of the foreground. Don't be afraid to utilize the full range of each instrument. There are a lot of things I could say, but this should suffice in the beginning. You will get a feeling for multi instrument polyphony. Hope this was somehow useful information! :)
The accompaniment gets really too repetitive in the beginning : look at Mendelssohn's Octuor, or Dvorak's American Quartet, you'll see they always try to not put only 1/8 notes !
It's Ben Schlüter - Well, there isn't anything to find online, since I'm pretty much just some german highschool graduate ;) Also feel free to record whatever you want - I would love to hear a genuine rendition.
Hi I'd be happy to point out a few thoughts that arose when listening to the piece, but I think the length would be pretty long... Should I attempt this in the comment section? :(
Have a little time to write some thoughts. First I think its important always to know the musical intention behind a section we are considering. That is, there is no absolute rule of music or way that something should be done outside of its musical context. Any suggestion I consider and you consider in the future should be related to the musical intention of that moment in particular and in relation to the overall work. The question could be asked, do I want to express this idea, feeling and so on musically, but that ventures into the realm of musical style, language, philosophy, musical history, social development and so on which is something to be considered and processed over the course of many pieces and years. That being said, I mean to say that any suggestion I make I will try to do in relation to what I think you are trying to express and will be done to more clearly and deeply reflect that musical intention. I will try not to repeat what others have reccomended, but I think the rhythmic point can be addressed from a slightlly different angle than just saying you can add more rhythms. I think it is important to see rhythm as a part of motivic development, and as you focus more on development of ideas, rhythmic varioation will come more easily. For instance at M.33 or rehearsal mark B, you have a climax to arrival of somewhat new idea with the falling 8th note triad in first violin. I think here you might want, and what would make the arrival at the slightly more soft tranquil moment at m.37 more unique or stand out more from m33-36, would be both more movement to move forward from 33-37, as well as develop or incorporate the 8th note idea more in the other parts. In my ear I dont hear this as an exact mimic or copy of two falling 8th notes, but in the bass particularly as an upbeat 8th. for instance m.33 down beat (A) dotted quarter to 8th note (G#) back to (A) this could be done repeatedly or varried in different ways, but would add to the moment in many ways 1.) Forward propulsion to m.37 creating a rhythmic link and make more dramatic the softer section at m.37 when you then would return to half notes in the bass. 2.) Variation on the theme which brings more interrelation between the instruments and more voices rather than accompaniment and melody. 3.) New rhythmic material (dotted 4th followed by 8th note) which occurs organically from the melody which can later become more developed or generate new sections/material. For instance you could combine this later with the material in m.29 in the viola 2nd violin to say have the two 8th notes which were in m.29 on the beat, later shifted forward one 8th note to off the beat. 4.) The incorporation of the G# on the off beat 8th note gives more emphasis and reinforces the new key area of A major which we just entered. There may be reasons here or in other sections where you might not want to emphasize the tonic or key, but I think it is valid in this case, especially since the modulation is so abrupt. That being said I would in general in the future always try to look for small ways, such as this where you can add multiple (at least if not more than the 4 here above) layers of compositional threads which raise the work above the sum total of its parts. Moving forward I think the range of the instruments is rather low, they all stay fairly low in their register for the whole piece and the violin ever only reaches I believe first C above the staff once. This isnt always bad, but I think there is a quality in this piece of emerging lyricism which is hindered partially. Back to M.29, it is a nice arrival and is clearly a moment of hightened expression, yet I think this is limited possibly in part by my point above, the range of register, but more in my ear, by the range of notes. Starting in M.28 in 1st violin we have in sequence F#, B, E, F#, B, A#, B. This sequence does not explain the emphasis, length, or repetitiveness of each note, such as the two B's occuring at the same 2nd beat for two beats, both approached by the same F#, but for my ear, whether the repetitiveness of this aspect or the limited range of notes it becomes too much of the same. Again I say this in relation to musically what is happening, that is there is a break out moment of new rhythmic and more expressive material. I think this aspect makes one desire more from the violin in one way or the other, even if just slightly. Even sometimes the transfering of ideas between violins is enough timbral variation between players and instruments to achieve this, yet I am note sure about this section. I wish I could go on because I am just scratching the surface of what I am trying to say and have other comments but am to tired to continue, I hope it is clear enough. @@schlu
You do know how to craft a melody in the upper voice, but apart from a simple harmonization, there seems to be a lack of proficiency with the remaining voices. I have struggled with this for many years, and no one could teach me a proper composition technique. Even a composition study is futile nowadays because hardly anyone can compose anymore. Your technique is still quite amateurish. If you want to improve quickly in composing, focus on a few measures and not entire compositions. Write a simple melody and add three more voices, exploring all possibilities until it sounds truly perfect, with all movements perfectly executed. Take your time to really try perfection. And compose at the piano, not in notation software! If you do that, you will discover things you can't even dream of right now
Superb! I really liked it and see it as a higher work. That being said, and due to the feedback request, I procede to the critique. From 00:00 to 1:50 things were really good. Loveble. I liked the constant and emotional acompaiment. The harmony in 1:56, however, started to sound more..., modernist. And that's kinda bad. But in 20:10 you come back to the romantic delicious. You have good control over Intensity. Aaand..., at 4:40 you repeat that nasty poor part. But then u make that transition again, making everything right. The development were very elegant. But what you tried to do in 6:32 were too harsh, too disgraceful. However, in 6:40 you make a good answer. Still, it didn't fix the "mistake", because the given impression of 6:32 were too disonantly abrupt and exaggerated to be accepted. 7:28, the counterpoint didn't work. 7:35 becomes ok again. There may be some parts that maybe would had worked if it were played by a human or something like that, instead of this digital simulation that, even though good, still lacks something's. 10:33 the high notes were too strong instead instead of mellow. Apart from those observations, it were a very higher expirience. Would you, dear reader, would be so kind to also give a honest feedback on my latest piece? I would like to. Very well, farewell!
I love the chord progression in the beginning of the piece, it just feels so calm and pastorale. It reminds of maybe a stroll through the country, admiring wildlife and nature.
That's how I see it. :)
Beautiful, no unnecessary note, everything in its place💛👍
Thanks! That's one of the best things a composer can hope to hear!
I listened again to your fine work.....reminds me of Elgar at his Very Best …… You Should send this to King Charles...he is a fanatic for Classical Music....perhaps you will get a Knighthood 👑👑👑👑 Best, Alan
Thank you very much for your kind words. I still have a long way to go, but I appreciate your support. How happy I am to have many years of improvement in front of me, because I surely won't stop composing any time soon :) and of course - I will keep studying Bach!
Simple, effective, stunning. Good use of rhythmic and melodic motifs. Would love if both themes were contrasting in nature, part of the beauty of Sonata form is how variety of both themes to give you almost a breath of fresh air, was a little hard to discern when the second theme came in without the score.
Don’t let this comment detract from this piece, it truly is a gem. Love your melodic writing here! Am excited to hear more!
The most beautiful piece of music that I've heard for a looooong time. Soft, uplifting, beautiful.
You are such a talented man 👏👏👏
the orchestration of quartets is wonderful
I really like the melody and as a composer, your harmonies are really good! Love it!
Well done! You have solid form and interesting harmonies & ideas. As others have pointed out, definitely add some rhythmic/textural variety here & there. Also, I think the vast possibilities of string techniques & textures could be further utilized-multiple stops, tremolos, string crossings, pizzicato, etc. As a pianist (as I also am), it may be easy to overlook the dexterity of string instruments & the virtuosity they're capable of. You can get a glimpse of this by looking at the solo parts of famous violin (or other string) concertos.
Thank you. This is actually my main Issue. MuseScore - the software I am using doesn't sound good when I get virtuous. This has been hindering and limiting my compositions for a long time now.
@@schlu Yeah, MuseScore is notorious for that. It takes practice to just overcome it, ignore the limitations and learn to know what it will sound like. My primary instrument is cello, and sometimes I will record fragments of all the parts to see what I want to change. Similarly, just listening to quartets play and finding how different timbres are written work. :p
Yes, I will try to practice to see beyond what I can hear. Won't be an easy step to take, but it will be a necessary one.
truly a beautiful and moving piece, thanks!
My cat loves this piece
Perfect! In the style of Tchaikovsky. Beautiful melodies!
Thank you :)
Nice job, would be great to hear a guitar ensemble composition from you
I agree! Usually I "beg" my former guitar's students beginnig study composition, to write something for the Guitar ensemble of the Musical Gymnasium where I teach. Could you consider this possibility???
This is, for me, one of the most beautiful contemporary piece of music i've heard!
This Piece has something very heartwarming to it.
Keep up that great work!
Greetings from a 17-Year old classical Composer from Bavaria :)
Thank you so much! Well, I am an 18 year old from North-Rhein-Westphalia, so this means a lot to me :)
But I still consider myself more amateurish than anything. Still - I try to convey what passion I can offer at the moment. Abitur is near you know - a big turning point in life.
Absolutely gorgeous great job!
Nice, good job man. Keep on composing
Incredible work! I love the transition from the first ending to the beginning, it really recontextualizes the whole piece during the second listen!
Such a stunningly beautiful piece of music, the melody is soaring, and both the harmonies and counterpoint are reminding me of Rachmaninoff (which is definitely a good thing)! I'm really touched by this work, I'm excited to come back here and listen to this work again so that I may enjoy it and also learn from it. Thank you for sharing this Schlu!
That's amazing, i'm shooketh, we got our next John Williams
Excellent composition and mockup!!
This is absolutely lovely! 🌹
i love the baroque inspiration! after listening to the first part, i think embellishment in the middle voices-honestly having a strong, contradicting countermelody line-would do this piece a huge service. I’m rly impressed though and honestly, I hope I can one day get to your level of musicianship!
This is amazing! Your melodies are incredible. If I was only able to be a composer like you. I am currently writing my 2nd symphony but I still don't have such a feeling for melodies. You on the other hand are capable of doing it without any effort. The accompainment is also very good from a perspective of harmony. I am enjoying this work. Keep composing!
Thank you for the kind words!
To make quicker progress in your compositions I would really recommend first writing for smaller Ensembles. Tackling a Symphony is the grandest thing a composer can do and can quickly be overwhelming. I don't feel at all capable of writing a Symphony.
So. My tipps for you:
1. Scale it down. Symphonies are the final boss of composing. Gain experience by first confronting the common enemies. Limitations breed creativity - having too many instruments restricts what you actually want to achieve.
2. Learn four part harmony. This will result in more coherent melodies as a side product of more coherent harmonies.
3. One thing that helped me personally is actually to not catalogue my pieces. I have stopped using Opus numbers a while ago, because I realised that it makes me mentally mark my pieces as being set in stone.
4. Music theory is your friend and so is grouping phrases into 4 or 8 bar phrases.
But the most important thing is: Don't stop writing! Composing is a wonderful thing! I actually think that you and I have much more in common than you might realise. We started in the exact same way. I have hundreds of drafts in my Score folder.
I really hope I didn't come of as too pushy with my comment - I just wanted to give what helped me as an example on how one might improve more quickly. We are in the same boat here. I didn't write like this from day one. Nobody did. And oh how much I still have to improve: The staccato accompaniment gets too stale too quickly. I focused too much on the first Violin as the melody. The main and second themes don't feel distinct enough. Octaves in the outer voices are questionable. I forgot the coda. I could keep going, but I already stole enough of your time. You should be writing!
I should be writing! Everybody should be writing! :)
@@schluDanke für die ganzen Tipps!
Great piece,truly wonderful I just subscribed.
Tutta musica bellissima, la vostra! Complimenti e cari saluti da Siracusa! 😍
Very enjoyable.
Oh my dear god.. yes I would say that worked out! To the point where I don't know if this is a real orchestra or not. Love the way you move around the melody and the voice leading is super pleasing. Wow, love it! You are getting another subscriber.
this is lovely, was going to use it for a graduation that I am working until I saw it is present day work. Great work!
Thank you!
Really lovely piece, so many great things about it. It's a simple melody and simple harmonies that you expand on and explore really well, and I particularly like the way you pass around certain little figures between the parts. I would say that you mustn't feel like every part has to play all the time and silence can be just as effective when used well (possibly even to offer some textural variety) but It's enjoyable to listen to, and isn't that what music should be!
Very nice! As someone who plays a lot of inner string parts (viola and 2nd violin), one suggestion: please give the inner voices something more interesting to do than endless repeated eighth notes. Mozart and Haydn took the idea of equality of parts to its peak, where a quartet was more of a conversation between four voices rather than a solo and 3 accompanists. I would study their later quartets for that aspect, even if their style is not what you're going for.
I am working on it :)
Tbf almost half of Haydn’s quartet(mostly the first half he wrote), sounded more like violin soloist with three accompanists).
very good
Very Nice i was playing .with my viola
I love this. Glad I stumbled onto this. If possible, I’d like to present this to my high school orchestra students and advanced middle schoolers. This is very playable for my small ensemble. I’m willing to pay or score exchange one of my chamber works; piano quintet or string quintet w/ 2 violas. Happy to assist and give you ideas in composition and music in general. Would you be willing to offer a copy of the music?
I linked the sheet music for free in the description, if you're still interested :)
So beautiful! Original and enchanting... Fantastic work!!! The opening reminds me of Borodin :) My dream is to compose quartets.. one of my favorite genres... do you have any advice on how to study and how to learn? Books resources and whatever can help?? Thank you and congrats for the inspiring music....
Thank you for the kind words!
Well I am 100% self taught and just kind of trained my instinct over the last year when it comes to four part harmony and composition in general. I never actually studied any of this so I sadly can't give you any recommendations.
I just wrote what I thought sounded nice and slowly understood the dos and don'ts over time. I have a long journey of learning ahead of me and wish you the best of luck on yours! :)
Sounds very nice! The only times I was a bit thrown are the places where there are uncovered octave parallels in the outer voices such as in bar 23 the D-C in bass and 1st violine. They stand a bit out as a "huh" moment while listening.
Wow!! I’m also currently working on a string quartet with MuseScore. You should try changing the musesounds instrument to Solo Violin and viola and cello so it sounds more like a string quartet instead of a piece for string orchestra in the audio rendition. Hope to see the second movement soon!
I wish you the best in your project! Writing a string quartet is quite a challenging thing to do ;)
The problem I have with MuseSounds Solo-Strings, is that they just sound incredibly glitchy for me. The dynamics just fluctuate randomly making the sound pretty much unusable. Would you happen to know anything about that?
@@schluthank you! That’s true, I had some bad issues with dynamics on stacatto notes but I didn’t have that many of them so it was still fine for me. You have alot of them so I see why lol
I created a post on the MuseScore forum about it but no one has replied. I’ll try creating a bug report on GitHub since this issue is clearly happening to more people. Kind of a bummer but hopefully it’ll get fixed soon.
I have this problem as well. As much of a misfortune it is, I'm glad I am not alone in that experience, and feel free to share if you ever find a solution. Great work by the way; as someone who is trying to get into school for composition, witnessing another share this passion and do it well is a lovely thing. Keep it up! @@schlu
You have Genius within you 📣....keep studying Bach Daily !………I ought to know, I hold my Masters from Juilliard.
Thank you! I will follow your advise!
U wish i can compose like this😭
I love your style. I'd say it's quite similar to the style I attempt to convey, as well. Somewhat experimental, but also still conforming to some norms. It sounds great! What instrument do you play?
Thank you! I dabble in cello, but my real passion lies in the piano and of course composition. I might plan to study music as well, when I finish my a levels.
That is same for me. I want to compose music with variability, harmony, beaty of classical music's extent, but in modern light as well.
C'est une pièce agréable à écouter dans un style post-romantique qui ne sonne pourtant pas désuet. Il y a de belles recherches harmoniques. Ca sonne un peu "Borodine" du XXIème siècle.
Borodin influence at the begining ? Lobe it !
Sound nice, Thanks for sharing. Would be fun te hear with a string quartet. I realize it's digital playback, sound nice though, but it obvioulsy set to an ensemble for each instrument. Maybe there's a setting to change that?
The thing is - I obviously wanted to use the sound of solo-instruments for my string quartets, but the solo string sounds available in MuseHub are very glitchy and unreliable so I tend to use the ensemble sounds instead.
Borodin 2?
right?!?
Wonderful! The pastoral mood reminds me of Dag Wiren. Was that an inspiration?
beautiful! how was the audio produced? it sounds so much like an actual quartet!
Thank you! Those are the sounds of the notation software I use. It's MuseScore 4 using MuseSounds and it's free. Might want to check it out! I actually used the ensemble sounds for this one since the solo instrument sounds are a bit glitchy on my pc, but I think it still works well. They have pretty much every instrument. I used MuseSounds for a whole orchestra in the past.
Your compositions are very pleasant to listen to and show a lot of potential, but what also impresses me is your openness to criticism and feedback. If you don't know them, you might want to check out Alain Mayrand's 'Scoreclub' courses on traditional composition and orchestration techniques. They are really helpful, I think.
Thank you :) I'll look into it
Sounds good but i still think it can have some more surprising harmony. Also make sure to vary accompaniment parts like at the start. It’s ideal to actually try not to have three instruments accompanying one, but if you want to do that, it’d be cooler if you could incorporate different rhythms. And definitely try to give melody to the lower parts more! I feel like you’re a violinist seeing how much you’ve given the violin :). But overall just use different rhythmic figures because I see a lot of quarters half’s and eights, and the parts look too similar. It’s a funny thing to think about, but when you’re composing, think about how you would feel if you were each instrument playing their part. If you feel were a viola playing eights and quarters throughout the piece, might start to feel a little bored. Also include different expressions other than crescendos and diminuendos, such as texture things like sul tasto, or different bow strokes overall. You’re doing a great job! Just gotta allow it to flourish a bit
I wholeheartedly appreciate your advice and will try to take it into consideration :) You know, I just have this problem that things like sul tasto and different bowings don't appear in the sound generated by MuseScore, which makes it hard for me to really get into details like that. I am actually more of a pianist, so I have this inner voice telling me that the melody is always on top. I definitely need to work on that. Thank you!
Could I play this quartet with my friends?
I can't get the sheet music
hello from Brazil
I'd be delighted. I'm currenly pretty busy, but I'll get to it soon enough. I'll comment again when the link is reworked :)
I have linked the sheet music in the description. Hope it works. Sorry, took a bit longer than I thought.
Very nice composition......what software you are using?
Appreciate it. I use MuseScore 4 for writing and rendering my scores.
THank you@@schlu
I would love to program this for one of my string orchestras. Please reach out if you’re willing to send me the sheet music.
Yes, I'll try to get the sheet music ready in the next few days. This means a lot to me. Thank you :)
I linked the sheet music is the description and seperated it into the different parts. I am still no expert at bowing and fingering, so feel free to adjust anything if need arises.
a beautiful piece ! I would like to learn more about writing for string quartet, could you point me in the right direction ?
I'm certainly no expert myself, but key is definitely learning and following the rules of four-part-harmony. Don't bend the rule until you can confidently stand behind your decisions.
Also keep the players in mind. Too many flats and sharps can prove to be rather tedious for less advanced musicians - I experienced this live, when my first String Quartet was rehersed (this shouldn't be a problem for professionals). Keep the bowing of all the players in sync if possible and have important beats on downbows. Switch up which instrument plays the melody from time to time and use dynamics to bring instrument into or out of the foreground. Don't be afraid to utilize the full range of each instrument.
There are a lot of things I could say, but this should suffice in the beginning. You will get a feeling for multi instrument polyphony.
Hope this was somehow useful information! :)
Beautiful piece, would u like to collaborate?
Very nice. What music notation program do you use?
Thanks! I currently use MuseScore 4.
The accompaniment gets really too repetitive in the beginning : look at Mendelssohn's Octuor, or Dvorak's American Quartet, you'll see they always try to not put only 1/8 notes !
Thanks for the advice! I'll look into it.
Can I have your full name?
I couldn't find it.
And I'd like to try and record a little bit of this wonderful piece with my colleague if you let me...
It's Ben Schlüter - Well, there isn't anything to find online, since I'm pretty much just some german highschool graduate ;) Also feel free to record whatever you want - I would love to hear a genuine rendition.
How do you make the instruments sound realistic?
I use the MuseSounds from MuseScore 4. They sound really good, but have their limitations in technique.
And they're free.
How interesting! Thank you for the information.@@schlu
Hi. What is the font you use for the title?
I use the standard font from MuseScore 4. It's called Edwin.
Thank you dude❤😊
Hi I'd be happy to point out a few thoughts that arose when listening to the piece, but I think the length would be pretty long... Should I attempt this in the comment section? :(
Please do :) I'd love to hear your thoughts in detail if it doesn't trouble you. I love every comment I get!
@@schluI just did one, outside of this "answer" mode, in case u didn't perceive it
When I have some spare time Ill put some notes together to post. May take a week or so @@schlu
Alright :) Thank you.
Have a little time to write some thoughts. First I think its important always to know the musical intention behind a section we are considering. That is, there is no absolute rule of music or way that something should be done outside of its musical context. Any suggestion I consider and you consider in the future should be related to the musical intention of that moment in particular and in relation to the overall work. The question could be asked, do I want to express this idea, feeling and so on musically, but that ventures into the realm of musical style, language, philosophy, musical history, social development and so on which is something to be considered and processed over the course of many pieces and years. That being said, I mean to say that any suggestion I make I will try to do in relation to what I think you are trying to express and will be done to more clearly and deeply reflect that musical intention.
I will try not to repeat what others have reccomended, but I think the rhythmic point can be addressed from a slightlly different angle than just saying you can add more rhythms. I think it is important to see rhythm as a part of motivic development, and as you focus more on development of ideas, rhythmic varioation will come more easily. For instance at M.33 or rehearsal mark B, you have a climax to arrival of somewhat new idea with the falling 8th note triad in first violin. I think here you might want, and what would make the arrival at the slightly more soft tranquil moment at m.37 more unique or stand out more from m33-36, would be both more movement to move forward from 33-37, as well as develop or incorporate the 8th note idea more in the other parts. In my ear I dont hear this as an exact mimic or copy of two falling 8th notes, but in the bass particularly as an upbeat 8th. for instance m.33 down beat (A) dotted quarter to 8th note (G#) back to (A) this could be done repeatedly or varried in different ways, but would add to the moment in many ways 1.) Forward propulsion to m.37 creating a rhythmic link and make more dramatic the softer section at m.37 when you then would return to half notes in the bass. 2.) Variation on the theme which brings more interrelation between the instruments and more voices rather than accompaniment and melody. 3.) New rhythmic material (dotted 4th followed by 8th note) which occurs organically from the melody which can later become more developed or generate new sections/material. For instance you could combine this later with the material in m.29 in the viola 2nd violin to say have the two 8th notes which were in m.29 on the beat, later shifted forward one 8th note to off the beat. 4.) The incorporation of the G# on the off beat 8th note gives more emphasis and reinforces the new key area of A major which we just entered. There may be reasons here or in other sections where you might not want to emphasize the tonic or key, but I think it is valid in this case, especially since the modulation is so abrupt. That being said I would in general in the future always try to look for small ways, such as this where you can add multiple (at least if not more than the 4 here above) layers of compositional threads which raise the work above the sum total of its parts.
Moving forward I think the range of the instruments is rather low, they all stay fairly low in their register for the whole piece and the violin ever only reaches I believe first C above the staff once. This isnt always bad, but I think there is a quality in this piece of emerging lyricism which is hindered partially.
Back to M.29, it is a nice arrival and is clearly a moment of hightened expression, yet I think this is limited possibly in part by my point above, the range of register, but more in my ear, by the range of notes. Starting in M.28 in 1st violin we have in sequence F#, B, E, F#, B, A#, B. This sequence does not explain the emphasis, length, or repetitiveness of each note, such as the two B's occuring at the same 2nd beat for two beats, both approached by the same F#, but for my ear, whether the repetitiveness of this aspect or the limited range of notes it becomes too much of the same. Again I say this in relation to musically what is happening, that is there is a break out moment of new rhythmic and more expressive material. I think this aspect makes one desire more from the violin in one way or the other, even if just slightly. Even sometimes the transfering of ideas between violins is enough timbral variation between players and instruments to achieve this, yet I am note sure about this section.
I wish I could go on because I am just scratching the surface of what I am trying to say and have other comments but am to tired to continue, I hope it is clear enough.
@@schlu
You do know how to craft a melody in the upper voice, but apart from a simple harmonization, there seems to be a lack of proficiency with the remaining voices. I have struggled with this for many years, and no one could teach me a proper composition technique. Even a composition study is futile nowadays because hardly anyone can compose anymore. Your technique is still quite amateurish. If you want to improve quickly in composing, focus on a few measures and not entire compositions. Write a simple melody and add three more voices, exploring all possibilities until it sounds truly perfect, with all movements perfectly executed. Take your time to really try perfection. And compose at the piano, not in notation software! If you do that, you will discover things you can't even dream of right now
Thank you so much! This is exactly what I've been struggling with for quite a while and I am tired of half-assing things. I'll follow your advice :)
who's the composer..and where is the rest of this work?
The composer is myself and the work is not yet finished, but I'm working on it ;)
I hear Barber i thotht you were Barber .
Is his style
Superb!
I really liked it and see it as a higher work.
That being said, and due to the feedback request, I procede to the critique.
From 00:00 to 1:50 things were really good. Loveble. I liked the constant and emotional acompaiment.
The harmony in 1:56, however, started to sound more..., modernist. And that's kinda bad. But in 20:10 you come back to the romantic delicious.
You have good control over Intensity.
Aaand..., at 4:40 you repeat that nasty poor part. But then u make that transition again, making everything right.
The development were very elegant.
But what you tried to do in 6:32 were too harsh, too disgraceful. However, in 6:40 you make a good answer. Still, it didn't fix the "mistake", because the given impression of 6:32 were too disonantly abrupt and exaggerated to be accepted.
7:28, the counterpoint didn't work. 7:35 becomes ok again. There may be some parts that maybe would had worked if it were played by a human or something like that, instead of this digital simulation that, even though good, still lacks something's.
10:33 the high notes were too strong instead instead of mellow.
Apart from those observations, it were a very higher expirience. Would you, dear reader, would be so kind to also give a honest feedback on my latest piece? I would like to.
Very well, farewell!
Thank you for your thoughtful comment!
I'll gladly take a look at your works :)