"Water Music" original composition

[themeandvariation]

Hi fellow travelers,
 Just finished this piece for solo piano today.  Being 'here' with such wonderful musicians has inspired me to write (more) for solo piano.  
  It somewhat impressionistic..
   I hope you enjoy it

Comments are much appreciated… Critical comments are most welcome.
Thank you for listening

https://soundcloud.com/upinsmoke-4/water-music-version-1

ps…Please pardon my squeaky bench.

 

[josh93248]

Good work Theme. An interesting piece, there are indeed touches of impressionism but your particular... I don't know... Tonality? It sounds more poppy-modern somehow... Which is a curious combination.

It also sounds almost too hopeful for impressionism. There's a real sense of enjoyment about the piece.

I know this is my generic slight caveat praise, but there ARE some really good moments in this piece.

But, if there's any problem, for me it was just a little meandering, not that focused... But that's got to do with the differences between you and me, this is a worthy piece and I'm sure you'll find others who like it, even more than I did.

[themeandvariation]

Thank you Josh.. I appreciate you taking the time to listen, and your thoughtful response..
Yes, "a little meandering"…  The water metaphor had me thinking to try to have the piece feel like it is always moving, yet still at the same time… As one might look at a river.  
There are gushing bits, and quiet tributaries and stuff in between…
A word about its structure:
To do this I set the piece up in 6 sections - each with a different 'tonality'.. Yet each section uses the motivic material that is in the first section - though it is sometimes elongated or compressed. (This is the part of the structure that stays still - or the glue.).. And with the differing tonality, creates another frame of reference for those motivic cells… Like a   snap shot down stream  of the same river… Generally the sections get shorter as it continues, and then dissolves into  the coda,  which is the furthest removed from the opening statement..
(I was going to call it 'water fantasy' due to it appearing to wander/meander.)  
My challenge was to create different moods employing a common template..
For me, each piece i write dictates its own structure..

Thank you for lending your ears, Josh.

[josh93248]

No problem theme, I actually listened again and enjoyed it a bit more the second time. I think your explanation helped, your "still yet moving" idea helped me understand what you were trying to accomplish.

I think your style may be slowly growing on me

[themeandvariation]

Thanks Josh.
I wasn't sure if mentioning about the structure would be helpful.. ( i half thought it might get in the way of the listening experience )
 
Since it seems like a good idea, i decided to post a description on my site as well..
Thank you for the 'prompt'.

[ajlongspiano]

Great job!

[schumaniac]

Great piece- very much inspired by Impressionism, but still original in harmonic content. I too like the tonality as the other poster described, and you play very well!
That Robin Lamott should take a look at this- 1) someone is actually PLAYING his work and partly because of this, is getting a response to his thread and 2) this Water Music blows his music out of the "water!" (as well-constructed as it is)

[schumaniac]

And I also like your comments about the piece's structure + your general philosophy for composing music- form follows function, as they say. 👍

Plus "critical comments are most welcome-" get that, Mr. Lamott?   (Wow I am on a roll today, am I getting too offensive?   )

[themeandvariation]

Thank you aj…
I appreciate you taking the time to listen   

@schumanaic:
Thank you for your observations, and kind words… and also, weighing in on whether a structural description is helpful.  Thank you for listening.

[themeandvariation]

The above link has been replaced with 'take 2' :


https://soundcloud.com/upinsmoke-4/water-music-take-2