(no subject)
September 26, 2005
Sounds good!!! I can see & hear your use of dove tails. The saxophone entry sounds very smooth, as does the clarinet entry. The trumpet entry sounds a little abrupt. What if you sustained the flute chord on beat 1 of bar 10 for the entire measure and gave the trumpet the note on beat 4 of bar 10 instead of have the trumpet come in on the 1 of bar 11? That way your trumpet is joining in when the phrase begins and the sustained note by the flutes in bar 10 will create a transition from lead voice to co-voice.
Why the quarter note rest on beat 4 of bar 4 & bar 14? I think you could put in a rest, but maybe a break following a sustained note instead of resting after beat three (just hold beat 3 a little longer or carry the chord through the bar and cut off briefly before beat 1 of bar 5 & bar 15). I like the drop out of the flutes at bar 19 and the drop out of the trumpets at 21, sounds slick. There is an issue with dynamics: you are arranging this for a high school concert band. Their ability to produce the rich tone that you are going for will be compromised when they attempt to play the extreme changes in dynamics you've written. You might actually be better able to achieve your sound vision with dynamics hovering around mezzo forte. You already have built in dynamic changes by adding and dropping instruments. A professional band or an orchestra could play those dynamic changes well, but high school bands play better at mezzo forte. I like what you've done. I think the use of the flute to begin the piece is clever and tasteful. Good imaginative ear. At any rate, I think it is a nice sounding arrangement. Keep me posted.
U. B.
The trumpet entry was corrected as per suggested. I tried sustaining the flutes in bar 10, but I couldn't find a voicing that was convincing and without too much dissonance.
I played with the idea of removing the quarter note rest in bar 4 & 14 but decided to leave it in. I like the rest between those two phrases, and I feel if will help the conductor keep the flutes beginning and ending their phrases in sync.
The dynamics were dramatically toned down. Most of the extreme instances were removed. I hadn't realized that the dynamics would increase automatically with the addition of more instruments.
As well, I not only felt that the form was too short, but that I needed to include parts for the band's percussion section. I added a vibraphone solo as a third chorus and parts for drum set and triange.