# Harpsichord Suite



## Canaeus

I composed this 31-piece harpsichord suite back in 2012. French rococo harpsichord composers like Duphly, Balbastre and Rameau were a big inspiration for me back then.

So, one summer, in August, while being on holiday in France, I composed these 31 pieces one after another. Once back home I didn't really do anything with them (except render them through Cubase) and after that they were virtually forgotten, put away in a map on the shelf. From time to time I stumbled upon some of the parts of this harpsichord solo suite and never really knew what to think of them. Below is a selection I made; what do you guys think?

XIV. Le jeune homme ("the young man")

XXVII. Le rouet ("the spinning wheel")

XXV. La récalcitrante ("the rebellious one")

XVII. La Marche des fortes têtes ("march of the clever heads")

IX. La courante ("the running one")

X. Le libertin ("the libertarian")

XVI. La cordelle ("the little ribbon")

XXIV. La vieille cloche ("the old tart")

If any of you would like to see the sheet music of any part, just let me know.


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## MarkMcD

Hi Canaeus,

I hope you won't take too badly what I'm going to say. I did listen to all the pieces and I had a thought since you mentioned that you were not sure what to do with them...........

To me, as they are, they sound like sketches, ideas, that tend toward much repetition of the same idea, by that I mean that they each have a central idea that you've explored in various ways, but each piece to me, seems like just that, an exploration of an idea. That is a very good thing because, here's the idea............

You say you have 31 of these works, so rather than presenting them as individual pieces, if they were mine, I would try to extract the best parts of each piece and find a way to tie those extracts together into one unified piece. Even if you only use say 30 seconds of each piece, you would still have a work of 15 and a half minutes (which is a long time to listen to a harpsichord going like the clappers):lol: so................

You would need to be brutal I think, because to be honest, there is a LOT of music here and I imagine with 31 pieces, it would be a lot of work, but if you could bring yourself to cut away what is not truly necessary and save only the best bits, the parts that solidify your central idea the best, then I think you could make a really interesting work of it and it would be an excellent exercise for you to undertake to boot!

I read some excellent advice some time ago, I'm not sure if it was here, but anyway, it was suggesting that a great way to start a new piece, is to have your concept in mind and then spend a lot of time, just writing, sketching, putting down anything that comes to mind, don't disregard anything or delete anything, just write until you have a ton of stuff just sat there waiting. Don not to try an write a masterpiece straight off. Once you have all this source material, then it's time to start editing, picking the best bits and trying to find ways to put them together. Often one snippet will suggest a transitional passage, while others will be central themes and still others will be developments on the themes, but bit by bit, they will come together and with time and care, you will have your masterpiece. (Well, perhaps that's a bit too flowery lol, but you get the gist)!

I don't know, just an idea.

Best regards
Mark


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## ArtMusic

That's beautiful music. I like it. You should compose more new music such as this. Upload in youtube for wider access.


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## Pugg

I am not a harpsichord fan so I will restrain myself form comments.


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## Canaeus

MarkMcD, thanks for your valuable feedback. You are absolutely right: in a way, they ARE sketches. I "mass-produced" them in less than a week or so and have been thinking to combine some of the parts. 
There are indeed pieces that contain a lot of repeats. I guess my being a huge fan of certain minimalist composers like Glass or Nyman has something to do with that :lol: Other sectional repeats happen because that is somewhat the fashion they used to compose; "easy" playable salon music for amateur nobility-performers. Some of the pieces I wrote, no matter how long and complex some parts may sound, fit on a single A4-sheet because of the use of repeats.

ArtMusic, I'm very glad you like it! Two parts I showed here too are already on my YouTube-channel (https://www.youtube.com/user/Canaeus/videos). The amount of viewers however isn't that stunning - unless I'm doing something wrong here (or is it my amateurish style?) 

Pugg, any particular reason you don't like harpsichord? I used to as well, but learned to listen to and appreciate the instrument. Although I must admit I don't like all harpsichord music either; that is somehow highly dependent on which composer or style. So, perhaps it's just me then?


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## Pugg

> Pugg, any particular reason you don't like harpsichord? I used to as well, but learned to listen to and appreciate the instrument. Although I must admit I don't like all harpsichord music either; that is somehow highly dependent on which composer or style. So, perhaps it's just me then?


Some valued members on this forum had some great suggestions about what to listen, but the instrument itself just don't work for me. The sound ......I do understand that the players are good but _that_ sound.


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## Canaeus

Pugg said:


> The sound ......I do understand that the players are good but _that_ sound.


:lol: Okay, I think I understand. One of my best friends has the same. When I put up some harpsichord music when he visits (now, why would I do that?!  ) he gets a physical response like itching and becomes very, very irritating :lol:


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## prasad94

This really sounds like the kind of music you'd hear on a Gameboy Advanced or NES game.


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## Pugg

prasad94 said:


> This really sounds like the kind of music you'd hear on a Gameboy Advanced or NES game.


I bet you can do better


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## Czech composer

Pugg said:


> I bet you can do better


I believe It wasn´t meant as insult. It really sounds like video game music. Which doesn´t mean that it is automaticaly bad. I like this type of music. So good work Canaeus!! It is little too much repetitive for my taste, but it has quite original atmosphere.

PS: In fact some of video game music i really love and it has big long life influence of some of my own works.
My favorites are Arkanoid II: Revenge Of DOH or Skyroads. You can try it. recommended


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## Canaeus

Insult or not, it doesn't bother me. People are rude anyways and everywhere, but by doing so they much more expose and weaken themselves, since I don't care.

I do understand the link people make with video game music however...a consequence maybe of dealing with electronic sounds? I use a lot of repetition, yes, which may make the video game music-like appearance stronger. 
Nonetheless, I'm glad you like it Czech composer.

ps: there are some very, very good gamesoundtracks around. So in case people want to use that argument as an insult, they should think twice


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## Pugg

Canaeus said:


> Insult or not, it doesn't bother me. People are rude anyway and everywhere, but by doing so they much more expose and weaken themselves, since I don't care.
> 
> I do understand the link people make with video game music however...a consequence maybe of dealing with electronic sounds? I use a lot of repetition, yes, which may make the video game music-like appearance stronger.
> Nonetheless, I'm glad you like it Czech composer.
> 
> ps: there are some very, very good gamesoundtracks around. So in case people want to use that argument as an insult, they should think twice


The right attitude to survive. :tiphat:


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## Crassus

They sound a lot like experiments by someone not very familiar with the diatonic and counterpoint. I know you have good intentions, although unsolved passages and other compositional mishaps might suggest people oblivious to the ordeal otherwise. I'm speaking as someone who had his share of such pieces, you must hold them dear but... they aren't presentable by any measure.


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## Canaeus

Crassus said:


> They sound a lot like experiments by someone not very familiar with the diatonic and counterpoint. I know you have good intentions, although unsolved passages and other compositional mishaps might suggest people oblivious to the ordeal otherwise. I'm speaking as someone who had his share of such pieces, you must hold them dear but... they aren't presentable by any measure.


Crassus, I never received ANY musical training. In that sense, I'm a musical analphabetic 
Besides that, I'm no strong believer of academic "musts and don't's"  
I did have quite some positive response on some of the harpsichord pieces, so in a way they are presentable?


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## Vasks

A couple of observations. They are not meant to be a personal attack.

First, we all have to start some place and that some place is usually quite raw (there are "genius" exceptions; but most of us are clearly not genius material). My earliest pieces I know sounded pretty bad, but that's just the way it usually is. I destroyed them many years ago as they no longer serve a purpose.

Your Harpsichord pieces are raw. They show that you have much to learn. That's not to say they don't show a level of true talent, but the important thing is to learn to listen to your music with as critical ear as you can. Assume that you need to decide where the weak spots are and go in and change them. Composing is a trial and error process. People saying your works are "pretty" or "nice" or "interesting" does not mean that the pieces are good and you therefore can continue at the same level of quality. The folks here at TC want to encourage the young/beginners with kind words. They're being supportive.

The thing that most gripes me the most is the following quote of yours that has been echoed by a number of other previous TC young/beginning composers:_ "I'm no strong believer of academic must's and don't's"_. Ignorance is not to be boasted. If you want to get better you need education. I recommend you do become a believer. The large majority of composers past and present learn the academic do's and don't's and then discover ways to circumvent some or all to be highly personally creative.

Finally, it takes a lot of courage for us composers to post our work. We're all vulnerable once we do so. But, so long as we can take any possible heat, there's no reason why we can't offer our work here. So in that sense I disagree with Crassus. Present away! Just remember that our goal is to improve as we write our next work; that we be ever more critical of ourselves. And should you decide to share your next, newest piece here at TC, some or many of us will look forward to hearing your growth as an artist.


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## Canaeus

I greatly thank you for your feedback, Vasks. These pieces are "raw" indeed, as I admitted earlier. Also don't forget I wrote these in 2012 - since then, I think it is safe for me to say that I did learn a lot.
With my statement that I'm no strong believer of academic must's and don't's, I don't mean I am not ready to learn. Why should I refuse to learn? Aren't we all learning with each experience during the whole of our lives? Refusing to learn for me is the same as being dead without knowing. Perhaps I should have rephrased that statement in "I don't want to conform too much" - in a sense? (mind me because English is not my native language).

I did post a more recent work of mine here, but the thread is dying a lone and silent death 
(if you'd be interested at all: http://www.talkclassical.com/46542-symphony-nr-3-movement.html)

But anyways, thanks for your valuable response!


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## prasad94

Canaeus said:


> Insult or not, it doesn't bother me. People are rude anyways and everywhere, but by doing so they much more expose and weaken themselves, since I don't care.
> 
> I do understand the link people make with video game music however...a consequence maybe of dealing with electronic sounds? I use a lot of repetition, yes, which may make the video game music-like appearance stronger.
> Nonetheless, I'm glad you like it Czech composer.
> 
> ps: there are some very, very good gamesoundtracks around. So in case people want to use that argument as an insult, they should think twice


I'm sorry. I realized how that, without a smiley or a profile picture, my comments can come across as cold and blunt. I wasn't being critical, merely making a comparison.

I didn't say whether it was good or bad because I do not listen to much harpsichord music and am unable to compare your work to anything based on my experience.

I can however, comment on the composition itself. I know very little of the instrument, but the music lacks a certain _flavour_. What I mean by that, is that I am unable to hear technique and velocity in your pieces. Very simple things that can help with that:

1. Crescendo/Diminuendo: To add tension to certain passages.
2. Accents, staccatos and tenutos: Musical punctuation can make a whole lot of difference, even if it is purely electronic samples.
3. Ritards and Accelerations. Ritards combined with crescendos can make for very powerful build-ups. Any combination really.

Never underestimate the power of just these fewthings. I'm no expert, but I've come to learn this in my process as a student of the art.

Cheers


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## prasad94

Canaeus said:


> Crassus, I never received ANY musical training. In that sense, I'm a musical analphabetic
> Besides that, I'm no strong believer of academic "musts and don't's"
> I did have quite some positive response on some of the harpsichord pieces, so in a way they are presentable?


Also this: _"Besides that, I'm no strong believer of academic "musts and don't's"_

As a musician who started off with soul, blues and rock and roll and has had his fair share of gigs, and actively plays in a rock and roll band, I can say I believed that too....until I took lessons in harmony and counterpoint. The rules in music exist because of biological programming: our ears are so accustomed to how music SHOULD sound, that if the rules are broken it comes across as "weird".

That's not to say we have to live by the rules. Simply put, my belief is that *the rules of music weren't meant to be broken, but they were meant to be bent.*


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## Canaeus

prasad94 said:


> I can however, comment on the composition itself. I know very little of the instrument, but the music lacks a certain _flavour_. What I mean by that, is that I am unable to hear technique and velocity in your pieces. Very simple things that can help with that:
> 
> 1. Crescendo/Diminuendo: To add tension to certain passages.
> 2. Accents, staccatos and tenutos: Musical punctuation can make a whole lot of difference, even if it is purely electronic samples.
> 3. Ritards and Accelerations. Ritards combined with crescendos can make for very powerful build-ups. Any combination really.


Crescendos/diminuendos are hard to impossible on harpsichords, depending on the type of instrument. Harpsichords rarely have pedals. The diminuendo-like sound can be simulated on a French harpsichord with two manuals which can be locked/unlocked to play together or not. A harpsichord depends on an entirely different system than piano's, with pens that pull along the silver strings instead of the piano hammers that can softly or very hard be hammering on the piano strings.

I very often use accents and staccatos or other punctuations in my harpsichord music, although not that much in the few pieces I presented here.
But you are absolutely right. Again, these pieces are over 4 years old. Back then I was writing music for only 4 years. That amount has doubled now and I have learned a lot, I think. 

Anyways, thank you again for your highly valuated feedback.


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