# Symphony No. 1 in D Minor



## jameslewitzke (Dec 4, 2018)

Hi guys, I just recently finished my first symphony after about a year and half or so of working on it (my first "major work" I'd say, at least compared to my other Compositions, and thought I'd share). I'm personally pretty happy with it and enjoy listening to it regularly as I do with other Classical Music in my playlists, but I realize I'm also applying my own biases here since I composed it, so would be nice to know how others feel when listening to it.

Or if there were any particular questions, or thoughts in general, those would definitely be appreciated as well.


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## lachlan1415 (Jul 30, 2018)

Hey there, I haven't completely listened to your symphony. However, I have listened to a couple minutes of it.

You say you are influenced by classical music. This composition sound very contemporary - in fact almost like trap music or dubstep at times. Which classical composers do you get your inspiration from?

Also I would love to hear parts in the symphony where all instruments play together at the same time (playing a melody)

It is a lot of the time harmonically awkward. Sometimes the root is not played which makes the chord sound unbalanced. 

Does this piece have structure? Eg. sonata form, variations form, rondo etc.


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## jameslewitzke (Dec 4, 2018)

Hi Lachlan1415, thanks for taking some time to check out my symphony.

My biggest influence on this work also comes from my favorite composer / favorite symphony, Shostakovich, and mainly his Symphony No. 8. I like Beethoven too although I don't know if I'd say this piece has a really big influence from him, except for a section in the Fourth Movement.

The first movement I did try to give it a very loose Sonata form, starting with a dramatic opening, followed by moving into a few various themes, and then I try to go into a more powerful development section with the Allegro con brio tempo change, followed by a couple more themes and with the reintroduced Adagio Tempo in a recapitulation section, and then closing with a fairly somber coda.

The second movement I'd say is mostly a toccata driven by motor rhythms (definitely inspired by Mvmt. 3 of the Shostakovich Symphony no 8, love that movement).

The third movement is a slower, Largo movement with elements of a Passacaglia. Wanted this to be an emotional, more serious section with powerful Strings and Woodwinds along with a bit of Brass, so decided not to use any Percussion here as a composition design choice. (And also I'd say Shostakovich Symphony No. 5's and No 8's Largos influenced me here a bit as well.) 

I wanted my fourth movement to be a bit more experimental I guess. It starts off with a slow build up, then moves into a more percussion-driven, march style section, then it eventually moves on into an Ode to Joy inspired area, and then finally followed by my attempt at a powerful, D Major Finale.


My technical analysis here though may be way off though (and like I mentioned in my OP, this is my first "major work") so forgive me if I get some of the terminology above incorrect, I'm sure some of the other posters here or those with formal training / education could probably analyze it much better than I.

And I also didn't really want to box myself in with strict forms or specifc era labels (and because I did want to create my own personal sound too), but as I am a modern composer and mentioned Shostakovich as a big influence, I suppose the "Contemporary" label is fair.

With that said too I'm not quite sure where you hear the "trap" or "dubstep" (I know very little about those genres, and don't really listen to that type of music at all), is it because I use some heavy snare and timpani drumrolls in various specific spots, or something else? But basically those genres weren't sound I was aiming for at all.


And about the full orchestra, couple of unique spots where I do use the majority of the orchestra I guess would be at around 11:35, 41:40, and the finale around 45:25. Although I do try to build up to these spots, so just starting around there may sound weird.

Not entirely sure what or where specifically it sounds "harmonically awkward", I don't stay in D Minor for the entire piece, I do modulate around occasionally. Maybe this is just my "style" though? I'm not really sure.

Although you did mention too you only checked it out for a few minutes, maybe at least give it one full listen? But if from the few minutes you did hear you just found that particular music to not be your taste, boring, or even just downright bad, etc. then I'd understand not wanting to listen to 46 minutes of it. And like I said, thanks for at least giving some time to check out the piece and give a bit of feedback, do appreciate it.


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