# Yellowed Pages, one of my major compositions



## Rhombic (Oct 28, 2013)

For violin, viola, 2 cellos, double bass and piano.

_Yellowed Pages_ is a sextet for violin, viola, two cellos, double bass and piano. The title is a reference to Nikolai Myaskovsky's homonymous opus 31, as well as to how the structural concepts employed approach those of a 20th century style, if with a different compositional language. Divided in two movements, the formal structures are presented clearly and often juxtaposed, aiming to develop motifs in a parallel way. This apparently detached configuration is, however, linked together by the explicit framework, allowing it to have cohesion. The first movement has more tonal centres, including a final section inspired by Kyrgyz instrumental music. On the other hand, in the second movement, while keeping a somewhat simple harmonic background, the tonal relations tend to be sparser and short-lived, with a constant development of brief motives that balance the coherence of the section in a much more dynamic direction.

View attachment Yellowed_Pages_FullStandard.pdf


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## Rhombic (Oct 28, 2013)

Unfortunately, no sound recording to go with this one.


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## hreichgott (Dec 31, 2012)

Looks really interesting. I'm looking forward to trying out bits on the piano to hear the pitches more clearly. The rhythms definitely appeal. I like how you have constantly changing rhythmic elements, passed around between musicians, but always there is a clear sense of quarter-note pulse and rhythmic drive. And what can I say, dance-type rhythms and counterpoint are always good in my book 

Just curious, why so much in the low register and so little in the upper?


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## Rhombic (Oct 28, 2013)

hreichgott said:


> Looks really interesting. I'm looking forward to trying out bits on the piano to hear the pitches more clearly. The rhythms definitely appeal. I like how you have constantly changing rhythmic elements, passed around between musicians, but always there is a clear sense of quarter-note pulse and rhythmic drive. And what can I say, dance-type rhythms and counterpoint are always good in my book
> 
> Just curious, why so much in the low register and so little in the upper?


Thank you for the comments!
I wanted to experiment a bit with the instrumentation, as well as trying to depend on the lower register more than usual.


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## hreichgott (Dec 31, 2012)

I tried out some on the piano.
I'd suggest just taking out all the pedal markings. You definitely don't need to say "Ped. ad libitum unless otherwise marked" at the top, as that's what every pianist does on every piece  Trying out various pedalings and choosing the one that sounds best is part of learning a piece on the piano. And then, any pianist with any taste will modify pedaling ad hoc based on the characteristics of the piano, the room, and what other musicians are doing at the same time. So, unless you are writing for elementary students new to pedaling, or unless you really want something highly specific, there's no need to mark pedal.
In particular, the long pedal on the 16th note tremolos is really going to muddy what's happening in the right hand, and if it is all mf then there is no way anyone will hear anything a double bass is doing. The cellos will only be audible if playing ff. (Violin in the high treble would be OK because violins project well there and the high treble is otherwise unoccupied.) A pianist left to her own devices would probably use some pedal on the tremolos but change and feather it often and ease off of it unobtrusively as other instruments needed to be heard.

On the figure marked "sdegnoso" (I don't know the marking sdegnoso?), if what you want is a muddy and indistinct low rumble in a long pedal where you can't tell what the pitches and rhythms are, then that's a place where you should keep the long pedal marking -- a long pedal there is something a pianist wouldn't naturally think to do, and maybe it is a compositional choice. But if you want to be able to hear individual pitches and rhythms, which is what a pianist would naturally do, just don't mark the pedal and a pianist will play it in a way where you can hear what's happening.

FYI, the place where you have the large ff chord in the low register that diminuendos with pedal to niente, on my piano it takes about 60 seconds for it to diminish to being near-niente, and then when I let the pedal up I could still hear a difference. My piano is a small grand in a small carpeted room. In a concert setting it could easily be between 1 and 2 full minutes to niente. If you want it to take that long, great, otherwise maybe consider giving it an explicit duration, decrease the number of notes, take out the pedal, move it up to a higher register (shorter strings=shorter decay time), or just ask the piano to diminuendo to pp like the strings.


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## Rhombic (Oct 28, 2013)

hreichgott said:


> I tried out some on the piano.
> I'd suggest just taking out all the pedal markings. You definitely don't need to say "Ped. ad libitum unless otherwise marked" at the top, as that's what every pianist does on every piece  Trying out various pedalings and choosing the one that sounds best is part of learning a piece on the piano. And then, any pianist with any taste will modify pedaling ad hoc based on the characteristics of the piano, the room, and what other musicians are doing at the same time. So, unless you are writing for elementary students new to pedaling, or unless you really want something highly specific, there's no need to mark pedal.
> In particular, the long pedal on the 16th note tremolos is really going to muddy what's happening in the right hand, and if it is all mf then there is no way anyone will hear anything a double bass is doing. The cellos will only be audible if playing ff. (Violin in the high treble would be OK because violins project well there and the high treble is otherwise unoccupied.) A pianist left to her own devices would probably use some pedal on the tremolos but change and feather it often and ease off of it unobtrusively as other instruments needed to be heard.
> 
> ...


Thank you very much for your insightful comments! I have had indeed many second thoughts about the notation (especially for the piano), including the al niente, which, as you mentioned, is just not possible within a logical duration.


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