# Minuet in Bb major



## caters (Aug 2, 2018)

I composed an entire minuet in just a few minutes. It is way better than my first minuet(I never even finished that one, it was so bad), but I still might need to make some changes, particularly to the B section. I used motives to both intensify the B section as it moves to F major and to de-intensify it as it moves back to Bb major. Overall, it is in rounded binary form, which is typical for minuets.

View attachment Minuet in Bb.mp3

View attachment Minuet in Bb.pdf


What do you think of my minuet? Does it need any changes? If so, what changes? I tried to stay in the Baroque style, thus the melody and countermelody, but should I have an ending chord to both confirm that it is the ending and make the number of bars even? That would leave me with a bit of a coda to my minuet, which isn't typical.

And here is me addressing why I have the A section and the entire piece end in octaves instead of some other interval:

*Comment on octaves:*



> The octaves at the end of the first phrase and the whole piece lose some weight, where a different harmony could have been more effective.


*My addressed argument for ending in octaves:*

Well, I wanted to make sure it sounded closed at the end of the A section and at the end of the piece, and I was doing 2 voice counterpoint, so I had it end in octaves for that reason(in my mind, the octave is the most closed of cadential intervals, especially when preceded by a leap in the bass). Also for that reason, I had the bass leap from F to Bb in the final cadence of both the A section and the piece. Here is the A section so you can see how I structured it:










So yeah, what do you think of my minuet? What changes does it need if any(besides the parallel octaves and direct fifths and octaves, I'm already aware of those)?


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## Phil loves classical (Feb 8, 2017)

I think you need a lower note to lead the melody before your beginning like a quarternote F to add contrast and make more symmetrical. It sounds like you're starting from the middle of a melody. Agree on the octave harmony at the end of the phrases, it lacks imagination. I think the 4th beats of bars 11 and 12 also lacking contrast or imagination especially when you repeated the F in the left hand for bar 12. I feel bars 14-20 with the sustained parallel motion doesn't have enough contrast or imagination since you're using diatonic notes which sound already established in the first line. I think you need more directional changes in the left hand overall.


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