# Minuet in A



## Mahlerian

I was getting frustrated with a larger composition I was working on, so I wrote this brief and unassuming Minuet movement last week, and I've polished it here and there since.

http://musescore.com/user/84716/scores/155999


----------



## lupinix

Really funny piece which I enjoyed listening to, I liked the parallel fifths/fourths (I wonder were they intended to be a bit rebelious or mocking or just spontaneous because like me you like the sound?)


----------



## brotagonist

I am not a music professor, so I cannot offer you anything, except to say that I listened to it... and that's a first.


----------



## Mahlerian

lupinix said:


> Really funny piece which I enjoyed listening to, I liked the parallel fifths/fourths (I wonder were they intended to be a bit rebelious or mocking or just spontaneous because like me you like the sound?)


It was part of the drone-like and improvisatory feel of the trio. Yes, I do enjoy the sound myself.


----------



## lupinix

Mahlerian said:


> It was part of the drone-like and improvisatory feel of the trio. Yes, I do enjoy the sound myself.


In that case I like them even more now than I did


----------



## Aramis

I don't know why, but this piece made me feel like my head was going to explode. And it's not that it's so puzzling or anything like that. But I had this feeling from it.

Hope my commentary will be constructive for your developement as composer.


----------



## Yardrax

Do you mind if I download the score print it and play it rather than listening to the playback?


----------



## Mahlerian

Yardrax said:


> Do you mind if I download the score print it and play it rather than listening to the playback?


Please. If you can record the results, even with a crappy microphone, be sure to share it. _Anything_ (even the keyboard I have here) sounds better than Musescore's MIDI.


----------



## Yardrax

I can't promise either great quality playing or great quality recording but I can certainly give it a shot


----------



## Crudblud

With sincere apologies I present for your consideration a somewhat faithful rendering using a certain detuned bandoneon...

View attachment Minuet in A.mp3


----------



## Taggart

Lovely to listen to. I like the comment "folk like trio section" - yes it sounds nice and folk like, but most folkies I know would die of fright at that number of sharps! In some ways open fifths can sometimes work like bluegrass double stops but they don't quite work that way here. Nice effects though.


----------



## Aramis

Upon hearing Crudbud's version I have no choice but to admit it's a masterpiece.


----------



## Ingélou

I enjoyed this. It's lively & funny & I could hear the classical minuet allusions, but have to say that to my ears, it didn't sound folky at all; more raggy-ritzy-fun, like 1920s or 1930s light jazz. Mmm - nice.


----------



## Eviticus

This is a quirky minuet for sure, Mahlerian. Was it meant to be a humorous piece? 

I enjoyed the bookends so to speak, but thought the melody took an un'natural' twist from bars 11 - 20 which was less than subtle... Therefore, whilst i liked parts of it, i thought some sections made it what the Irish might call 'an odd little fecker'. 

I see what Ingelou meant about the trio.


----------



## Anterix

Nice work. It's always good to clear our head with something simple while working on something bigger. Nice strategy.
I only think it could benefit from more texture changes.
Very nice and pleasant piece. I don't find it funny but it made me smile.
Congratulations.

Nice rendition of Crudblud by the way.


----------



## Mahlerian

Eviticus said:


> This is a quirky minuet for sure, Mahlerian. Was it meant to be a humorous piece?


Yep. Too often I lapse into writing heavier music; this time, I wanted to write something light.



Eviticus said:


> I enjoyed the bookends so to speak, but thought the melody took an un'natural' twist from bars 11 - 20 which was less than subtle... Therefore, whilst i liked parts of it, i thought some sections made it what the Irish might call 'an odd little fecker'.


The phrasing of the left and right hands actually goes out of sync around that point as the key shifts a few times (without settling down), which can be doubly unsettling or humorous, take your pick.


----------



## Eviticus

Mahlerian said:


> The phrasing of the left and right hands actually goes out of sync around that point as the key shifts a few times (without settling down), which can be doubly unsettling or humorous, take your pick.


I'm going with unsettlingly humorous.


----------



## SottoVoce

Wonderful and a joy to listen to, reminds me of the devious and subtle humor of Haydn's minuets (Surprise dissonances, funny rhythmic mishaps, etc..) As "unassuming" as it is, as well-crafted as anything that comes around these parts.


----------



## Yardrax

Sorry Mahlerian, I keep thinking about this and then not doing it, I'm not even sure if my recording equipment can really handle the sound of a piano anyway, I remember the last time I tried everything outside of a very small range in the middle of the piano sounded too quiet. But I did like the piece when I played through it


----------



## SergeOfArniVillage

This piece has a wicked catchiness -- I'm going to have that haunting bandoneum in my head for quite a while *_* 

(Kudos to Crudblud on the rendition, definitely much better than midi.)

Some people avoid parallel fifths like the plague, and if mishandled, they do sound lame. They were actually surprisingly effective here ... I really have no idea how you managed that. I couldn't get away with that if I tried.

I think the piece itself is actually mainly just goofy, in a good way. The unsettling aspect probably comes from the slightly eerie, slightly off-key instrument.

I look forward to hearing one of your bigger works, when it's finished ^_^


----------

