# Viola Concerto (1st movement)



## musicrom (Dec 29, 2013)

Hi,

I'm pretty new to composing (I started this past summer), and I was wondering if anyone could critique/give me their reactions to the first movement of my viola concerto.

http://musescore.com/user/92705/scores/116169

(I noticed that most of you post your compositions on SoundCloud, but I don't know how that works; is it possible to transfer music from MuseScore to SoundCloud?)


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## musicrom (Dec 29, 2013)

Anyone? I know it's not anywhere near as good as most compositions posted here, but I want to learn how to improve as a composer, because it's really fun.


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## Anterix (Jan 24, 2010)

musicrom said:


> Anyone? I know it's not anywhere near as good as most compositions posted here, but I want to learn how to improve as a composer, because it's really fun.


It is not always fun. Part of it is very hard work, not only composing but learning and listening.
It's obvious you have talent. You are capable of creating melody and harmony. You have some sense of form. Good.
Now, all of these talents should develop. You should study form. Musical sentences. Harmony. In order to take your talent higher.
Some frases of your viola concerto, in my opinion, look unfinnished and too complex. I feel the need of beguinning with something simple that then may develop for something more complex. At that point one should be able to understand the complexity.
One other thing: In a tonal/modal ambient I would need more surprises. Your harmony should fly away more.

These are only my opinions. Sorry for not so good English.

Please continue to improve your work.


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## pluhagr (Jan 2, 2012)

So, if you are new to composing you shouldn't be writing a concerto. Start with two part writing or four part. I always think choral works are good to write. That way you can work on phrasing and voice leading. Your writing is nice and it has potential. It is just a bit harmonically stale. Work on counterpoint as well.


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## musicrom (Dec 29, 2013)

Thank you for your guys' advice!

@pluhagr: You are probably right that I was too ambitious in my attempt to write a concerto so early, but I have actually written 5 or 6 other simpler pieces (in terms of instrumentation) prior to this and have a lot more incomplete pieces that I am working on as well (I know I should probably be working on one or just a couple at a time, but I want to get ideas written down once I come up with them so I don't forget). I'll try to focus more on writing duets or quartets.

@Anterix: I agree that a couple of the phrases in my viola concerto don't make a lot of sense; I'll try to make those simpler and get them to sound better. Do you think the piece needs to have an introduction leading up to the opening that I currently have? Is the opening too sudden?

I think I definitely need to work on writing harmonies/using counterpoint. A lot of my writing seems to be just accompaniment to the main line without any sort of complexity or uniqueness. I have a hard time trying to make two parts sound good together without oversimplifying one of the parts. Any tips regarding this?


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## musicrom (Dec 29, 2013)

I just added a second movement to this piece, as well as fixed a few problems mentioned earlier about the first movement. I kind of like my second movement, although it's a bit short and lacking in solo viola part. I was wondering if anyone cared to listen to it and tell me what they thought. Once again, here's the link: http://musescore.com/user/92705/scores/116169

Oh yeah, and I also demoted it from a concerto to a concertino.


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