# Cello Sonata in B Minor



## Igneous01

Sonata for Cello accompanied by piano, in B Minor

Wrote this piece fairly quickly, but I feel satisfied with the result.

Feedback is appreciated.

1st Movement: Allegro (8:31)

__
https://soundcloud.com/sapphire-1%2Fcello-sonata-nr-1-in-b-minor-i

2nd Movement: Andante (11:15)

__
https://soundcloud.com/sapphire-1%2Fcello-sonata-nr-1-in-b-minor-1

3rd Movement: Vivace (6:14)

__
https://soundcloud.com/sapphire-1%2Fcello-sonata-nr-1-in-b-minor


----------



## PostMinimalist

Write an 8 minute cello sonata in the same time it took to write this and you'll get a better piece and more performance oportuinites! Nice though. The Neobaroque/Neoclassical idiom should be tempered with something more modern in order for it not to be just a pastiche. 
I liked the finale very much. It just needs a little tightening around the transitions. I had this problem too when I began. - I rewrote my bassoon sonata 3 time to get that 'polyfilla' out of sight.
Great job.
FC


----------



## Kopachris

PostMinimalist said:


> The Neobaroque/Neoclassical idiom should be tempered with something more modern in order for it not to be just a pastiche.


You probably already know how I feel about this, so I'm not even going to say it this time.

I liked how the piece began, though the first movement doesn't quite seem lively enough to qualify as "Allegro." The second movement seemed faster than the first. Transitions definitely need a little work--the whole work seems kind of aimless. It would also help if the cello were a little more prominent; most of the time, it felt like the piano was the main melodic line. The piano can take up the melody occasionally, but the cello should usually be the more prominent of the two. The piano just doesn't quite seem to follow the cello, as though the two are fighting for prominence. The cello has a slow, sweet melody, and the piano is agitated.

I liked the third movement quite a bit better, though the piano would be much more effective if it were _sotto voce_ while the cello played. I also agree about compressing the piece down to eight minutes. Compressing your ideas down would help with the sense of aimlessness.

All in all, not a bad piece, but it could use some work.


----------



## soundandfury

Kopachris may not want to say it, but I will - the classical idiom has much that remains unsaid, rich untapped veins of musical expression. Sheer novelty does not alone convey greatness; worst of all is novelty allied to obscurity, which leads to vacuity, as explained here and here. This point bears repeating, which is why I am doing so.

Sorry for the hijack; on-topic I'd have to agree with Kopachris' comments about the piece, particularly the balance between the soloist and piano. That accompaniment is not accompanying, it's trying to shoulder-barge past the 'cello and grab the limelight.


----------



## Igneous01

thank you everyone for your helpful feedback, it has helped open my eyes to the piece a little more objectively.

Length certainly feels like an issue to me now, there are too many repeats followed by long rests in the first movement with cello playing a very lazy melodic line. I can see now what Kopachris means when he feels the "allegro" in the first movement is void. I think I shall take another look at making this movement feel more lively (to coincide with the first theme). The undeveloped motif in the second movement helps perpetuate the feeling of aimlessness as it just drags on now.

Also, I will adjust the accompaniment so that it helps compliment the cello more. I had not realized until now how much it quarrels with the soloist. Thanks for mentioning this.

Im glad everyone liked the third movement - it was the one that was most quickly written - I had not really spent too much time "feeling out" this movement, just wanted to aim for a quick rondo and round off the whole piece. Agreed that some transitions are too rough.

About the pastiche -
When writing I felt as if i was copying Mahler/Brahms with some of the motifs and themes. Though I began writing this when listening to the first half of the 1st movement to Brahms Cello Sonata in E Minor (which at that time, had never listened to). The overall texture feels to me as dark with a chocolate brown covering - similar to when I listen to Brahms or Mahler. So in honesty i do consider it an imitation of previous works - my goal for this piece was to solidify the structure of the sonata as a whole (as this is the first sonata I can call "completed"). 

And a question i want to ask: what are some good modernist approaches today that shape classical? I dont want to dive into atonal music or avante garde subliminally and try to hush my compositions off as "decades ahead of its time". But I do want to add my own personal flare of "modern", i just need to find really good examples where this is successful.

Thank you for listening!


----------



## PostMinimalist

BTW would you rewrite the last movement and allow me to play it?


----------



## Igneous01

thats fine with me, after i sort out the notation for it (which I have not done yet, only midi so far) I will post or pm you when its finished


----------



## Igneous01

I have a quick question and am in need of some opinions on this as a solution:

would taking the "lively part" from the andante and swapping it into the allegro with the "slower darker part" replacing look like a good arrangement? This way the allegro retains its livelyness as a movement, and the andante sounds like an andante. Besides contrast being in different keys and slightly different rhythms, I am thinking this is a good solution. 

so simply put

current arrangement:
allegro - A (lively), B (Slow, dark, funeral march-ish)
Andante - A (Slow and sweet), B (Very happy and lively)

and trade these to make it look like:
allegro - A(lively), B(happy and lively)
andante - A (Slow and sweet), B (Slow, dark funeral march ish)

Does anyone have any objections to this?


----------



## Kopachris

Try it and upload it. I'd like to listen to it before making any judgment.


----------



## Igneous01

so I have experimented with trading the themes between the two movements, but the results have not been very good. Re-sychronizing the themes to match their new tempo range just looks awful on midi and on notation. I was thinking maybe a tempo marking to change it back to allegro, but that would be strange for the two movements to be allegro - andante - allegro / vice versa.

Perhaps im just really stubborn about changing so many ideas in this sonata when it feels like its been set in stone. So i guess ill opt for shorter movements and more excitement in the allegro, rather than moving the themes to new keyranges and dealing with structural issues.

Btw, here is a clip of the second movement with this change made, its not a pretty transition so to speak, but the contrast just doesnt feel right for me.


__
https://soundcloud.com/sapphire-1%2Fcello-sonata-ii-mov-version-2


----------



## Igneous01

Ok so after a month of neglect on this poor ol sonata, i finally decided to do some re hauling on the first movement. The slow passages have been removed - going to be used in the second mov. Also I added a new theme to supplement the original theme.
However This is still a rough reconstruction and some passages dont fit - and some transitions are very rough (most notably the key change from Bminor to Fminor (at 2 mins) and the wierd answer from the opening theme question (which im working on)

feedback on this is ofcourse appreciated.


__
https://soundcloud.com/sapphire-1%2Fcello-sonata-1st-mov-reworked


----------

