Sonata No. 2 in C Major

• Aug 16, 2016 - 00:52

Hey MuseScorians I have just finished this Sonata and wanted to share with you all and see what you all thought of it.

Thanks for your time and much love.

Jonathan

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Sonata_No._2_In_C_Major.mscz 27.99 KB

Comments

Okay,
I have a few Questions
(1) Is this only Movement 1 of it?
(2) Are you aware of the formatting that Sonatas have?

In reply to by Elwin

Well I suppose I could add more movements at some point but for now just that.

I realize sonatas have more than one movement. I suppose I don't really know about the format of a sonata :( I just starting writing and composing recently.

In reply to by McCleffy

Although Scriaben wrote some relatively listenable pieces, he shouldn't really be cited in this context. His deliberate detatchment from most of previous musical art takes his work outside the pale, and using his work as an example for sonata structure is a stretch, to put it mildly.

Alessandro Scarlatti's son, Domenico Scarlatti, did entitle his many single-movement keyboard works as 'sonatas,' but whether that is a 'useful' application of that word in today's musical world is subject to argument.

In sum, I think it is misleading to state that 'sonatas don't have to have multiple movements', since the standard application of that term implies the opposite. It would be better, IMO, to say that there is no need for a modern composer, such as the OP, to use the term sonata to define his single-movement work. There are many other descriptive names that could be applied to such a piece. If the OP wishes to use traditional Italian nomenclature--which is fine as far as I am concerned--he has a number of other choices available.

In reply to by Jonathan Carty

You might want to call it a 'rondo'. It does not follow that form strictly, but it is closer to a rondo than it is to anything else. The rondo is one of the fundamental musical forms; it comprises several sections, one of which recurs in the tonic between the various 'episodes'. For further information about the standard forms in music, I suggest you obtain a good general reference encyclopædia such as The New Oxford Companion to Music or the Harvard Dictionary of Music.

Stylistically, your piece is reminiscent of Mozart or early Beethoven, which is to say the Classical period. It would be useful for you to read up on the 'rules' of harmony that obtained during that period, as well. You have a good 'ear' for what you are trying to do; learning why things were done in a certain way will help you to refine your work in future.

In reply to by Recorder485

Thanks Recorder485. I will definitely look into this more. Now would be a good time to have that Star Trek Tech to just download all of the 'theory' aspect of classical music into the brain.

I am thinking of entering into some piano competitions and am putting the final details into everything and thought I could reach out to the experts here before doing anything final.

In reply to by Jonathan Carty

Unfortunately, learning about music takes more than a 'Star Trek' download. And even if that technology existed, the raw data would mean little to anyone who had not studied the history and development of musical forms and theory. TANSTAAFL, you know.

Good luck with the competitions. Bear in mind that most of the composers submitting works to them have actually studied music theory at some point in their lives.

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