Walpurgis Night

[Sean Damon]

This is one of my overtures rendered using GPO2 and OvertureSE.

[Raymond62]

Great piece, some phrases bring me back to another composer (which one?- don't remember). With a tiny bit more reverb...(I said tiny!!!!).

The name was very familiar, but having doubt I googled for the name and found out that it wasn't something creepy like Halloween.....

Raymond

[pokeefe]

Great piece, some phrases bring me back to another composer (which one?- don't remember).

I agree. A very good piece.

I would have guessed Joachim Raff. I'm familiar with only a few of his works, but this could have come right out of his 5th symphony. Or it could have been a symphonic poem by César Franck.

The name was very familiar, but having doubt I googled for the name and found out that it wasn't something creepy like Halloween.....
Raymond

A "return of the sun" / spring celebration in some countries, a witch's revel night in others (like Germany, I think). Apparently a couple scenes in Goethe's Faust refer to this witch's revel aspect and have inspired compositions (e.g. Mendelssohn's Die erste Walpurgisnacht).

Pat

[FLWrd]

It does sound a bit like Mendelssohn doing a variation on a theme by Dukas (at least, I think that's what Raymond hinted at: the sorcerer's apprentice).

I think it's a good composition. As I hinted at above, it has classical characteristics mixed with Romance on a more modern theme, and some minimalism in the middle (which is a bit discongruent).

Wrt the sound, I think the strings are often, but not always too soft in comparison to the woodwinds, and the bass is a bit too fast to the point where it sounds muddy (perhaps a different articulation (pizzicato?) can clean that up, or less notes, or a slightly lower tempo, or more space between the notes).

Good work.

[etLux]

You've got some great material going in this, Sean...
especially when you kick back and just take the ride
where it wants to go. The whole tail of this is
simply golden.

The one area I'd suggest looking at is the insistently
repeated chords that go on for quite some time through
the center. I suspect you might have been using that
device to push momentum -- but I'll bet you'd find the
forward motion is there without them, or at least with
more varied rhythmic figuration.

The musical thinking in this shows me some serious talent,
Sean. Don't be afraid to get in there and drub the thing
senseless until you get it exactly where you want it!

Best,



David
-----
David Sosnowski
www.DavidSosnowski.com

[Sean Damon]

Thank you all for your comments.

Pat, thank you for bringing Raff to my attention. I listened to his 5th symphony and enjoyed it much.