Impressions of a Gaelic Spring

[RichR]

Today, being the first day of spring, I finished this little piece. It has a bit of an Irish flavor to it. Well, I think it does. So, I decided to name it:

Impressions of a Gaelic Spring

I hope you enjoy it half as much as I enjoyed writing it.

[Peter Jeffrey Gale]

Hi Rich

A pleasantly simple theme and opening, but overall has a very satisfying sense of form and development.

I was a little puzzled at the Irish association at first, but after a couple of listens I get more of sense of Scottish Gaelic influence rather than Irish myself, perhaps with a strong American interpretation along the lines of Copland, Ives or Bernstein.

It let me to listen to your Fantasy for Wind Ensemble, which puts the piece into more context of your approach and ability.

A very nice piece! Thanks for sharing it ...

Peter

[RichR]

You know, it was late last night for me when I posted this and I had struggled with some Sonar issues all day. Consequently, I erred in my statement. Of course, it has a Gaelic influence as the title suggests which more of a Scottish influence. And as you aptly observed it comes from an American composer's impression of a Gaelic theme.

I hope you caught the impressions of frogs, bees and birds as well!

Thanks for the comments.

[qccowboy]

so that would be sort of a Gershwin-esque "An American in Dublin"?

cute piece. very sprightly.

though I'm concerned about how the strings sound. the attacks are strange.

[RichR]

Thanks qccowboy. I like the comment.

Yes, I am struggling with that now. I noticed it this morning. The violins sort of pulse on the long quarter notes before the short eighth notes. Everything looks fine in the CC#1 set up and the velocity but it pulses when all strings are playing together. I have a couple more technigues that I am going to try and see if I can clean it up.

I apprecciate your comments.

[Peter Jeffrey Gale]

You know, it was late last night ...

If my memory of history serves me right, Gaelic was the language of the Celtic people who inhabited Britain before it was invaded by the Romans, Anglo Saxons etc, scattering them to the distant corners of Wales, Scotland, Ireland and other nearby islands, much as happened with native American indians, I dare say.

So it could well have been Irish Gaelic in influence as you said, but ...

I hope you caught the impressions of frogs, bees and birds as well!

Ah! I hear these now ... as well as the section of distinctly Scottish "highland" dancing influence.

so that would be sort of a Gershwin-esque "An American in Dublin"?

..erm, "An American in Dumfries" perhaps?

(Though Jim Parker's "Londoner In New York" is still my personal favourite in that vein.)

[Michael A. Wiktor]

A very fun piece Rich!
Enjoyed the harp and light glockenspiel (?) parts...
I thought I heard some mixed rhythms...triplets over eighth notes maybe?

Very appropriate for the first day of spring.

Thanks for sharing.

M

[FLWrd]

The Scottish influence is there, but I also sense some Irish influences in the rhythms, the quick flutes, and the harp and bell lines. It leads to some irregular meter and unusual harmony, without sounding contrived. As a matter of fact, it sounds highly accessible, and pleasantly orchestrated. Well done.

[swinkler]

What a fun piece. Even sitting here listening to this on a rainy day where I live makes the day a little brighter. Very nicely done and colorfully orchestrated.

I agree with a couple people with regard to the string attacks early on in the piece. I've had renderings where this happens as well and haven't figured out what circumstances bring that sort of articulation to bear. One thing that also stuck out to me as a matter of interpretation or style maybe, was the quarter-eighth note triplet figures. The eighth note seemed too short to me. It could be the length variable is too low, but the notes sounded cut off too abruptly. These are picky details for an otherwise well performed piece.

Nice work!

[wrayer]

Nicely done, Richard