Symphony of Peace, Pt. 3

November 29, 2005 at 4:15 AM

Just a small entry, having done some work on the second theme. I’ve completed the melodic content, and worked out the harmonic outline, just need to work on the harmonic content. Once that is completed, I can start working on the actual writing of the movement.

I thought I’d explain a bit about how I sketch things down. I use the same method that Mahler used, in that you use a four-stave system. The top and bottom staves are for the melodic content, and the middle staves are for the harmonic content. This allows for 4 melodic voices at once (if necessary), and full harmony. I generally will only put down four part harmony, no accompanying figures until I actually get around to orchestrating it. I do write down little notes as I go telling me which instrument I foresee playing which part, but to save time, I don’t write out how I want it arranged. I will get to that later.

So, from here, I go into the composition of the exposition. I’m yet to work out whether I’ll use an introduction or just go straight into the first theme, and I need to figure out how I will get from theme a to theme b. It’s quite likely that I’ll need a modulating link based on a part of the first theme. I’ll also need to decide if I’ll have a repeated exposition (as is the case in traditional sonata form, but not required), and if so, whether it will be a straight repetition, or a slightly varied one.

But I am now on holidays, so I should be able to spend a bit of time on this work, and possibly get the first movement completed before I head back to uni.

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Symphony of Peace, Pt. 3

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