Assignment Two: Tutor Feedback

My feedback for assignment two was again incredibly positive, with some pointers for further exploration of extended woodwind techniques, and some presentation tips. In the opening remarks, my tutor states that:

         This is another excellent assignment, which shows a good deal of compositional ability and intelligent thought.

My tutor noted that I had given good thought to the character of the scales. I was pleased that this was commented on, as promoting and exploiting the character of my chosen scales was very much one of my main objectives that I set for myself. My tutor also enjoyed my chosen time signature of 5/8, which she thought was highly effective, as was my use of rest in the introductory bars. It was mentioned that perhaps I could have continued to use rests in this way in other parts of the melody to create an element of surprise for the listener. I very much agree to the idea in principle, as although I wanted to keep a strong rhythmic momentum throughout the work, further use of rests could perhaps have created an interesting turn of events, especially at the recapitulation of the primary themes.

In my score, the first line is marked 'Flute', with all subsequent lines displayed as 'Fl.'. My tutor suggested that having every line marked in this way in a solo composition is unnecessary. I think in this instance I have left Sibelius to its own devices, letting it take charge of the presentation of the score, leading to errors such as this. I need to be conscious in future works to check the score thoroughly, and challenge Sibelius' decisions where necessary.

A main feature of my piece is the use of the flutter tongue technique. My tutor was pleased that I'd used it, but thought more clarity was needed in exactly how it was to be performed. Instead of using words to initiate and then cancel the flutter tongue direction, she suggested that I use tremolo lines through the stems of the notes in conjunction with the written instruction. This would make it easier for a player to correctly interpret the score, and would also mean I wouldn't have to cancel the flutter tongue, as the tremolo markings would make this clear. In my score, I intend for all of the notes contained between the two directions to be flutter tongued, but my tutor thought that this may be misinterpreted due to the mixed articulation used.

On a similar note, I was also advised against using the glissando symbol on a flute, which can't play true glissandos. It was suggestion that I instead write out the glissando in full using grace notes, meaning I can control exactly what the player would play. Left to their own devices, a flautist would play either a chromatic or fast major scale where instructed to glissando, which would make for inconsistent results.

Finally, my tutor remarked that my piece was obviously well researched (this is true, I wanted to become more familiar with the flute, and write idiomatically for the instrument) and suggested that it could be part of a group of studies or short concert pieces, if I were to write more melodies.

As mentioned in my reflection of the assignment, I have now made a start of my 'musical scrapbook'; a repository of interesting fragments that I come across while listening to music. My range of listening material is wide, encompassing many genres and styles. I'd like to capitalise on this, and keep a record of any interesting techniques, chords, sounds, instruments, rhythms, motifs etc as I find them while listening to music. The scrapbook can be found on this blog, under the 'Scrapbook' tag in the menu.