Thomas, thank you so much for taking the time to do this. First of all, I hope you're doing ok. I'm glad you're feeling better than you have been over the last two weeks, and I hope you continue recovering well. Thank you so much for such detailed feedback. You've definitely given me a lot to think about, and a lot of things to work on in future projects. About the horns, normally I would definitely just use four horns in F, and I thought about doing that, but I guess I thought the horns that were included in MusicXML template were what you were suggesting, so I decided to keep them. Once I started seeing other entries where people had just used F horns, I realised that's what I should have done. The mockup was done in MuseSounds, and there's a reverb setting for each instrument in the mixer that can be turned on or off, or adjusted up and down, and I think I had them all at the default setting which was a bit too low, and did give it more of a chamber music sound like you said. I'll definitely use more reverb for orchestral mockups in future. A lot of the issues you mentioned with dynamics are probably because I was doing what made the relative volumes of the instruments sound better in the mockup, but I'm sure it would be better to write dynamics that make more sense in relation to each other, and adjust instruments' volumes in the mixer, rather than trying to do it purely with dynamics. MuseScore does put a pause in playback between sections, but not automatically at a double barline, only if there's an actual section break (which also causes a system break, and can't be done mid-bar). I definitely have a lot to learn about about wind instrument notation. I guess I'm not entirely sure how to indicate phrasing versus actual legato; the end of a slur was just meant to indicate the end of a phras, not always a place to take a breath, but not necessarily legato either. I wasn't really sure about breaking a slur mid-phrase, except when theres a staccato note, or repeated notes (although I did miss some of theose in bar 18). For things like making each note clearly articulated, while still being connected as part of a phrase (like separating notes with tonguing without actually taking a breath), should I use staccato marks under a slur, or just leave the slur off altogether? Also the breath marks were definitely just meant to be breaths, not pauses, but I wasn't sure how to show that when the notes aren't slurred. "They'll work it out," is definitely good to know for situations like that. Similarly for slurring in the strings, I was just thinking of them as notes played with a single bow stroke. Again not necessarily legato, but that's what I meant in the cello part in bar 5 - just a staccato note at the start of that phrase, without the need for a different bowing direction for that one note. Not sure if there's a better way to notate that, or if it would've been better to just have it on a separate bow stroke. I think I've heard you say in your videos before that bowing _directions_ should be left to experienced string players, but that slurs can be used for phrasing, without specifying which direction each bow stroke is. Again, not really sure if theres a better way to distinguish bowing/phrase marks from actual legato. I'm seeing some mistakes that I probably made just because I was rushing to get it done on the last day before the deadline - I originally had the parts that share a staff _always_ in separate voices, even if the rhythms were the same, and combined some of them later. That half note rest in the clarinets in bar 31 definitely shouldn't be there, but it would've popped up automatically when I moved those two quarter notes in clarinet 2 into voice 1, and I forgot to delete it. I'm sure that's also why the oboe notes in bars 32 and 33 are stems-down. I'm not sure what happened with all the slurs on the last page. I think I might have added them right at the end and forgot to save. I definitely intended to have a slur in bars 10-11 in the clarinets, and just missed it, and the slur in clarinet 2 in bar 5 was most likely a last-minute addition when I was checking over everything one last time, and remembered that the two parts need separate slurs when they don't start together, but missed the fact that it was a repeated note. I think I should've used separate voices there, and only slurred voice 1; or even just used a dotted half note in voice 2 like you suggested. Likewise in the oboes in bar 12. One thing I thought you'd mention is that I left off the tempo indications. I did put one at the start and one at the double barline, but I realised after I sent this in that I accidentally made them invisible. I used a tempo mark on nearly every beat in bar 40, to make the rit. sound like it should, but then I used "select all similar on staff" and made them invisible, inadvertently making the others invisible too. Thanks again for all the time you put into this; I really appreciate all the feedback. Please take care of yourself, and I hope you're feeling much better soon.

Oboe as opening soloist is a great choice (also mine :). It makes the opening chorale very personal and expressive. In m.4, the high G in first horn might sound a bit strained. Love the bass clarinet. Not Beethoven at all, but what a great instrument it is. TBH, I’m not always on board with your harmonic interpretation. E.g. In bar 9, I hear a V7, but the strings play a IV(64). For my ears, those two bars are V42-I6, not IV-V. Also the first chord of bar 11 is a subdominant, not a V42. The second chord is a V7, and should resolve into a root I, not I6 as it does now. At the start of section B, I wouldn’t write cellos and basses just a third apart, nor double them octaves higher. I like that you didn't try to transcribe every single piano note in 16ths figuration of section B. I also like the 'pastoral' clarinet trio on C, and the chalumeau bass clarinet run preparing the repeat.

J Scarano: Good job! Thomas was helpful in that slurring over a bar line really does take away from the pulse/rhythm of a piece - also, your string slurring should probably be more conscious of how a string player bows. What I mean is that more than, let's say 4 notes in one bowing, makes it hard to play and groups of 4 - 8th notes is going to benefit the sound of the piece and improve the player's performance. It's not like my arrangement isn't going to be torn asunder because I arranged the whole movement! Wish me well because my sound set wasn't the best either.

@JScaranoMusic

7 ай бұрын

Thanks! I'm still trying to get the hang of how to properly use slurring for winds as well as strings. Keeping it to four notes per bow sounds like a good way of making it more rhythmically consistent for the string players. I kind of thought how much they can play in one bow stroke should change depending on the dynamics, like how much a wind instrument can play in one breath changes depending how hard they have to breathe. But I guess one difference is it takes time to take a breath, but changing bowing direction can be done pretty much instantly, so it isn't really necessary to wait till the end of a phrase or wait for a rest. Slurring/phrase marks is definitely one of those things I'm still trying to figure out how to do properly, so any input and different perspectives definitely help. Thanks again, and all the best with yours!

@enriquesanchez2001

7 ай бұрын

Took me a while - but after watching, a few years of these challenges, my game in all respects has improved considerably! Oh, and also - Thank YOU for kindly responding to me. ♥@@JScaranoMusic

@jadrianverkouteren3799

7 ай бұрын

@@JScaranoMusic , If you have listened to many of Thomas's evaluations this year, you would note that bowing and slurring have bedeviled many contributors. So you have plenty of company, and if you have marked what Thomas has said, you will be well on your way to a dynamic effort next year.

@JScaranoMusic

7 ай бұрын

@@jadrianverkouteren3799 Yeah, I have noticed it's something he's mentioned with a lot of the entries. There's a lot more to it than I thought, and it's definitely something I'll have to work on improving.

Nice job! Stray observation about the oboe articulation in mm. 4 that Thomas didn’t dig: I’m a pianist who grew up in the jazz/commercial music world, and I had to break myself of the habit of articulating like that when I’m playing Classical era rep. I’m no historical performance expert here, but it somehow seemed natural to me until I noticed it was somewhat rarer in recordings!

As a clarinetist, I would suggest putting more slurs in your clarinet part, unless you want every note separated. Great work! Such an original entry.

@JScaranoMusic

7 ай бұрын

Thank you! I definitely missed a slur on page 1, from the end of bar 10 into bar 11, and _all_ the slurs on the last page (I think I might've done a lot on the last page on the last day before the deadline, and forgotten to save again before I sent it in). I'm also still trying to get my head around slurring for wind instruments in general. "Don't slur into the downbeat" is something Thomas has said to a lot of the entrants this year. But I've seen other sources that say to only break a slur when the player is actually going to take a breath, and I think I've seen some that suggest using two layers of slurs; one for legato, where you would tongue the note but not take a breath; and longer slurs over the top for each breath (like how strings can use short slurs for bowing marks and longer ones for phrasing). Is that something you often see, or is it usually just slurs for legato? And if there are no slurs at all, would you take that as a direction to just tongue every note? Thanks again for the feedback. It really helps to hear from people who actually play the instruments I'm writing for.

@emilygclarinet

7 ай бұрын

@@JScaranoMusic Yes, I'd probably tongue any note that isn't marked slurred.