(MONARCH) in BM - M. Wiktor

[lesotho72]

Michael,

I really enjoyed listening to this (twice). Excellent and subtle orchestration--as mentioned by several others--I really liked the writing for percussion and bass clarinet.
Your music requires several listenings--to begin to grasp many of its intricacies. Interesting to both the ear and mind


Thanks,
Dan

[Rhap2]

A really great composition, Michael. I also enjoyed the bass clarinet, the brass and.......well, the whole thing sounded so professional and so well rendered. Listened twice so far and it gets better each time. The ending is perfect as Josh stated.......so subdued and lush-sounding.

Wonderful composition.

BRAVO, Michael,

Jack

[diligamus]

It's accomplished, constantly interesting, and exciting! The emotionally numb thing ... is that like where you listen to something so often as you do it, that you can no longer tell whether it's working or not? Well I think this one is. Anyone who bought your CD from Albany would be very happy to find this track included.

[rpearl]

Michael,

Not sure how I missed this last month - I was away for a few days, and it must have "slipped off the page", so to speak. Well, I'm glad it got bumped up, as it is terrific! I wouldn't say bipolar - just different ideas that compete and juxtapose; it always feels organic, and not just a change for change's sake. All the character shifts work very well, yet feels tightly knit together. Very nice rendering, as well - perhaps a little too "stereo"? The strings seemed to come only from the right - and while the spatial element is nice, I would think the strings would be a little more pervasive right and left. Small quibble for such a nice piece. Congratulations on this: it is a fine achievement!

All the best,

[Michael A. Wiktor]

"...Wiktor's a Jekyll-Hyde personality..." - Lycos Music
http://www.miserymadebeautiful.com

[sd cisco]

Hello there, Michael!
Great to see you post the new version of this! Since I didn't come along to the Forum til July 2009, I don't believe I have heard it before? You've got some of the most powerful orchestrating techniques and rendering skill sets I've heard, when it comes to working with virtual orchestras! Interesting music full of great dynamics!
Thank you for joining in the Festival and posting!!

take care,
sd cisco

[sanyarem]

Hello Michael! Glad to see you bring this back. It looks like the last post in this thread was just months before I joined. I thoroughly enjoyed the wide range of emotions throughout this. This actually brought back two memories for me. One was when I first started with notation software (not having the slightest clue what virtual instruments were). A forum I frequented back then had members that used samples that sounded much like these (I would assume they were the same). The bright orchestration was very characteristic of that time as well. Some of the melodic content also reminded me of Erlkonig (which I had performed as a percussion ensemble arrangement)

Loved the recording, this is a great piece! Thanks for re-sharing!

[etLux]

And one darned interesting piece, at that. The term "bipolar" has
arisen, but I rather hear it as magnificent handling of contrasting
streams of thought, brought about with sure-handed skill to a
superb overall result.

I'm well aware of the work and thought that goes into a piece of
this complexity and size; and most pleased with the coherence
and sense of it, all clearly Wiktor and it could be none else.

In the meantime, trust me on this one: Monarch is a superb
composition.

Wonderful to see you back with this, Michael. Forgive me if I
quote myself (above)... lol.

And listening to (Monarch) again, it has aged so very well in mind;
if anything, with the way the subconscious mulls these things over
across the years, I can only add still again...

Bravo!

With great admiration,



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

[fastlane]

I listened to this a couple of times and I think I would need a few more listens to grasp all that you are doing. At first I thought is was going to be basically a march.

I can feel a lot of creative energy in this music and hard work. Great orchestration skills.


It was quite a musical experience. Super!



Phil

[jdsnyderii]

I never heard this piece on the forum because it was before my time. Super glad you posted it. Excellent command of the dynamics and musical invention. Nice work.

Jim