DAMAGED BEAUTY - Violin & String Orchestra (Sosnowski)

[rolifer]

David

I hear more of a Haunting Beauty, but to each their own.

I am a little pissed because this one will be difficult to steal without being obvious.

I assume that the other strings are GPO and that you employed the lush patches, but can you be more detailed in the production end of this? What patches, reverb settings, tweaks done in KP2, etc that you used or did? Anything out of the ordinary would be interesting to know. I am also curious as to the time spent on this.

Well done

Ron

[etLux]

very impressive david! I really like this style. The string body entering like a surge of chords or clusters and the solo violin answering.

Many thanks, GigaLove. Simple never goes out of
style, I think... and this is barely more than a string
chorale -- though the solo violin part is a little tricky
to do well.

would love to hear this played by a real orchestra

A minor piece, certainly, but I wouldn't mind that... lol!

All my best,



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

[etLux]

Hi John,

Gorgeous, David. Everything about the violin was just beautiful, the writing and rendering really nailed it.

Thanks, my friend; pleased you enjoyed it.

As another "fiddler" with the Strad, I really can appreciate what you have done with it.

That Strad seems to kiss you and slap you at the same
time, John.

I am going to have to hear this one again right now. Thanks David, I hope you have been avoiding the snow shovel out there! John

I've got around 800 feet of driveway, John, which I often
do the good old-fashioned way. Fortunately, I enjoy
shoveling... though there's been a little more joy than I
feel entitled to this season.

All my best,



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

[Jan Frans]

Dear David,

I just wanted to join the chorus of praise: this is a very beautiful and powerful piece. It's also fantastically well-orchestrated. The Strad sounds amazing. I imagine that with its many tempo changes (and very precise ones at that) and generally 'suspended' time feel, it would be quite a challenge for a conductor (and for orchestra and soloist). But then again, I saw the Amsterdam Concertgebouw Orchestra play Stravinsky's Rites of Spring on Saturday and that didn't seem to pose any problems. I still can't believe how tight they were...

Congratulations,
Jan

[RichR]

This is beautifully damaged music, David.

Those chords are so lush, yet they are not quite standard in sound (more like they were damaged) but in such a beautiful way. I am so impressed how you intertwine the voicing that backs the soloist. Speaking of the soloist, what a lament it is projecting. This is a simple piece here that is not for the simple minded. I love the depth and emotional effects you create.

Thanks for another wonderful creation.

[etLux]

What a wonderful piece...those strings chords are something special and exquisite...the Strad is fantastic...simply beautiful!!!!

Regards,

Andrea

Thanks for the good word, Andrea.

The GPO lush mutes are wonderful for basically
chordal string backgrounds like that.

Best,



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

[etLux]

Hi Cass,

Well David, I guess you’re just going to have to get use to your music being called “beautiful” after this and Entanglement. Why you even have the word in the title of this piece, so I guess subconsciously you’ve accepted your fate.

Many thanks, my friend. There's a story behind this.
Of course.

This little piece started out as a transitional coda in
a suite of three pieces -- which didn't turn out at all as
I'd wanted. I extracted the coda, then rewrote and
reshaped it into this small essay. Hence the title...

Speaking of your musical gestalt, I heard more of those triads trying to perforate your harmonic support system; guess you are entering your 3rd triad-mester but the labor pains of the orchestra helps keep them at bay. Such harmonies….beautiful…there’s that word again.

Hey, there's nothing wrong with triads. (Why do I
always flinch when I say that... lol?) Seriously -- you
do what works for the task at hand, and nothing should
ever be off the table as a resource.

(except for a note here and there) I really liked how you had a constant harmonic string orchestra subtext for the violin to play with, rather than having solo ‘moments’ mixed in. It worked well in this piece.

I was thinking of it along the lines of an operatic
recitative... part declamatory statement, part melodic.
For a small piece like this, I think it holds up well; though
for a longer one [see above] it definitely doesn't.

I would have to disagree with the violin being to loud. There are a few notes here and there that maybe could be squelched a bit, but since the orchestra and soloist are all string instruments with very close timbre and harmonic structure, the violin would get lost. More importantly, the lush harmonies between the two would be jeopardized, you’d lose some of the impact of what you have achieved. Guess you can try lowering the gain to see what happens though.

I remixed this so many times I lost track... lol. I'm still not
pleased with it. If I brought the Strad down -- which I would
prefer, just a little -- as you say, it loses that declamatory
impact I wanted. Live performance would be another matter,
I'm sure.

Really an exquisite and emotive piece here David……(there, I avoided beautiful)
A big bravissimo!!

My best,

Cass

Thanks again for your enthusiastic reception of this little
piece, Cass!

All my best,



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

[etLux]

That is down right beautiful David.

Thanks for listening and for the good word, Hippie!

All my best,


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

[etLux]

Very beautiful David.

Loved the "lush" sound of your string orchestra with
the "Stradivari" out front. The harmonies make the
accompaniment so easy to solo against and their
progressive movement enhances the forward motion
of this piece.

Just great string work here, David.

BRAVO,

Jack

Hi Jack,

You're always one of my most supportive listeners,
and I appreciate that, Jack.

Credit where due, the GPO lush mutes are perfect for
laying down that sort of translucent undercarriage
you want for something like this.

All my best,



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

[etLux]

Hi Kieth,

This was a beautiful piece. I felt both of the words in your title expressed in the piece. I would love to see the score for it, because there were some very elegant chords played by the sections In an instance it changed to dark mood then moved right back - which is one thing I always loved about orchestral music.

Many thanks for the kind comments, my friend.

I'm assuming you were using the Strad Solo Library because of the sound and the wonderful use of vibrato creeping in and out on the sustained notes. I'm interested as to why you used virtually no portamento on the lead? It sounded great either way, but it was a curious decision.

Correct, the Strad. On the protamento, my personal
preference is generally toward very "clean" playing without
a lot of sliding around. I would have liked to use at least
a little, though -- virtually none sounds a little unnatural
-- but I was having trouble controlling it well. Either I got
none, or it sounded like the violin player was hitting the
bottle.

I will check back at your site to see if you do add the score, because like I said earlier, I really want to know what was going on at times.

Just lovely as usual.

The score is posted, now, of course, Keith. It's quite short,
only 38 measures, so it makes for a quick study.

All my best,



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