Hi,

I'm a composer and I'd like to share 3 piano ensemble pieces I recently wrote for 4 hands and 8 hands/2 pianos for performance purposes. The reactions so far has been encouraging so I decided to print them on Finale, well it's in the process. I hope you will listen enjoy them. If interested please leave a message.

Thanks for your time.

Bagatelle No 1 4 hands

http://www.guybacos.com/audio/Bagatelle%20No%201.mp3

Impromptu No 1 4 hands

http://www.guybacos.com/audio/Impromptu%20for%202%20pianos.mp3

Impromptu No 2 8 hands/2 pianos

http://www.guybacos.com/audio/Impromptu%20No%202.mp3

Guy Bacos
http://www.guybacos.com/

Hello and welcome to Piano Society. We have a Composer forum, but you are here now, so that's ok.

I listened to all three of these pieces, and I think your music is sophisticated and interesting. I especially enjoyed the Bagatelle. It has a real neat sound to it, although I think I would need more than four hands to play it!

Hi Monica,

Thanks for taking the time to listen to them

You are absolutely right about more than 4 hands. Good ears! Are there pieces for 6 hands/single piano? Must be, as long as the person in the middle doesn't weigh 400 pounds. I'm trying to be economic here, so either I will have to omit a few runs or add 2 more hands or a 2nd piano in the printing process.

What do you think?

Hello again, Guy.

I hope you don't have to eliminate any of the runs. But it sure sounds like they sweep over much of the keyboard. So whether four or six hands (or 8?),I don't see how you could write this for only one piano. The end bottom player would surely bump off the top player! But of course, I can't presume to tell you how to do this - not with your credentials!

But since you mentioned piano six-hand pieces, I do have something to tell you: Two of my colleagues on Piano Society and I recently recorded two Rachmaninov pieces that he wrote for one piano, six-hands. You can read all about it and hear the two pieces right here:

http://pianosociety.com/cms/index.php?section=2395

You will note that we did not leave our respective countries to make the recording, so it is not really one piano. In fact we all have very different pianos (two grands and a digital). But that was the point of the experiment - just to see if it would work. And we think it did! So you may find it interesting to know that your piano ensemble music can possibly be played the same way. Therefore, one piano, two pianos, three pianos; it doesn't always matter.

Hi Monica,

That was interesting to read and listen, Rachmaninoff meets the technology! Great job from the team! I actually work like that sometimes too, merge sampled stuff with real voice or instruments and all done via internet, never saw the musician in person. I'm curious though would the architect of this project would of been able to fiddle around as much if all the pianos were real?

I wasn't familiar with that Romance but boy does the beginning ever reminds you of the beginning of Rach 2, 2nd mov. Just faster. I thought for a moment that was it. Composers love to copy from themselves

Guy

Not sure I am following you here, but it does not matter if the pianos are real of digital. We just take each recording or each part, usually first as a wav file and synchronize them, then convert into an mp3.


Yeah - I think that is kind of neat, actually. Chopin did that a few times. But it's neat also if they copy another composer as sort of a tribute. Since you do a lot of composing, have you ever 'borrowed' a tidbit here and there?

Hi Monica,

Oh ok, I misunderstood what was in the article. So that's good then.

I steal often from myself, but from others? Well Tchaikovsky is my favorite composer and orchestrator although I know Ravel is a more refined orchestrator but for the romantic style Tchaikovsky is the one for me. In my more classical orchestration I definitely steel from him.
In terms of composition I'd have to say again yes but more the style rather than any specific melodies.
I totally love Tchaikovsky I don,t like when people attach the word cheesy to his music, so his music is popular, is that suppose to be bad? But he was my first inspiration to compose and my admiration still holds for him. Chopin is also my fav but I never borrowed from him except for when I started composing. I borrow from Ravel and Stravinsky sometimes, Stravinsky in his forward rhythmic motion I like and use sometimes. and finally Jimmy Hendrix, no just kidding lol

In this Bagatelle for instance, there is a middle section that was inspired by Manuel de Falla, I'm sure you know which part that is. The rest I'm not sure! I've always worked by instinct and barely know what I'm doing as I'm doing it, if that makes any sense. I've never been good in music analysis, that always bored me BTW, I just finished orchestrating this Bagatelle, it works extremely well orchestrated, but I love the piano version as well. I remember once hearing Nutcracker for piano 4 hands, and I was surprised how beautiful that sounded.

So you are the founder of Piano Society forum I presume? As a composer I like to be surrounded with musicians, so this is a nice discovery for me

Guy

These are very entertaining and interesting pieces indeed. The spirits of the Group des Six, Satie, and Stravinsky seem to hover over the Bagatelle. I am also reminded of Hamelin's hilarious Circus Galop. I did not hear the Falla influence even though I know most of his small oeuvre. Can you point out where and what exactly that is ?

The 1st Impromptu starts very promising, with fascinating sounds that would make excellent film music. However it loses momentum in the second half, starts sagging, as it were. Even then the sounds are very original.

The 2nd Impromptu seems like more of the same, though less convincing. It does not seem to be able to decide where it wants to go (I always find that a weakness in compositions).

Anyway, you certainly do know how to create intriguing sounds. I don't see any of these pieces being played by real hands though, they seem rely too much on digital rendering and would probably never sound as good when played by pianists.

Can I hear it? I really like the way this sounds on piano and think that it would be more impressive to watch/hear it performed on such. But I'm curious to know whether I'd like it as much as an orchestrated version.




No - Robert is the founder, I just work here. And our forum here is really just a side-line of the main site. Piano Society's real purpose is to offer classical piano music to the world for free, and if you go to the home page and click on 'composers' you will see how many composers we actually represent.

Hi Chris,

Thanks for listening!




Yes, those influences makes sense. Just as well you didn't see the Falla, lol I guess I merged it with my own style and gave it a different color.



I should mention that these pieces are meant or at least originally meant to work as film music pieces, a personal project of mine, and saw them as sort of cinematic sonatas, a merge of film music and "serious" music, in other words film music but that could hold on its own.





This one is more of an Etude on piano resonances. The first chord has 20 notes. It's true it's weaker in structure, I let more the dissonance effects guide the form. In the first half it more avant garde with a few brutal chords then in the middle it starts to break down into some tremolo like patterns and less dissonant and in the the final third it goes into a more contemporary Debussy/Ravel style, opening the sound, releasing the tension. Hope that makes sense





Interesting point. But nothing like real piano resonances, something I'd be intrigued by with some of these chords. A huge challenge no doubt! The Bagatelle as Monica mentioned is quite suitable for piano, or any pianos, I would agree on that.

Thank you Chris for you interesting comments, much appreciated!

Cheers!

Guy

Here is the Bagatelle orchestrated, however this is a rough mix only.

http://www.guybacos.com/audio//Bagatelle.mp3

Hey, I thought I had posted something else, was it deleted?

Hi Guy,

Thank you for posting the orchestrated version. Now it very much sounds like ‘movie’ music. In my mind I see this in a scene were people in a horse-drawn sleigh are sledding over snow-covered fields, probably through the woods too, and everyone is laughing and having fun. I still like the music, but I like it even better with just piano. It's more exciting that way, but it is also perfect movie music this way. Overall, I am very impressed with what you can do. Wow!


And no - I have not deleted anything up here. Whatever it was, please try submitting it again.

one more thing - regarding your PM - thank you!!

Hi Monica,

It may seem strange but I'm glad you prefer the piano version, I was afraid with the orchestrated version, the original might loose interest.

Ok, now I must click on Submit not Preview!