9:45 am

I’ve worked on the opening to IV. Lento-Allegro for about an hour, and I think it’s approaching usability. I left the brass chorale as is, I had considered altering it, I’ve answered it with the woodwinds, and then let the brass have another say. It actually sounds symphonic. And other than the opening phrase, I’ve been able to do without the string section. That’s kind of a breakthrough for me. I guess my orchestration lessons from Dvorak are working.

Now, however, I’ve rounded out the opening, I think. I’ve bruited the main theme enough so that the savvy critic can say, ah yes, I see, and it’s time to move on to the meat of the matter.

The meat of the matter is always the issue, isn’t it? How do I get there from here?

More later.

11:30 am

Wasn’t as hard as I thought. Just repeat a bass/cello motif, round the key up to G major, and launch into the main theme.

There is an mp3 this time, but be advised:* the main theme is supposed to be a solo violin and I was too lazy to wrestle with the computer on this fact, and I don’t know why said solo violin is cutting notes short when it’s not supposed to. So, you gotta hear it under lights, as a character in the musical version of a Rostand play the Marx Bros. version of which I’m supposed to be writing songs for instead of this symphony might have said.

* I went back in at 3:00 pm and wrestled with the computer.

8:30 pm

So maybe you didn’t like the opening. Here’s a new version of the very opening statement.