Actually, I spent a lot of time rejiggering some of the orchestration of the first part of the G major section. The solo violin is now gone and in its place is an oboe, with a flute in an upper octave for support. The inevitable repeat has been taken down an octave in the upper strings, which gives it a warmer sound. I also switched the harmony line to the violas instead of second violins. The cellos are now bowing instead of plucking.

The rest of the time I had I started just throwing the melodies to the strings. I think I’ve been dumb to resist letting the strings carry most of the load. Probably what I should be doing is starting with the strings playing everything and then back off from there.

Of course it sounds like crap right now, so give me another day to make sure there’s enough crap to make it worth clogging up your browser with another mp3.

I’ve got to figure out now how to orchestrate the Big Time Recapitulation of the Rachmaninoff Ripoff™ theme. I’m pretty sure it’s in the wrong register for everyone, but it’s got to be in G major, so there we are. Hey, you think this why no one’s written a G major symphony since Mozart? (Well, Stephen can think of only two, Dvorak’s 8th and Mahler’s 4th. Fortunately the Dvorak is a favorite of mine, and a model if I may be so bold.)