Added: 2 years ago
From: Annfontanella
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  • A great composition Ann. I agree similar with Beethoven sonata. I found the melodic lines and phrasing warm and uplifting. I really enjoyed this piece. Thank you for sharing.

  • i love this! you are very talented and it sounds like you work very hard too. i think my favorite of your videos was the Schindler's List theme you did that was absolutely beautiful!

  • You are really talented, I would like to hear you play Vivaldi's Summer :D

  • I feel like I am listening to a classical Haydn piece. The violin and piano compliment each other so well...but of course you know this as you wrote it. Fabulosa Ms. Fontanella!!! Bravo!!!

  • Where can I buy the sheet music?

  • BRILLIANT I WANT TO MEET YOU SOME DAY

  • It sounded like your long car trip was in a horse carriage! ha ha

  • It was wonderful. I felt like I am in heaven

  • its like it was composed in era of romantism

  • If I were to listen to this piece without knowing who composed it, I'd guess Beethoven! Great work, Ann!

  • @taylor123rb , I started writing music when I was 8, and began violin when I was 5 :). Thanks for your interest!

  • Very good! I usually get very creative when I'm bored and have nothing to do, just like you! I wonder how you've managed to compose it in a car. Do you usually compose without your violin?

  • WOW THIS IS SO BEAUTIFUL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! im going to put it on my ipod and listen to it over and over again

  • @hecate141 , Thank you! I hope it brings you repeated enjoyment :D!

  • Extraordinary piece. above all from 1.36 in the romantic part. Your sound and your grace really wonderful. Many thanks

  • Comment removed

  • Superb, your really an amazing asset for this worlds musical ear. Keep it up, knowing that your writing history :)

  • Most impressive originality and theory. Liked the theory text as the music played. I play violin and write too. My passion is I want to make the instrument and the orchestra popular. More popular than pop stars get from antics and wardrobe accidents! Ha! Do you have other musical influences than classical? I'll keep up and buy your new stuff. See ya! John S.

  • There is so much joy in this composition! It reminds me very much of Mozart's lighter-toned work--which, from the description, seems to have been the feel you were going for. Good work, and thank you for sharing this with us--it's lovely!

  • Replying from a while ago -- just got back in. I played 'cello for 3 1/2 years now, getting decent at it.

  • Had this been played in a period film with an 18th century Austrian archduke, listening to music by his retained musicians, it would have been exactly in place.

  • fantastic!!! you were made for playing the violin.....

  • Very lovely. As I'm writing this, I think, this would be the fourth time I have listened to it. As cebejay said, it is lively.

    In today's world talent is outlandishly common; The violin being an exception. It is an amazing mastery you have accomplished. Unlike myself, you have a very notable and brilliant gift.

  • A wonderfully lively and original composition and I love it, well done Ann

  • Great! I want to hear more of your pieces :D

  • well i'd say most of my music is kind of slow, pentatonic, and dissonant, with somewhat of an impressionistic influence. but for the contest i wrote a more upbeat light piano piece so it won't take too much time to notate cuz im extremely lazy lol.

  • I love this composition. Its like if you incorporated all of the best classical composer styles and came up with a masterful composition. Keep up the good work!

  • You are very kind, Nel! I am glad you liked it!

  • Thank you, finally a composer who explains herself. I always wanted to see such a video! Thanks, indeed... when will we see you in Italy? ;)

  • Piccinels, thanks so much! My representation is in the US, so I play mostly here, but if you know a venue in your area that might be interested in having me, let me know. I'll be in touch with them! :)

  • Certified Intergalactic! The Fontanella Galaxy!

  • LOL!!! What's your favorite sci-fi series? I am a big fan of Star Trek Next Generation and the original :). I love Data!! He even has the same tastes as me - Violin and Sherlock Holmes! :-D

  • I really love this really good

  • Hey, great job with this piece. I'm entering in the ASCAP Morton Gould contest this year, and I've been trying to listen to previous winners to see how much I'd have to step up my game, hah.

  • LOL, savestheraya182!! What is your style of writing?? :)

  • Beautiful composition, with lots of hints by great classical composers. I think it´s a brilliant idea to describe the composition as long as it plays. Enjoyed alot listening and reading. Great job.

  • Amazing i wish i could some how get my music out

  • Great composition!!! I am glad to hear a modern composition with the qualities of a piece written 300 years ago. Most people would have gone a little too Wagnerian in their approach (nothing wrong with that), but you kept things simple and cheerful, even when you could have made this piece dramatically finger blistering. Great work!!!

  • LifeJuice, thanks! I wanted to keep it pretty straightforward. I know when I listen to Mozart or Beethoven, sometimes I say to myself how much I wish they'd written more music....so why not try at least to gratify that wish sometimes! :)

  • I used to like doing the same sort of thing! This composing in old styles thing, that is. I must say though, I don't agree with your neapolitan reference near the end - it disrupted the solidity of your return to D major, and sort of flew in the face of the aesthetic and harmonic sensibilities the piece had presented up until that point. Not sure about some of the causality either...but it's a charming thing indeed!

  • All the time I've felt that underneath the "warm and romantic" blanket there's a fire in your playing that by far exceeds the boundaries of Romanticism (which in my humblest of opinions is quite boring). I've recently discovered Italian late baroque, the playing in this piece reminds me of that: sunny and passionate, and a bit raw. The piece itself is like Mozart: just fun! I like it (except for the romantic parts of course;).

  • Voxhunden, I'd agree that sometimes Romanticism can become predictable in the very nature of its unpredictability! I've never spent too much time with Italian late baroque, but now I'll have to check it out....would that be more in the nature of Scarlatti? I believe that Heifetz did some excellent transcriptions of some of his work...

  • I have a few fundamental (ideological) issues with romanticism, so I have to admit that I'm negatively biased on this issue (I regret choosing the name Voxhunden - should have been AntiRomantiker;). Italian baroque is a FEAST, especially for violin. Locatelli, Geminiani, Veracini, Torelli, Manfredini. And Tartini also write more than just the Devil's Trill. Not to mention Vivaldi and Vitali of course. The list seems endles. A great and - it seems - almost forgotten musical heritage.

  • I found an interesting explanation for my dislike of romantic music: I realized that pre-romantic composers wrote music either for the soul (church) or for the feet (dance), but not for the ears. One didn't go to a concert back then to sit down and listen, but to dance and have a good time. In fact I think that in those days it was totally not done to pay any attention to the musicians. So while my body doesn't like to dance much, apparently my mind does. Great thing, history.

  • Felicitaciones y éxito Ann, muy bien!!!!

  • CONGRATULATIONS.

  • Thanks, Darva!

  • Ohhh... you are not only a violin virtuoso,but also a gifted composer? OMG this is really good...!! Beautiful... Thanks for sharing your talent with us...

  • Correoso, Thanks so much! I'm glad you liked it. It's just a simple Rondo form, but it was definitely fun to write :)!

  • Magic music!! the art of modulation, you make coexist B minor near F major trought D with your wonderful delicacy, it's a pleausure listening your music.

  • Thanks,musicadata, and LOL! You sound like a music major, or at least have had a fair amount of theory?? :)

  • Your comment makes me honored,

    I've much theory, increased along the years, I was composing orchestral music but without an orchestra all rest here, stuck in time, soon I'll upload a music that was the first of others I made for orchestra. It's e pleasure see and listen you and your music!!

  • wow! i really love this. i'm trying to compose.. it's not really working, haha. i desperately need advice on composing.. thank you for posting your beautiful song :)

  • ViolistHan, Thanks for listening! In writing, having an organized plan helps! :) Write the tunes first, then decide on your particular form, write the harmony for modulations, then start filling in the blanks!

  • VERY VERY NICE! I absolutely loove it!

  • Thanks, Ishida!!

  • REALLY GOOD!!! (As per usual...) :P

  • I'm glad you like, DonateBooks! Do you volunteer for a library, by any chance? (just noticing your username :))

  • xD no, i started a library in the Philippines, and I created this youtube in hopes of getting some people to Donate Books, hence the name... :P

  • Nice!

  • Thanks, violinist....Modulations are pretty neat, aren't they? When I first had theory, I couldn't believe just what was going on in the music!

  • yeah thats my main,,i try to play violin,,piano,dijgeridoo,jew harp,shamisen,drums,trumpet ,clarinet,harmonica,,and some others but i forgot.....you should check out my violin video im sure you would get a laugh outta it i really like middle eastern music,and odd number licks,,,,,,,,thanks for the tip when im done learning the fifth caprice ill try it.....and maybe with some other songs

  • That's quite a vocabulary of musical instruments!!! Good luck with the caprices! :)

  • i wish i could play some of those  arpeggios like that on guitar,,,,and the composeing is cool wish i could do that

  • Start with a tune - if you have a tough time with writing themes, start with something prewritten and write some variations on it just to get a handle! :) :) You're a guitarist? :)

  • And you are an inspiration for me Ann :) . . .

  • You are too kind, Paris...:)

  • How can I tell the player of this piece how thank-full and happy I am for allowing my ears to hear true beauty?

    If you are ever playing in my area, I'd walk to hear such music.

    Thanks so much Ann Fontanella.

  • Thank YOU, Godlovesyou.....I am so glad you enjoyed it....

  • I really enjoyed !

    I'm so happy you got ASCAP award for this :) !

    It is beautiful !

  • Thanks, ParisA7777....! Do you write music, too?!

  • No, I don't, but I wish I could.

    I love violin so much! I want to learn playing it even though it is too late for me.

  • Brilliant piece! Very Mozartish. The transition from the second theme back to the first is my fav part.

  • Thanks, shadow. I was being a bit of a dramaqueen there!! :-D

  • You're more than welcome. I also love that adagio (that you wrote(?)) on your site, though it seems truncated. Where can I get it? :-) If you ever play in LA, I'll be sure to see you!

  • Shadowphae, Yes, I wrote Adagio. It was cut short because it was a student orchestra doing some sightreading at Yale - it didn't sound the greatest in the rest of it! :)

  • Well, maybe some day you'll get a real recorded performance of it. It sounds beautiful.

  • Really beautiful. Your notes were a pleasure to read. It's interesting to follow your intentions as a composer when you outline the possibilities you see and the choices you make. In addition to your classical influences, were you ever interested in attempts to marry sophisticated key changes and song structures with pop formats, as with the progressive rock of the past thirty years? The originators of that movement were young people with classical training like you, so I'm curious.

  • MJcanavan, Thank you :). In response to your question, I actually had never listened to any pop music until fairly recently - in the last year!! I am thinking about possibly doing some transcriptions of a few pieces - what is amazing is that if you drop the beat in some of those songs, you could have some really beautiful classical pieces....!

  • Funny. I spoke last year to the jazz guitarist Pat Metheny, and he said a similar thing - he came to rock or pop music late, not first, despite being a young man in the 60's. But he was impressed with songs like Close To The Edge by Yes... how the entire piece is built on two basic themes, but used very differently throughout. I'll be curious to see what you come up with when you do those transcriptions, and who you reach with it. In all the best music, interpretation is everything, I believe.

  • how can i get some of your stuff on c.d. ? your music helps take me to another world, free of the troubles of this one,

  • RockStar, I have a CD out on Amazon with about an hour's music on it. Just punch my name into the site and it'll pop up. Thanks for your interest! :)

  • awesome, im going to look into that. would love to play some music with u sometime, i play guitar and bass, and im always tryin to mix styles and sounds,, check out my video, search rockstar172..

  • Absolutely charming. I love it.

  • Thanks, Zekkron! I'm really glad you liked it!

  • very beautiful rondo !! you are a great composer !!

  • Thanks so much, cogermax!!

  • Nice!, the opening sounds like Beethoven´s first sonata, last mov, and after the first phrase, like the the first mov. The rest sounds like... A. Fontanella!! :-)

  • Thank you so much for the huge compliment, Belmon! I worshiped Beethoven - nearly quite literally! - for years...I know it's a touch cliched, but the Kreutzer Sonata, 1st movement....OMG...it is mind blowing!

  • Rondo is an amazing piece that really talks to your heart. I really like the part when it changes into the F Major key.

  • Thank you, Howl4life! Modulations are always fun! Do you have a background in music? :)

  • Kind of!! I've haved loved music since I was little and I play the flute and trumpet. :)

  • Two words only.... Love it !!!

    Your explanations make Rondo more enjoyable,,,, Thank You

  • Thank you, Tony!! I love talking music, so it was rather enjoyable for me to write those notes :)....

  • Happy Sunday~Ann:)

  • Happy Sunday right back at you, Ronald! :)

  • You are a great composer! Congratulations!

  • Thank you very much, alephman!

  • I enjoyed listening to your Rondo. Keep up the good work.

  • Thank you so much for your beautiful original work!

    This is just a text and a guide to the classical era of music.

    I who am entirely immature was so surprised by the style is strict and logical. Now I suppose that such forms are similar to a writing poetry.

    And your explanation is also superb! Because which is clear, easy to understand, has even a historical view.

    I think, though perhaps it is arrogant, if we have any instrument and love to the music, the creation isn't far from there.

  • The Good Lord has indeed blessed you with such grandeur talents - - it was so noble of you to follow through and display them for us to enjjoy! Rick.

  • Truly extra_ordinary!, was so bemused by it I had to wait for a minute or so before I could post... :)

  • Jorfel, thank you so much - I am glad you DID post :) :)....

  • I think I have spent hours staring at the paper trying to write something that satisfies me... only to crumple it up and grab a pizza. lol. You mastered that happy eighteenth century effervescence! I really have to commend you; very talented! You truly have classical musik personality... that is, you don't merely play music like others; you seem to love it and live within it. These are traits that only the finest musicians posses. Bravo. Tschüß!

  • Mannerpanner, thank you so much. I was big into Mozart and Beethoven at the time, so I was living, eating, breathing it as much as I good. It sounds funny, but while I was trying to get a grip on Beethoven, I actually would wear earmuffs all the time and follow as much as I knew of his daily schedule to just try and get an understanding of deafness and what his situation was like....

  • You actually wore earmuffs to experience Beethoven's situation? Wow, that is hardcore! I don't think I can top that, however I did read the entire Brahms biography like two times and now possess encyclopedic knowledge of him. When I reached the end I felt as if I experienced his death as a friend and went into a breif period of mild depression. I was like... Herr Brahms is gone... ugh, like 112 years ago, it's ok Paul. lol. I have his photo on my wall along with a painting of Schubert. =D

  • This was very good. As a budding cellist myself, and a theory student, I appreciate good, fresh, new music written in classical style, and an explanation of what you were doing, although I don't fully understand it.

    BTW I live in Phoenix.

  • Hotrod, I'm glad you liked it! How long have you played? :)

  • this truly beautiful amazing job

  • Hi Ann. Sorry the whole violin Concerto thing for you is taking forever and i know you are extremely busy. I will try to contact you when i at least have all three movements for the violin part down, but that will takke quite some time.

  • No problem, Torin. Take your time. :)

  • beautiful ! you' re amazing =)

  • Thank you, violistaluis!!

  • Truly impressed Ann. The melody was so pretty and cheerful. I loved it!

  • I'm glad, Mayfield!!! I truly needed to think cheery thoughts for the trip (my younger was prone to car sickness, for one!!! :) :))

  • Very impressive. You have a great feel for melody, and that helps a great deal in making transitions smooth, even more so than attention to structural elements.

    I find rondos very frustrating to write. I have difficulty achieving a feeling of continuity.

  • Yunikage, it's not as hard as it seems. What particularly gives you a hard time? Is it modulations? Or transition from section to section, but still in the same key?

  • This is simply AMAZING!!! And you wrote this because you were bored. AMAZING! I want to write some music for two violins. Can you give me some tips on how to make it amazing. And at 2:43 when it changed to the original key, i loved that part the most. You are a great violin player and great composer.

  • Thank you kindly, JCviolin :). Have you taken theory or composition yet? When I write, the most important thing for me is to have some kind of plan. I'll sketch out my melodies (I always write those first) and I decide what key I'll put them in, when they, first, second (or third!). Then I figure out my progressions for transitions, what thematic material I want to use for them, etc. After I've essentially given myself a detailed outline, I start writing and it makes the whole process easier! :)

  • have not taken either one.....but plan to take theory in college

  • This was exquisite! Truly amazing you composed this while bored during a car trip! Incredible.

    I also enjoyed the commentary boxes, very informative and interesting. Do you have any upcoming performances?

    Clay

  • Clay, I'm currently working on producing a new album, so I'm not playing a lot, but I intend to start taking more concerts after the album is completed - and I graduate from school :)....!

  • I love original compositions! Wow, you are very good!

  • Thanks, Turbo! Do you write, as well? :)

  • Yes, although I've only had a single semester of music theory. But I've been playing around with composition for a number of years.

  • Yes, very Mozart in the theme (parts sound like they're straight out of the Magic Flute). I really dig you modulations, especially the parallel minor to its relative major.

  • I like playing harmony games! I used to send my comp professor through a loop on it :)....

  • With very little musical instrument background, I've been ukulele player almost daily for the past 18 months, Ann.

    If you capo the first 4 strings of a guitar at the 5th fret, you'd have an ukulele. Because the guitar-like similarities, I've been picking up musical tips from YouTube guitarists.

    I enjoyed your commentary bubbles on Rondo. They're very educational.

    Thanks for sharing and the shows!

    Doug

    San Francisco, California USA

  • Wow....it takes a real ability to pick up an instrument and teach yourself. Youtube is an awesome resource to learn these things!! I'm planning to start making instruction videos soon, too, since I've realized that so many folks want to learn on these sites, too!!! :)

  • But nothing beats a private teacher. Someone to tell you exactly what you're doing right and wrong. I got my first private trumpet lesson in college as a Music Major. I spent the next 5 years relearning the thing, breaking all my bad habits!

  • this piece if really intimate. it seems to transport one to a balmy spring glade in an  Vientiane courtyard. the peacocks accenting the pleasant scene scape with not a second soul to disturb the tranquility.

    The listener is quickly taken through a romantic saga. time expands with the contour of expression and flitting auralty. the saga ends with grandchildren being raised in a farway estate in a foreign country.

  • Thank you for such a poetic rendition!!! I will have to remember the lovely image you created next time I play it :)....

  • thats way cool how you break down the sections. I give me some new ideas for my own writing. 5/5

  • I'm so glad to hear that!!!! :) :)

  • Great! Both, composition and performance. You have a new fan in me.

  • wait, so do u play piano as well or did u just compose for it to b played?

  • I play a little piano, but I predominantly wrote this piece so I can play the violin part!

  • The success of this work proves that the classical/romantic styles are by no means dead in compositional terms, adn that these works in pure form are will still be openly recieved. This is good, because it is the stuff my brain is constantly spinning out whenever I'm walking around! So keep writing! Take modern composition "back to the future"

  • Thanks, Matt!! I agree that classical/romantic writing is not dead. I think (ironically) that Schoenberg put it very well when he said "There is still much music to be written in CM"....:)

  • Dear Ann: This is a beautiful piece and the

    video is also very educational. You have

    distilled over two centuries of music in a

    composition that is just under 5 minutes

    adding your own refreshingly youthful touch.

    And of course the playing is superb as

    always. Thank you so much. - Athan

  • Sensational, beautiful, lively... to say the least, I'm simply amazed by such talent. You are a incarnate of many great prolific composers, I'm honored to have found your music, consider me a long term fan! Stupendous!

  • Thank you, soltisviolin! Are you a musician, too? :)

  • I am, but not as good as you, you're simply amazing!

  • Thanks, solti :).....though I suspect that you are very modest about your own musical skills :) :)...!!!!

  • is it available as a mp3 file?

  • I don't believe I've gotten it up on itunes yet - but I think I should....I'll get on it! :)

  • its exactly what I would do too when bored on a long car trip...not! (total absence of music skills) sounds nice!

  • Amazing! How long to you practice a day? Do you have any tips for sight reading? I am terrible at that. Thanks! Please continue posting your music! It's absolutely angelic!!!

  • Look ahead at least a few notes to prepare yourself. It's a bit of a multi-task, to be sure, but it's really the best way to be prepared....And I'm glad you enjoyed! :)

  • Very nice. I wish I could do the same when I am bored! ;)

  • Maybe if you were annoyed, too....I have three sisters in the car when I was writing - I needed to to be thinking happy thoughts! :)

  • My only musical talent is listening, and I sure like to listen to you play. You are phenominal!! I really liked your song, it made me smile. Best wishes and keep up the good work!

  • Listening, too, requires a special skill set...which any mentor of mine would tell you I DON'T have :-D!

  • Very well done! Loved the annotations. It would be great if you would include annotations to all of your videos as a teaching tool.

  • Agreed! I'm actually working on that right now, among other things! :)

  • It would be interesting to know what you could compose while not bored and taking a long car trip. I guess that means exciting short car trips which is called drag racing. I like the way you play.

  • I think if I did drag racing, I'd be too busy being white knuckled to write anything at all, LOL....! But I'm very glad you enjoyed my bored music :) :)....

  • Its definitely a WIN for us. Of course there are a lot of well educated artists reading this, but for others like me who do not have the deep music education, it brings a whole new level of enjoyment. thanks for taking the time to do that.

  • The pleasure is all mine...!

  • Thank you so much for sharing this and especially for the annotations which make this piece even more enjoyable. It is lively and fresh with the frequent key changes. Your playing is delightful. Thank you for sharing your great talent.

  • Thank you for your feedback!! The annotations are a new thing, so I'm not sure if it was a win or lose! :)

  • Your piece is very beautiful and your playing is flawless :)

  • I am very glad you like it, violinboy :)....

  • This is very pleasant. It also has all the elements that are needed to make a piece interesting for its entirety: excellent theme, mood variations, tension and resolution, variation in technique... it's all there. Hey anyway, I really injoy this. Thank you for sharing it. You should definately continue to compose. You have a talent for it. Thanks.

  • Thank you for listening to my piece and taking the time to write me about it :)....

  • This is very enjoyable!

    BTW, why is UFC 97 on the related list of videos to the right? That is amusing.

  • I have no idea, but I think it's pretty frickin' hilarious...! Maybe it's my alter ego :-D...

  • Nt bad.Composing song was not your profession(ur profession is playing violin) and u could composed a piece which i think it's very pleasant to hear and excellent. You are good.

  • Thanks, bounty...! I studied composition at Peabody Institute and won a few ASCAP awards, so I guess you could say it's a pet hobby :)....

  • haha=) Your life will be far ahead, for me ,i'm juz a secondary student playing Sibelius concerto in D minor op.47 though. lol

  • :D

    You inspire me. I am currently practicing violin as well.

  • I am so glad!! What are you playin right now??

  • Right now, I'm practicing something called Violin. I mean, it just says VIOLIN in big bold letters, no writer.

    But anyways, I'm playing the 1st Air Varie for my upcoming recital.

  • This is really good!! It sounds as Mendelssohn...

    Ulf Sawert

  • That was a great display of artistic and technical skill! I agree that Mozart would be proud! It sounded just like him in so many ways. Great job.

  • Great composition! I love your phrasing! For some reason, I can hear this piece being used in a movie lol

  • At 3:47 the harmonic changes was unexpected, and somewhat odd as you didn't develop the new changes but soon ended the piece in an otherwise nice vivacious short composition.

  • The other movements have some funky stuff that goes on....with the neapolitan :-D...

  • very nice!!! It reminds me of Mozart!