Vincent Lo - Orchestral Suite in G Major

Some time over the summer, I started sketching out what would eventually become the Overture of an orchestral suite. The fugue was originally going to be a keyboard work, but by the time I had something substantial, the fall semester was creeping closer, so I figured I would incorporate it into a work for the SFU Chamber Orchestra. And then the other movements sort of fell in place. And also I listened to lots of Bach to try to avoid accidentally copying him.

Comments welcome. Enjoy.

i. Overture: Adagio maestoso - Allegro - Adagio maestoso (0:00 - 5:19)
ii. Air: Lento ma non tanto (5:20 - 7:41)
iii. Gavotte I - Gavotte II - Gavotte I da Capo: Allegretto (7:42 - 10:29)
iv. Gigue: Allegro vivace (10:30 - 13:46)

PREFACE

Orchestral Suite No. 1 has been composed for the Simon Fraser University Chamber Orchestra. I started the project in the middle of 2011 and worked on it on and off throughout the summer. Inspired by the orchestral suites of Johann Sebastian Bach, this work features a solo trio on flute, clarinet, and cello, with ripieno strings, continuo, and harpsichord.

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

I would like to thank Connor Bartol (clarinet), Adrienne Marino (flute), Steven Su (violin), and Jaewon Yon (cello) for participating in the reading session and advising for this work. I would also like to thank the entire Simon Fraser University Chamber Orchestra for inspiring me to take on this project.

Vincent Wayne--Ted Lo
Saturday, October 15, 2011

Category:

Music

Tags:

• music
• baroque
• bach
• counterpoint
• fugue
• original
• composition
• french
• overture
• score
• lo
• vincent
• sfuco
• sfu
• simon
• fraser
• university
• air
• gavotte
• gigue
• chamber
• orchestra
• sonata
• symphonic music
• classical music
• Simon Fraser University
• Johann Sebastian Bach
• Concerto
• Violin
• College
• Symphony

[nikolaiendresendahl]

Ingenius! Especially considering the beautiful fugal parts. But I would recommend you to rearrange the clarinet part for an oboe, which would fit the neo-baroque style much more. In addition you might just change the cello voice to a continued bass, adding the necessary figures for a real Bach-style composition! Have you considered contacting an orchestra working with historical instruments for a performance?

[nikolaiendresendahl]

By the way: What program do you use for notating?

[zeryx28]

@nikolaiendresendahl I use Sibelius 6.

[zeryx28]

@nikolaiendresendahl Thanks for your comment! I agree with much of what you've said. I would have written this for a more standard Baroque instrumentation, but as explained in another comment, I serve to provide repertoire for the orchestra for which I am composing (SFU Chamber). And since we do not have oboists, but a huge abundance of clarinetists, I decided to try writing a solo for the clarinet. Same goes for the cello.

[zeryx28]

@nikolaiendresendahl The SFUCO has performed this last December, but I would be very interested to work with a period orchestra too!

[zeryx28]

@AytidaRed Thanks for your feedback. My decision to use double stops in the slow part of the overture for the solo cello was to add some challenge to the playing. However, as I have never played the cello before, I resorted mostly to the open strings. In a later edition, I will probably remove those extra notes. Thanks again! And please feel free to PM me, when you upload score videos too. I enjoy your work very much!

[Chassid48]

@zeryx28 I do understand that one must use the instruments that are available at the time. I too have used rather "odd" combination. In response to your question. I am retired from university.

[AytidaRed]

@zeryx28 - to finish off: avoid doubling the bass line quite as much in the solo cello (even though this was the done thing) because the chord voicing is quite sparse even though it could be filled out with continuo keyboard. Perhaps it could play more of a harmonic role. I think you can afford to experiment with this seeing as you do incorporate a clarinet which wasn't a period instrument (I understand you have no oboes so you had little choice there). All in all, excellent work!

[AytidaRed]

Wow, I only discovered this recently! Didn't realise you'd uploaded a new baroque composition. It's wonderfully written; I love your overture and gigue in particular. The fugue is very cleverly done and is reminiscent of Handel. The air is charming and the canon is very effective. The gavotte was lovely and light, and the energetic gigue at the end reminded me a lot of the last movement of Brandenburg 3 in structure and introduction of motifs. I have one suggestion only, which is to avoid doub