Diabelli Project (200-203) Piece for Violin and Piano

The Diabelli Project is about offering my weekly flash-composition sketches freely to all. Like Antonio Diabelli's theme, these sketches aren't great music. But perhaps (as in Diabelli's case) there's a Beethoven out there who can do great things with them.

To mark my 200th flash composition, I'm expanding the concept a little bit. I've still limited myself to a 10-minute session. But this time each sketch will pick up where the last one left off over the course of the month.

Here's the result. I was able to complete the first section of the piece, and get a good start on the second. Even though it wasn't written in a single session, the piece holds together pretty well. Although there are some surprises -- which is the point of this exercise. I bypass my internal editor to just let the ideas flow.

As always, you can use any or all of the posted Diabelli Project sketches as you wish for free. Just be sure to share the results. I'm always curious to see what direction someone else can take this material.

Diabelli Project 203 - Piece for Violin and Piano 4

The Diabelli Project is about offering my weekly flash-composition sketches freely to all. Like Antonio Diabelli's theme, these sketches aren't great music. But perhaps (as in Diabelli's case) there's a Beethoven out there who can do great things with them.

To mark my 200th flash composition, I'm expanding the concept a little bit. I've still limited myself to a 10-minute session. But this time each sketch will pick up where the last one left off over the course of the month.

This is the final installment. The sketch starts at the beginning of the second system. As I noted before, the more notes in the measures, the fewer measures I can write in the time limit. The A in the violin serves as a pivot. It has a different relationship with each chord the piano plays (although always a consonant one).

If I were to continue, I think the piece would move to either a B-flat or A-flat tonal center.

As always, you can use any or all of the posted Diabelli Project sketches as you wish for free. Just be sure to share the results. I'm always curious to see what direction someone else can take this material.

Diabelli Project 202 - Piece for Violin and Piano 3

The Diabelli Project is about offering my weekly flash-composition sketches freely to all. Like Antonio Diabelli's theme, these sketches aren't great music. But perhaps (as in Diabelli's case) there's a Beethoven out there who can do great things with them.

To mark my 200th flash composition, I'm expanding the concept a little bit. I've still limited myself to a 10-minute session. But this time each sketch will pick up where the last one left off.

This is the third installment in this series. I finished the transition to the next section. I also got a start on said section. No question -- with only 10 minutes on the clock, writing a piano part with chords really slows me down!

As always, you can use any or all of the posted Diabelli Project sketches as you wish for free. Just be sure to share the results. I'm always curious to see what direction someone else can take this material.

Diabelli Project 201 - Piece for Violin and Piano 2

The Diabelli Project is about offering my weekly flash-composition sketches freely to all. Like Antonio Diabelli's theme, these sketches aren't great music. But perhaps (as in Diabelli's case) there's a Beethoven out there who can do great things with them.

To mark my 200th flash composition, I'm expanding the concept a little bit. I've still limited myself to a 10-minute session. But this time each sketch will pick up where the last one left off.

I didn't get very far this week. The intricacies of the violin part ate up most of my allotted time. I did get far enough along to set up the next section, though. I'll be starting with the piano part next time.

As always, you can use any or all of the posted Diabelli Project sketches as you wish for free. Just be sure to share the results. I'm always curious to see what direction someone else can take this material.

Diabelli Project 200 - Piece for Violin and Piano 1

The Diabelli Project is about offering my weekly flash-composition sketches freely to all. Like Antonio Diabelli's theme, these sketches aren't great music. But perhaps (as in Diabelli's case) there's a Beethoven out there who can do great things with them.

To mark my 200th flash composition, I'm building on the extended project I just finished (see: Diabelli Project - Woodwind Trio 194-199).

In that series, I began a sketch with one 10-minute flash composition session, then continued the same sketch with a second. This time, I started a violin and piano piece with this weeks 10-minute session. Each week I'll continue working on the piece in 10-minute installments for a month. This will be a journey of discovery for sure!

The piece starts with a simple figure - a repeated note, and then a step upward. The interval isn't specified, which gave me lots of possibilities. 

In the first measure (in the piano), C moves to E then back down to D (up a major third, then down a major second). In the second measure, E moves to F, then back to E (up a major second, then back down again). In the third measure, A moves to B-flat (up a minor second, no downward motion). 

Initially, the violin's playing freely over the relatively simple piano part. But I think that will change very soon.

As always, you can use any or all of the posted Diabelli Project sketches as you wish for free. Just be sure to share the results. I'm always curious to see what direction someone else can take this material.