Dance and March in F Major
There is a point in time at which I began to increase my tonal vocabulary, understand broad compositional ideas like concept and form, and familiarize myself with more contemporary repertoire. As a result, pieces written after that point show signs of deeper sophistication and meaning (not to mention a more balanced orchestration), while pieces written before it now seem overtly juvenile to me. I think this piece more or less marks that point.
However, I think the compositional endeavors in my early teen years are worthy of praise, and certainly worthy of note, even if the pieces themselves don’t stimulate meaningful discussion. If I hadn’t been wading through the mire of diatonicism, neglecting the necessities of form, hitting people over the head with obvious modulations, and making egregious orchestration errors, I certainly wouldn’t have the knowledge I have today. Learning from your own mistakes is extremely instructive, especially with composition.
As I said, I believe this piece marks a turning point. There are some sections that I think sound quite good, and there are some sections that I would certainly consider reworking.
See the score
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