Composition Masterclass #1: Nocturnes and Scherzos

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Classical Nerd is a video series covering music history, theoretical concepts, and techniques, hosted by composer, pianist, and music history aficionado Thomas Little.
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Music:
- Caters Carrots: Nocturne in B-flat Major, Op. 1 No. 1 (MIDI rendering)
- Frédéric Chopin: Nocturne in E-flat Major, Op. 9 No. 2, performed by Peter Bradley-Fulgoni and available on IMSLP: tinyurl.com/yyj9n47z
- Leonard Bernstein: “America” from West Side Story [original upload: aJdMqZKG7ic]
- Franz Joseph Haydn: String Quartet in E-flat Major, Op. 33 No. 2, “The Joke,” Mvt. 4 “Presto” [original upload: LDkWBzH6dkE]
- Ludwig van Beethoven: Symphony No. 3 in E-flat Major “Eroica,” Mvt. 3 “Scherzo,” performed by the Czech National Symphony Orchestra and available on IMSLP: tinyurl.com/y4nsxup3
- Ludwig van Beethoven: Symphony No. 5 in C minor, Mvt. 3 “Scherzo,” performed by the Fulda Symphony Orchestra conducted by Simon Schindler and available on IMSLP: tinyurl.com/y5d5x3ov
- Thomas Little: Dance! #2 in E minor, Op. 1 No. 2, performed by Rachel Fellows, Michael King, and Bruce Tippette
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Contact Information:
Questions and comments can be directed to:
nerdofclassical [at] gmail.com
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Facebook:
/ classicalnerd
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/ the_classical_nerd
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All images and audio in this video are for educational purposes only and are not intended as copyright infringement. If you have a copyright concern, please contact me using the above information.

[@ClassicalNerd]

One of my resolutions for the channel going forward is a greater variety of content that gets away from the composer-biography rut. I don't know how often I'll do these "composition masterclass" videos, but we'll see; it was certainly a change-of-pace to make.

[@elliot2294]

Just started composing a nocturne less than two hours ago and found your channel twenty minutes ago, this is fantastic

[@caterscarrots3407]

I'll admit it, when I was mentioning Beethoven's early scherzos and how his scherzos tend to sound serious, I was mentioning the scherzos in Beethoven's early piano sonatas. Of course, there are moments when Beethoven sounds happy and graceful, a lot like Mozart. But I also know Beethoven to sound angsty, and not just in frequent use of the minor mode but also in sudden dynamic changes, sudden tempo changes, and lots of other ways.

[@ChristopherHunterSmith]

Really appreciate the time and thought you put into this video!

[@xihanz449]

please make more of these videos!! I love your explanations!! Thank you so much!

[@trebleclef563]

Love this type of video! I found it super helpful for me as a composer! Definitely do more!

[@scriabinismydog2439]

I think this series will be really useful

[@Pardock97]

Really interested in this new series! Good first episode

[@lilian1514]

best channel out there :') thank you

[@EnhancedLavaLamp]

this was awesome!

[@JustMiluna]

Oh yes, this is super I going to follow 💕 Good job boy 💕

[@denisparamonov7389]

Thank you so much! Your channel is useful for me!) I am a beginner composer from Russia. i don't speak English fluently enough but i understand your main thoughts

[@josephalvarez5315]

Just started the video and this is surreal. Last month I got into an argument with caters carrots over her nocturne, and I always thought about that ever since. Hearing it at the start is absolutely mind blowing, I thought I was the only one even aware of her nocturne

[@marisb7369]

this was so helpful! thank you

[@samuelrappaport6162]

love it

[@samuelrappaport6162]

Hi i was wondering if you could (at some point i saw the request que) make a video about the workings of the Pari consevetoire. I was curios about the inner workings. If you could make a full video that would be great.

[@ClassicalNerd]

Duly noted: lentovivace.com/classicalnerd.html

[@authenticbaguette6673]

What it's called : Scherzo What it sounds like to my mediocre ear : a normal piece of music

[@franciscoaragao9672]

Muito bem.

[@g.lucchio5660]

The nocturne is so cute!

[@lucienr7931]

Could you do a video about Gliere, Respighi, Bax or Dohnanyi? This is a great channel, love your video's!

[@ClassicalNerd]

Duly noted: lentovivace.com/classicalnerd.html

[@PhilippeMeyohas]

Where did you get this funky diminished 7th t-shirt?

[@ClassicalNerd]

It's the official shirt of the Balinese gamelan ensemble I'm in; we had a performance later on in the same day that I recorded this.

[@scriabinismydog2439]

Could you please do a video on Amedée Mereaux and on Scriabin's Black Mass sonata? Also, were I can send my compositions to you? I'm really interested this series and I love your videos, thanks for all your work man😉

[@ClassicalNerd]

My e-mail address is in the description of every video, and the request pool has been updated: lentovivace.com/classicalnerd.html

[@scriabinismydog2439]

@@ClassicalNerd Thanks!

[@larstschiedel2054]

@Classical Nerd , what note writing program do you use? I would like to send you one of my nocturnes, I am only 15 and it would me a lot to me if you'd take a look

[@ClassicalNerd]

It surprises many people that I use MuseScore. Almost everyone, if I don't tell them, assumes that I engrave in Sibelius, since it's established itself as an industry standard. (I can't see why; see Tantacrul's takedown.) I've learned that it's not the program itself that makes a composer look professional: 99.9% of things can be engraved in Finale, Sibelius, or MuseScore with negligible difference in notational quality.

[@MrInterestingthings]

There's a n Orenstein bio on his shelf !

[@ClassicalNerd]

It's very good! I recommend it.

[@MrInterestingthings]

I love what you are doing ! I love the living composer and important 20th century composer profiles you've done . Norgard had a 2 week expo in newYork 2 or 3 years ago and I looked at score of 3rd Symphony bigger than my reading table so large were the pages . Saariaho bunch of Nordic composers getting attention . I think a lot of people would enjoy what you do . Wikipedia doesnt go into their methods and materials as deeply as yu do . I'm hoping you do a genre group . I haven' seen your Scherzos and Nocturnes . I'm hoping you do a several centuries take from our earliest Scherzi Hadyn to the most recent Szymanowsky ? Too many of the youtube composers are redolent of other older masters rarely do you hear a new style or even an interesting take on Scriabin and RACHmaninoff (they seem to be the most copied types. Ned Rorem's real American sense or Coplands great open harmonies ,Poulenc's easy wit or Faure or Granados or Ginastera though widely known for some reason I don't see a lot of style copying . Well, Im ready for your talk . Can't wait to see what you have to say about Harry Partch . Ben Webster anyone ?

[@classicalmusic3334]

For a next video in this series, maybe you can analyze Dimitrie Cuclin's 14th symphony? (or just parts of it, because it's a rather big piece) I have PDF files of the piece (one for each movement), so maybe I can e-mail them to you if you're interested? There's one thing though: it is a scanned version of a copy, and not all of the pages came out correctly. Because of that, a few notes are missing on multiple pages. Then again, it's better than having nothing at all. Maybe that's another interesting subject: how one can predict which notes could follow next. ;)

[@ClassicalNerd]

There's no guarantee that I'd get to it any time soon, but I'd love to take a look at those PDFs! My e-mail is in the description.

[@classicalmusic3334]

@@ClassicalNerd I've just e-mailed them to you. I hope you'll find them interesting!

[@rudikschmudik]

great video for sure, but why u calling that second chord non functional? its just the dominant (as a diminished 7 on the 7th degree or as a rootless Bb7b9) over a tonic pedal

[@ClassicalNerd]

Don't I, at 4:48? The point is that it makes more sense when analyzed from a pure voice-leading perspective rather than from a functional, roman-numeral-analysis perspective. The sophistication of Chopin's neighbor-chord-comprised-entirely-of-half-steps is only showcased through applying a different analytical lens.

[@rudikschmudik]

@@ClassicalNerd you said it was a chord build from the 4th degree. either way, why would that make more sense? it's a vii°7 going to I, which is a super common, basic (and entirely functional) dominant -> tonic movement

[@ClassicalNerd]

The analytical lenses that theorists have devised are not mutually exclusive; plenty of harmonically complex composers work more in terms of pure voice-leading than specific functionality, as any analysis of later Romantics (Liszt, Wagner, Wolf, Vierne, Mahler, etc.) will show (leading to the efficiency of neo-Riemannian theory in such contexts). One can very easily ascribe functionality to that chord-and I offer one of the possibilities in the video-but I felt it worth a closer look. Instead of sticking it in a predetermined box of functionality and moving on, looking at the voice-leading gives us a better sense of _exactly_ what Chopin is doing than just saying "he's prolonging I."

[@aidanmays7825]

​​@@ClassicalNerdinteresting take. I wouldnt say it's wrong but I think it misses the point. The fact that the voiceleading points to the following chord doesn't negate the functionality of the chord, it produces the functionality of the chord. Bach would not have called the opening bars of the cello suites tonic, subdominant, and dominant over a tonic pedal but it's a useful way of describing the effect that the voiceleading and harmonic interactions produce. I especially don't get calling the 4th degree the root of the diminished chord. It's not as if we're going to flat 5. The point you made about the voiceleading is 100% more important than labeling it with a Roman numeral (which I think trivializes the meaning of harmony and harmonic choices) though. I think that in the box "AP theory" functional harmony thinking has been very destructive to our view of music looking back. Definitely food for thought. And I agree that looking back on this music through this lense is not a good substitute for understanding how they understood music and their compositional processes Edit: realizing this is 4 years old lol. Still interesting to think about

[@milkygorilla3527]

Where can I submit my pieces? Is there an email?

[@ClassicalNerd]

My e-mail is in the description of each video.

[@milkygorilla3527]

Can you do a video on Henry Wieniawski?

[@ClassicalNerd]

Duly noted: lentovivace.com/classicalnerd.html

[@pianochris2276]

Good video. Would love to submit a piece of two for your review. (I have some uploaded to my channel, just wish it didn't take me forever and a day to get my music written, such a sloowwww process for me haha).

[@alicia2473]

Hi thanks for this video! A comment on the harmonic analysis what you mention as an altered fourth degree I think is better seen as a fully diminished viio over the tonic pedal (d f ab cb). It is the same type of chord that appers in the second measure leading to f, it is e g bb db. In Spanish we have a label for this type of chord, Acorde de Sobretonica I did not find the corresponding name in English, here is a link in Spanish for these types of chords, but the examples are clear....cpms-armoniadecuarto.blogspot.com/2009/02/acordes-de-sobretonica.html

[@ClassicalNerd]

Interesting! It's so cool how different languages have different names for these kinds of things; it's a look into how different cultures and languages work and interact with one another. (It's also wild how roman-numeral analysis can be so ambiguous in even the simplest chromatic context!)

[@alicia2473]

@@ClassicalNerd Thanks for your reply! : )

[@moondog50002000]

I'd love for you to roast my stuff. Ive had 7 surgeries from practicing and I now write classical pieces for virtual instruments without an instrument . Right hand to carta #27 with a pilot pen ( and some 5, 7, 8 and 12 tone matrices sometimes , sacred geometry geek stuff ) then I enter them into score edit. Travis Nevels

[@franciscoaragao5398]

Why compose today, 200 years old music?

[@TSBoncompte]

april's fools ?

[@carlhopkinson]

Nocturne 1 was garbage.