SSAA Choir, O Nata Lux - incl. String Ensemble

[mediumaevum]

I've composed this for a SSAA-choir (2*Soprano, 2*Alto) and a string ensemble.

https://soundcloud.com/mediumaevum-artist/nata-lux

They sing (in latin):

"Adoramus te, Christe.
O Nata lux de lumine.

Nata lux de Lumine.
Christe Lux Mundi.

O Nata Lux de Lumine."

English:
"Christ, we adore thee.
O light, born of light.

Light born of light,
Christ is the the light of the world.

O light, born of light."

[JonSolo]

The melody is ok. The piece works more as underscoring material than a standalone musical piece. I think a string ensemble would be bored out of their minds. It drones more like soundtrack/trailer material than what a string ensemble might do. I think you could create a more interesting chord base with good dynamic change (especially in the bass lines) to support that melody and that would bring the string section to life and make the whole piece progress along nicely.

But the recording is great. If it were a cue in a movie it works as a piece. Good use of your tools.

[ChameleonMusic]

The melody is ok. The piece works more as underscoring material than a standalone musical piece. I think a string ensemble would be bored out of their minds. It drones more like soundtrack/trailer material than what a string ensemble might do. I think you could create a more interesting chord base with good dynamic change (especially in the bass lines) to support that melody and that would bring the string section to life and make the whole piece progress along nicely.

But the recording is great. If it were a cue in a movie it works as a piece. Good use of your tools.

I agree with pretty much all that has been said here, but would like to add a few extra suggestions that could improve it further:

WORD SETTING - absolutely crucial to get this right and for me it doesn't quite work here - the rhythm of the words doesn't always 'fit' them 100% so they don't flow 100% for me + this also affects the intelligibility of them. I didn't look at your words before the first listen and struggled to hear some of the syllables...and I studied Latin!

STRING ENSEMBLE ARRANGEMENT: Sample library you're using sounds alright, but the strings sound flat and unrealistic because they're not arranged like a real ensemble would be.

https://www.musictech.net/guides/orches ... gs-part-1/

There are plenty of other guides out there as well.

It sounds very pleasant indeed, but no professional producer or director would ever listen to it more than once because of the above points. You're really creating some nice musical moments, but, for me, it all needs much more attention to detail now so that you can take it to a higher level.

[CrystalWizard]

I’m not as knowledgeable about strings (or western music arrangement) as the two previous commenters but i do think it needs more movement. In a video it would be cool as a passing moment. Better than i could do.
Thanks for that link CM.