Symphony No. 1 in A Minor, Op. 5 | M. J. Nuttall

0:00 1. Grave-Allegro
14:10 2. Scherzo
23:00 3. Adagio
32:28 4. Finale

Find the score on Musescore.com: https://musescore.com/user/20322761/s...

Performed by Musescore Audio--Muse Sounds. (Sorry I don't have the budget for a real orchestra and no one wants to play a piece by an unknown composer especially not one that's this hard and long and expensive.)

Apologies for clarinet, horn, and trumpet players. I forgot to switch Musescore off of concert pitch when I recorded the video. The transposed version can by found by clicking the link to the score on Musescore above.
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After a long year of no updates, my next piece is finally ready.

This is my Symphony No. 1 in A Minor. Four movements and over forty-five minutes, containing parts for multiple instruments, this is easily my largest work yet.

The first movement starts with an introduction in grave, followed by the main theme in allegro. It follows a very loose Sonata-Allegro form. The main "A" theme was largely inspired by the theme from Brahms Symphony No. 1 in C Minor. For the "B" theme, I thought it would be interesting to write a viola solo in a minor key to introduce it before modulating to a major key as normal for "B" sections in Sonata form, played by the whole orchestra. The initial theme in minor was inspired by the "B" theme from Shostakovich Symphony No. 5 in D Minor, before modulating to major and completely casting aside the gloomy, overcast feeling borrowed from Shostakovich.

The second movement is a lively and energetic Scherzo, somewhat similar to the Scherzo from Beethoven Symphony No. 9 in D Minor, Second Movement. But I thought it would be interesting to write the Trio section in a ritornello form a la Vivaldi played by three instruments—making it an actual trio, played by three instruments, and not just a misnomer as post-classical Trios often are.

The third movement is a slow and beautiful melody. It's not written with any particular form in mind, but if I had to give it one, I might simply call it Binary Form—my idea for this movement was to create a contrast between slow and quiet outer sections and a sweeping, loud and powerful climax in the middle. The movement also has several abrupt and distant modulations, with the central climax written in Ab Major while the outer sections shift between D Minor and F Major.

The final movement is by far the most avant-garde movement in the whole piece. Written with absolutely no thought given to form whatsoever, it starts with the same gloomy introduction that began the entire piece before quickly escalating into a violent and dramatic climax. The movement then calms for a moment before giving way to another buildup, this time to a fugue in A Major, loosely based on a subject similar to the finale of Mahler Symphony No. 2, "Resurrection." This movement has two very distinct characters—a violent and anxious character a la Shostakovich, and a powerful and triumphant character a la Beethoven or Mahler. The first section shifts quickly between multiple key centers and in fact features several moments where it is in no key at all. The second section and the fugue, on the other hand, are very distinctly in A Major.

My next piece will likely be my second string quartet. I'm not sure when it will be ready but it should definitely not take another year to complete it. I hope you enjoy the piece as always and feel free to let me know any feedback you may have! I'm quite proud of this piece but with how large it is, I definitely made a few mistakes that I overlooked and I think maybe a few parts are a bit overwritten. I'd be happy to hear it if you notice anything like that so I can make this piece the best it can be.