Hello, I wrote this awhile back and would like to call your attention to it for reasons explained below. It’s available at this link in a variety of formats including gif, pdf, and midi
I’d appreciate it if you help me make my gift complete by adding this tune, with the story to your repertoire and distributing it (with the story) to other musicians you know.
The Story Behind Eva’s Reel
Eva’s Reel was written on 11 August 2001 for Evangeline, a friend of the composer. This pseudo-reel (a traditional reel having 8 measures per section instead of 12) was dedicated to the beautiful young woman (a harpist, actress, top-notch musician and lover of all things Celtic) on her 21st birthday, 23 December 2001.
The real gift was not the piece itself, but the dissemination of it far and wide along with this story, to immortalize a special and remarkable woman through the Celtic music she loves so much.
Antaine, you kindly offered us a reel which doesn’t sound like one, as you pointed out and consciously went for. Fair enough. I applaud your efforts; composing is not easy except for the very few.
In my own attempts at composing in the past, I found the reel to be possibly the most difficult dance tune to construct well. Usually my own efforts wound up as highlands…a subtle difference, but real. As I have a fondness for highlands and strathspeys, that’s fine. Out of perhaps six to eight attempts at reels, only one -maybe two- really fit the name. OTOH, maybe I just don’t have the touch. Keep in mind that there’s a fair amount of commentary out there about “failed reels” and the like. This doesn’t make them bad; they just fit better under other categories. In other words, IMHO what you have here is not a reel, but is is an interesting, playful and bright-sounding tune. The reel is a dance form first, and this should inform its structure. How do you do this? Sorry, I can only tell you I know it when I hear it. I hope some others will chime in and clarify what is hard for me to explain.
And this may be the reason for the lack of commentary: you called it a reel, and it is not, at least to the ear. This counts.
Don’t get discouraged, but keep at it. Just bear in mind that when you change a reel’s essential qualities, you no longer have a reel. The reel should be able to be danced. Keep at it! I think composing from time to time is a good exercise in one’s overall musicianship. Right now, for me, there are too many brilliant tunes already out there to be mastered! But I’ll put my hand to it again some day, too.
The last D hangs in the air a bit??