Cutting the fast section

Over the past few days I have been thinking about the scope of Night Sky.  In particular the section marked "lively, almost floating."  As I have been orchestrating the piece I have been starting to wonder how this fast section fits into the overall concept of the piece.  At first the fast section was going to be bookended by two ostinato sections, an ABA form.  After it became apparent that the ternary form would make for a very long piece I decided on a binary form, slow and fast (AB).  Now I am starting to think that Night Sky does not need a fast section.

There are a few factors to consider when looking to cut a whole section of a piece.  First of all is the scope. Will this piece sound complete without this section?  Or will this piece feel as if it is missing something?  Another factor is duration.  Will the piece be too short if cut?  Will the piece be too long if it is left in?  These are the two factors I have considered when making this decision.

I believe that the first half is strong enough to stand on its own.  The thematic materials are varied enough to not become monotonous.  There is also a part of me that feels as if this piece would be stronger without the fast section.

As for duration, up to the fast section the piece is approximately six and a half minutes.  If were to leave in the fast section then the piece would easily be eleven to twelve minutes in duration.  While this duration is not bad, this scenario assumes that I will not need to add any measures to revise the fast section.  At this point I know there is some substantial revision to be done in order for this section to feel balanced.  This could easily add two to three minutes to the piece, which I think is getting to be too long.

Another consideration I have is the life of this piece beyond the premiere.  My goal is to compose a piece that is marketable.  I would like to try to get this piece out there so that I can receive more performances and possibly get some commissions.

It is because of all the reasons stated above that I have decided to cut the fast section of Night Sky.  I think this is a good decision because now I have some strong material to use as the basis for another band piece.