@theaviv
Don't you think that your Serenade is way too simple? The "left hand" (imagine it as a piano piece) is using the same chord progression (consisting of only 2 chords) for 5 minutes!
[Start of Song] d minor -> c major -> d minor -> c major -> ... -> d minor -> c major [End of Song]
The "right hand" has some nice catchy melodies, but it alone cannot save the fact that for 5 full minutes the whole song follows this simple pattern! Again and again and again and again! No change of tempo, no change of chord progression, only d minor -> c major, from start to finish! And this specific chord progression is one of the most "obvious" ones and the most "basic" ones, there is nothing unpredictable to make it original or offer some surprise!
Maybe if your serenade was made to be as an "intense passage" taken from a 20 minutes piece, then I think it would be much more interesting! Imagine a 20 minutes slow/medium tempo song, relatively peaceful, and suddenly the surprise: change of tempo, and your serenade enters (from pp to ff), playing for 2-3 minutes! I think it could be more impressive if used in that fashion! Think of it!
But as a stand alone song, I think it's very simple, flat and monotonous: 5 minutes are too many for a chord progression with only 2 chords in a constant tempo!
I consider myself an inexperienced beginner composer, I consider my songs "not ready yet for the public", and all of them have many more different chords, some surprises in chord progressions, and I repeat I am new to this! I am just trying to keep my feet on the ground, and balance my confidence with humility, so I don't rush and publish something that is unfinished, or that it could be vastly improved if I was more patient and humble!
P.S. Check Schubert's Serenade. A beautiful, emotional, sad, melancholic piece of music. It's considered a simple song, everyone can play it in his piano (I mean, it's not something genius, complicated or advanced like some of Bach's or Mozart's pieces), and still in the first 10 seconds he already uses 4 different chords in his chord progression! And then more and more, so the song evolves and goes from "pure sadness" to "sweet melancholy", and back again!
Fair question. I appreciate your sincerity.
It would completely change the whole tone and intention of the piece if I were to add meaningless complexity. Music is not about how many chords you can string together or adding senseless surprises in chord progressions. Music (and art in general) is about meaning.
If you create something without meaning, is it really art or just a random arrangement of elements made by a sentient being?
The alternating two chords is what gives the piece its obsessive, passionate, and intense tone.
"This is deeply romantic music. In essence, it describes the growth of something beautiful - something magnificent and wonderful. It describes the most exciting part of a relationship, the beginning."
"The red rose symbolizes this something beautiful. It symbolizes this growing love as it slowly blooms in the dark."
"The red rose symbolizes this music."
I wrote about it here.
In a random sample of listeners, market research shows that 20% tap into the meaning of the piece and rate it 10/10:
ReverbNation Crowd Reviews
Serenade • 104 Reviewers • Classical (instrumental) • November 1, 2019
American audience
...
20% thought it was perfect
30% thought it was almost perfect
60% thought it was pretty good
80% thought it was good
90% thought it was not bad
10% thought it was bad
Here are some of the thoughts listeners shared...