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So I have a few saxophonist friends, and I got the idea to write a sax quartet. I sent each movement to one of these friends after I wrote it to check the parts, and she told me it all looked pretty good, with a few caveats (like how playing constant fast staccato quavers can get tiring in the third movement - so I put some tenutos in). The first movement, 'Prelude', grew entirely out of the first bar, which I just wrote without thinking and then really liked. It has some complex syncopations but my friend says the rhythms look fun and not too difficult. The second movement, 'Fugue', is definitely more a quotation-marks "Fugue" than a real fugue, but I don't feel too bad about that. The idea came to me in bed one night when I was trying to think of a contrasting middle movement, and then I just had fun with chord progressions. I kept the quaver movement running throughout the movement but tried to use voice swapping and countermelodies to keep it interesting. The third movement, 'Dance', was borne out of two separate ideas that again both came to me in bed at night as I was trying to sleep - the chord pulses at the start, and the staccato quaver chords, the latter of which is still one of my favourite ideas I've had recently. I was worried the offbeat 5/4 parts would come off too cheesy so I tried to keep the structures fresh and unexpected. I've sent the piece to a few people so far, and I think at least one will try and get a quartet to perform it at some point.

Hi, I'm new at this forum and at writing music. Had a go on a orchestral piece about pirates. Please feel free to listen and criticize. Any input is very valuable :) Cheers!

1. It's really fast and doesn't only go in one direction. 2. It's the major dominant chord vs. the minor dominant chord, so I'm basically saying the 3rds of each of them are clashing. Normally this is the one chord you shouldn't used layered mixed borrowed chords. 3. Technically yes, but with the m7 (G) mixed with G# in the dominant chord it isn't as fluid as the rest of the progression. 4. :) My job isn't to tell you what to do but to give you another perspective on how people will listen to your music, as it may be different than what you're used to. IF you're really convicted in your choice, then fine, but there are standard classical practices that a lot of epic scores use.

These are the next two out of x humoreskes I plan to write. Please comment and tell me what you think!

0:10 - Tonic, pedal A minor chord with the mediant of the dominant chord (E/am). Really threw me off guard. 0:19 - Same thing here. You should probably leave the tonic chord if you want to do that. Basically for the first two points, I hear you setting up a chord progression, but it feels stilted because you only use the minor i chord and therefore unpowerful. It doesn't draw anything from me because there's no motion, really. This happens all the time in this piece beyond just these two cases. Be careful. 1:09 - Opposite problem, bass chord in major dominant, melody in minor dominant. 1:00, on - horns have the capability of really lush sounds because of the partial timbre they use; having them stay in unison for an intro section is a little bit limiting. 2:00 - V vs. v At this point I'm feeling kind of oversaturated by your main melody and chord progression. It's a pseudo rondo format that needs a little more in each development section. 3:11 - No violinist is going to appreciate that run. At the ending section, having the strings in unison is a mistake. Listen to the 1st movement of Gershwin's piano section, around the middle, there's this really wonderful part where the mood dies down into this passionate section, the strings split off into extended chord harmony, while rooted in what sounds like unison because the cello and top violin are playing the main melody. Also, it should just be louder, more intense, more percussion, etc. It's the ending! Not just another section. You end on the same V vs. v chord problem! It's just really distracting.

Thanks for listening! I should explain, the humor lies more or less in the ostinated note. First B, then F#, then A and so on. It's a humoreske, but a name better fitting would be burlesque. ;)

Splendid! I have no critique on the music itself. Your rhythms are very nice and interesting! Harmony is nice too. As a saxophonist, I love that you have considered to write for saxophone quartet. Sometimes the music of the Prelude reminds me of some Mario Kart songs. The melodies are simple, but still blend well with the complex rhythms. Make sure that the baritone saxophone for which you write has a low A key. Some have it and some don't. Check it! You prove in this Prelude that you master the saxophone writing skill. The tongue slaps will add an extra dimension when the music is performed by real musicians. The Fugue reminds me of Bach, I don't know which piece, but it's also in 9/8. I think it's one of the 15 inventions in G (major or minor). This movement is my favourite, because all voices are independent, yet they form a very dense atmosphere. The saxophone has an octave key, which makes it possible to play an octave higher without having to press many other fingerings for playing the same note, but then an octave higher: If you want to play a low G (written) and then a high G, you will first have the fingering of the low G and when playing the high G you only have to add the octave key. When playing legato and ascending from a G to a high G the transition is very smooth, but when playing legato and descending from high G to low G there can be a 'sob.' Especially the transitions from middle D, E and F (with octave key) to any other note without the octave key can be hard to not let it sob. The problem is that your main theme contains many of these intervals: m. 84 D* - G; m.85 E* - F#; etc. Saxophonist can train to prevent this sob effect, but it depends on the level of the players. You shouldn't worry that much about this problem, because it occurs in almost every piece. However, I think it's useful for you to know this information. The third movement is very nice. It stimilates me to dance! M.179. Tenor. The D - Eb trill is very awkward and almost impossible, you have to change that. Mm. 211 - 214 + mm. 247 - 249. Baritone. Don't 8va in any saxophone part. We hate to read it, because we can't, honestly. All notes should be written normal, i.e. without octave clefs or 8va lines, except when writing in the altissimo register. However, even then the notes are mostly written without any 'reading supports.' By the way, I would delete all the saxophone names, except the names on the first line of each movement. There are namely no other instruments than these four saxophones, so you don't have to indicate these at every line in the score. Can you tell me why you change the key signatures in the music? I tend to make more accidental mistakes when the music is full of key changes than when there is no key signature (or one) and all accidentals are written in front of the notes. Why don't you stop with one key signature? Overall I love it! Note that the feedback I give to you are mostly details and finishing touches. This is because I see that you already know basics about the saxophone family. The music is wonderful and I look forward to hear the recording of the music performed by actual players. Kind regards, Maarten *Thank you for tagging me! @Monarcheon

A well composed entertaining set of pieces! I would like to hear it performed by real players!

>So I'm glad Bach was Bach, Mozart was Mozart, and Beethoven was Beethoven, rather than something they were not. Wonderfully said, Austenite.

Dankjewel voor je reactie!;) I am very glad you enjoyed the piece. Concerning the fast triplets; in m.46 the right hand takes the upper line of the bass cleff(wich I forgot to notate); m.47 is extremely difficult, I might make thirds out of them instead of sixths. Good point on the tempo. Nogmaals bedankt! :)

Fantastisch! This piece makes me smile. Theme A has a simple, vivid melody and I like the sudden stops in mm.10 - 11. The repetitions of the melody in m.12 en m.20 help the humoresque mood even more. The second theme is a bit more complex than theme A and there is a sort of development section in here. Just when I thought this complexity was enough the A theme returned and that made my day. :-) I don't know if the fast triplet passage in the right hand in mm. 46 - 47 is possible, because I am not a pianist. Do you know if it's possible? By the way, you should fix some lay-out issues, for instance in m.8, mm.16 - 18, m.20 etc. A tempo indication might help as well. Goed gedaan! Dankjewel! Maarten