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Hello Everybody! I'm kind of new here, and I would like to have some feedback on my first ostinato based solo piano piece: Thank you for your help, Everybody have a nice day!

First part of a short sonatina. Called arcaica (ancient) because it uses modes, but also PC set techniques. Played live.

Yes, sorry, it is Ab lydian, the natural A is a passing tone. Mosaic Form is one of the many contemporary Forms. It has been used by many composers. It was "invented" by Sravinsky and Stockhausen, but it is still used. For example Symphonies of Winds, which has this structure of Mosaic (I include the score in case it is of your interest):

Lately, there has been a proliferation of tutorials and videos on you tube about "negative harmony" or "mirror harmony", most of them say nothing. Because..., yes, it's easy to understand the concept, but how the hell to use it? Given a melody and harmony we can obtain their mirror versions... What can we do with them? I haven't found anything about it. I have some experience developing harmonic and melodic systems from any given scale, and I wanted to try with an example. I'm not going to explain anything about this kind of harmonies, only saying it is based on mirrored notes (that can build melody or chords) using an tonic-dominant axis (not mirroring everything from a single -tonic-note; that's other type of harmony). So let's begin: 01 - I wrote a simple thing in A major with a melody and a counter melody, the raw material called 01. A track with strings as background and a bass line. 02 - In this version, the first part is the same than in 01, but the second part (page) is the negative version changing melodies, chords and bass line. Interesting! This could be use as the repetition of a phrase or section... 03 - In this case, there is some blending. In the first part the guitar an the strings are in "positive" A maj, and the flute and the bass in "negative". In the second part the guitar and strings are in"negative" and the flute and the bass in "positive". 04 - A step further... An additional track for strings is added and the harmony plays "positive" and "negative" all the piece long. This creates a cluster effect. In the first part (m. 1-16) guitar in positive, flute and bass in negative. In the second part (m. 17-32) guitar in negative and flute and bass in positive. There are many more possible combinations. The more harmonies are mixed, the "opener" our ears should be. I think it's also possible to make this mix and change some clashing chords here and there, depending on the desired effect. I like the results and I think there is a lot of potential here. Surely many people won't like it... I hope you enjoy it. It's just an exercise, not a composition. 01 - Score.pdf 02 - Score.pdf 03 - Score.pdf 04- Score.pdf

Oh wow, I hope you will be okay soon. Don't worry too much and try to heal.

I enjoyed this piece. W¡But why do you call it ostinato piece? Yes, there is pattern of repeating one note, that changes. Is it that?

Thank you so much for your comment PaperComposer! 🙂 You are right about that third beat quadruple stop chord. Not only was it stressed because of the quadruple stop, but also because it was a Vadd2 chord. Somehow I feel it sounded good but I was not sure how to handle it after its presentation. I tried several options and since none of them satisfied me I changed it into a single note melodic contourn. Thank you for the observation! Thank you aswell for the comments about the playability of the Cello, I am glad those parts are playable and I do not need to change them! I had heard before about the up-bow/down-bow protocol for weak and strong beats but I had forgotten about it. since it is the standard way of bowing, I guess it is okay to leave those bowings unmarked. Thank you so much and I am glad you liked it!

OK first, it is built upon a Mosaic Form, which means there are different parts (named with letters) of material that combine in the order I want. No cadences, no beginning or end. It could be arranged in many different ways. Part A is written in harmony by seconds. If you take a look all the notes (except some that function as retards or suspensions) ara a second away (vertically), or a second plus an octave. Part B is also in harmony by seconds. Part C is in D dorian Part D uses a Pitch Class Set, which is a theory long to tell here, but based in a particular order o some pitches, that is to say, the "cell" that glues the part is the interval relatioship of the set: 01457 = 0 - m2 - M3 - 4ª - 5ª Part E is in locrian Ab Far F is in lydian Eb So each part uses a different harmony, and the mosaic is finally: ABCDAEBDFC. There's a second movement I'm revising now.

Very nice! Quite enjoyable! There is just one thing that bothers me in measures 5 and 53 when you have the humongous quadruple stop on the weak beat. I'm not a cellist but it seems like it should be playable to me - that's not the problem. To me it just sounds like an unresolved accent on a weak beat. That chord on beat 3 makes me expect another equally huge quadruple stop on the downbeat of the next measure (or an even greater one since it would be happening on a strong beat this time). Other than that I like the contrasts you create in this piece. The F minor trio is quite a bit heavier than the minuet. As mentioned, I am not a cellist, but it does seem to me like these chords are totally within the realm of possibility on the cello. In m. 25 the Ab would be played on the C string (I guess you're worried about the distance the cellist might need to reach here - I don't know about that), the C on the G string and the F on the D string. Also, in m.28 you only have two lines and they are not moving at the same time which makes the players job easier. The top line is played on the D string while the other is on the G string. In the above mentioned measures I talked about the quadruple stops on the weak beat - usually the weak beats of the measure would be played as an up bow (as far as I know) in preparation for the downbeat which would be a down bow, but I am not sure how practical it is to play a quadruple stop as an up bow. I enjoyed listening! Thanks for the music!

SUBMISSION F : Bassoon Concerto No. 2 So I wrote a bassoon concerto for this competition, meanly because I myself and my father are bassoonists so i know pretty well how to write for bassoon. I will probably write more movements to it, so see this as a 1st movement :). This piece is a special piece to me, it is a very challenging piece with a lot of long jumps and notes in a short period of time. It is about a lot of deep things that have happened and thoughts that i have had these couple of months. I had my first real depressive episode that lasted 2 months in which it was so difficult to even write a single note (at the end of that episode i did write a bit and it is probably the most "real" music i have ever written in my life). Afterwards I had a real "high" (bipolar?). My mom got diagnosed with cancer 2 months ago and it kills me inside to see her in the state she is in. So that is really the beginning of this piece, the introduction is probably more the sad side of me, but quickly the piece becomes something more than that. It becomes a piece about how i survived what i did, i don't think i really have to explain to much. Go listen to it and please let me know what you thought 🙂

By the way my grandfather died last night.