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I am aware that the harpsichord doesn't really have the dynamic faculties required for this piece in actual performance, which may sound contradictory given that I still haven't justified my choices on such regard (I forgot to, barely could keep myself awake yesterday, my apologies). No matter how heterodox it may seem, overall my decision to add dynamic notation was purely motivated not by the capabilities of the real instrument, but by those of a digital player not constrained by the qualities of an actual harpsichord, hence the reason why I have taken the liberty to add dynamic markings: just because my computer can accurately reproduce them. In actual harpsichord performance these dynamic markings may just be ignored. That being said, please let me know if this reasoning seems wrong or too lax to you and I may reconsider my decisions on such regards. I initially thought of it as some eldricht form mixture between a prelude and a fugue, but as development went on I gave it some more thought and given its length, decided to call it so: a fughetta. I would also like to remind that my purpose with this kind of compositions isn't to emulate a certain style to the letter (since there are already some people doing that, for example, for J.S. Bach (namely The Bach Emulation Project - YouTube)), but, essentially, to enjoy it as a hobby. As I recall having nuanced in my profile, in Compositional styles I noted "Baroque-ish fugal writing", by which I intend to transmit my not-so-strictly-Baroque aims and objectives in regards to my composing. That is indeed an absolutely valid perception of the harmonic quirks I employed in this piece, and I'm sorry that it may seem awkward at first. Regardless, countless thanks for reviewing my work; have a merry New Year's Eve and may 2021 fare well for you. Thank you.

I understand. The issue is those dissonances are sudden, unprepared. When a surprising item comes out of the blue, it can be perceived as something "wrong", as a mistake. But if you have prepared it before, it will be assumed by the listener. "Repetition legitimazes". In this case, in a quite consonant atmosphere, those sudden strong dissonances are odd. But that's my opinion.

I think it's not important if the composer here wants to pay homage to Bach or whatever. What matters is the result, and I like it because it's a sort of neo baroque where taking some essentials many things are changed, and that's original. I like less pieces that try to imitate Bach (or any other genious) as close as possible, because it's impossible.

I understand that a Etude is a short piece where the composer insists in a concept or idea, harmonic, melodic, rhythmic or technical. In that sense, this piece fits well, as the chromatic scales come and go. The work is a big crescendo, being the last part a little bit percussive. I suppose it could be play by a virtuoso... On the whole, its a beautiful piece. Sometimes this kind of Etudes focus on what the composer wants to show but they are not interesting. That's not the case.

Hello, @PaperComposer! Thank you very much for your feedback! Also, thanks for the information on the Scherzo, and about it's new, expanded properties. I will try to increase it a little. I want it to be part of a group of small chamber works, each for a different formation. Because of this, I don't want it to be a lenghty piece, but one to be seen along with a few others. It makes me happy that you felt a light, playful spirit in this piece. It's always nice to know you achieved what you set out to do 🙂 All the best!

I am not sure if you're aware of this or not but the harpsichord doesn't really have the capability of playing things piano or forte or crescendo or decrescendo - all the notes are plucked at the same dynamic level. If this were performed on a piano or an organ (although I'm not sure about the hairpins) then it would be able to play the dynamics that you have added in here (which are rare for a contrapuntal work such as this). As for the fugue - it is quite chromatic! Although I feel like you never really modulate and restate the subject in new keys. Maybe that's part of the reason why you decided to call this a fughetta. Usually fugues will develop by using their contrapuntal episodes to modulate to closely related keys and have middle entries of the subject stated in those keys for novelty. Instead you seem to cycle through some awkward chromaticism to color your counterpoint without really modulating and establishing a new key for any considerable length of time. It would have been nice to hear that and it would give the music something to do. It was still enjoyable to listen to however. Thanks for sharing.

Hi everyone! I know this is really late (I was really caught up with academics) but yea here was my entry for the Summer Competition 2020, in which I won the 3rd place for the Traditional Judging. This is the last movement of my 1st String Quartet. (Will release the entirely of the string quartet soon once I do some extensive editing) As per competition requirements, I had themed my pieces around the pandemic and how it has affected me. My piece is inspired by the frustration and anger that one has felt during the COVID-19 pandemic, and the chaos of the unpredictable nature of the virus, depicted by the many fast virtuosic running passages, with the introduction as if reminiscing the times before the pandemic hit. Between these negative feelings has contrasting subjects that are in the major key, symbolizing the feeling of hope for humanity that mankind can adapt to the changes caused by the virus and get through this ordeal together. The piece ends in a major key, as a symbol of positivity and hope that mankind can adapt to the virus and create a vaccine before more innocent lives are lost. I intended to maximise the use of the resonance of the open strings in this quartet, as well as to create a virtuosic quartet that can test the limits of the conventional quartet and push the boundaries of contemporary string writing. I have also utilized an unusual structure (Introduction - Theme - 1st Subject - Theme - 2nd Subject - 1st Bridge - 1st Subject - 2nd Bridge using 2nd Subject and 1st Bridge Fragments - Theme - Coda) to add to the uniqueness of the piece. I know there are some inherent flaws with this that were well brought up by the judges, and I must thank their honest feedback. This entry was really rushed as I only knew of the competition very late on, and coming up with an entire 8 minute quartet in the span of just a little more than a week was really challenging. I felt I could done a lot more as the transitions could have been improved with time and there were some careless playability issues that I had overlooked. Give me time to edit the quartet, and I will be sure to improve it! Feel free to leave some feedback!