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Good evening everyone! I'm ready to present a new piece I have been working on for the last couple of months or so: Adagio for Orchestra. It’s a relatively short piece, not as large in scope as some of my other works I have posted here. Admittedly I’ve had a little bit of writer’s block recently, so I toned things back quite a bit and instead focused on simple themes and experimenting with an expanded orchestra, including Euphonium and Saxophone with the usual instruments. I'm interested in any and all constructive feedback. I had a few goals in mind as I composed this, feel free to chime in on how well I accomplished them: Focus on simple, memorable themes. Experiment with orchestration, using auxiliary instruments to create some unique textures. Integrate Euphonium and Saxophone with the rest of the orchestra. Write something that would work as a middle movement of a larger work, such as a symphony. The piece is loosely structured in a binary form with repeat (ABAB). (0:00 - 1:09) – Introduction. Euphonium solo that is passed between and elaborated by other members of the winds, punctuated by sweeping string lines. Most of the thematic material from the piece is extracted from this opening solo. (1:09 – 2:41) – A Theme. A melancholy dirge carried by a bell-like ostinato played by harp, celesta, and piano, with rustling tremolo in the strings and an eerie chant in the winds. (2:41 – 5:00) – B Theme. A floating theme first presented by the oboe then embellished by the strings to the first big outburst of the piece. Material from the A Theme is elaborated here, then the strings carry the oboe theme to a new momentary high, before settling back into the recap. (5:00 – 7:11) – A Theme recap. The dirge returns, this time building to a euphoric climax, then drifting away into the upper register of the woodwinds and strings. (7:11 – 8:13) – B Theme recap. This time the clarinet sings the theme. I experimented with some polytonality/polymodality/whatever-you-want-to-call-it with the chords in the horns, trumpets, flutes, keyboards, and harp. I’m curious how well I pulled this off. (8:13 – 8:38) – Coda. Return of the Euphonium solo, this time drifting off into silence to end the piece. As usual, I have few specific questions I would like specific feedback on. Feel free to answer as many or as few as you wish: What effect does the music have on you? Does in conjure up an image? Or an emotional feeling? Does it tell you a story? This can be the piece as a whole, or a specific part or parts. What was your favorite part? What was your least favorite part? Do you have any comments or critiques on technique, e.g. harmony, melody writing, counterpoint, orchestration, voice-leading, etc.? How do you feel about the overall form? Is it effective? How well do you think the euphonium and saxophone are integrated with the rest of the orchestra? How do you feel about the harmony in the B theme recap (the nondiatonic chords against the melody in the clarinet)? Is it effective? Do you have any comments of the quality of the performance in the audio file? I really want this to be a decent representation of how the piece would sound if it were performed live, since it is unlikely it ever will be. Feel free to put your "conductor hat" on and critique the "orchestra". I have included a score and welcome any constructive feedback on its presentation. And if you're like me it's a lot more fun to follow along with the score. Are there any composers this reminds you of, that I might enjoy listening to? Sound libraries: Spitfire Symphonic Orchestra and Spitfire Percussion VSL – Eb clarinet, Bass clarinet (in the intro only), Alto sax, Bassoon (for the solo only), Bb Trumpet (for the solos only, and some reinforcement in louder sections), Euphonium, Piano Thanks for listening, I hope you enjoy! If you liked something I did and want me to explain how I did it, feel free to ask as well. -gmm

I love it. I absolutely love it. I am consistently amazed at the quality of your music, and this Adagio is no exception. The way you put this piece together is really something special, the balance between proportion, emotion, and musical inventiveness is just perfect. I've listened to this piece about 5 times now, and I'll listen to it 100 times more! Count yourself as one of the top composers on this site! In general, my favorite part was the first B theme section. I'm in love with it all: the melody, the textures, and harmonies were just gloriously used, especially at bars 52-55. It was an eargasm I was experiencing, as they say lol. I absolutely love the arpeggios in the piano and harp, such an underrated texture, that I'm shocked hasn't been historically used more often. I don't really have a least favorite part in this piece. Oh, and I also liked the solo string lines in the recap of the A theme, that is quite a beautiful moment. If there's anything I would add, I might put in bars 69-70 a large arpeggio in the piano and harp, a bigger one than the previous arpeggios , as a sort of "grand close" for that section, because I think that would make the closure of the B theme even more satisfying, at least it would for me personally. I thought it worked well, especially as a slow movement for a symphony, like you were suggesting. In particular, I can imagine the opening introduction work as a sort of reference to a theme or motif that could (hypothetically) be used extensively in the first movement. And of course, the overall form worked well proportionately speaking. Nothing felt out of place at all. It was quite beautiful, to my ears. It's a very creative way to harmonize melodic lines, and you utilized it beautifully in the ending of the piece. I'm trying to utilize it a bit in my own music, it's a useful tool, great for emotional mystery. So yes, I would say it's quite effective, and especially against the clarinet 😄 I liked how you used those instruments. The saxophone used as a melody was special, like how when an English horn is used in a symphony for a lyrical line -type special. I think those are great instruments to use in an orchestra. I always think of the first movement of Rachmaninov's Symphonic Dances when thinking about saxophones in an orchestra. As a bonus, and I know you weren't asking for commentary on this, but I also liked how you used the celesta. It was a very unique and exotic sound it produced when used in this manner. It was beautiful and mysterious. I thought it worked out well. I could easily imagine a real orchestra performing this as I was listening to your MIDI rendition, you do a great job of balancing the volume levels of the melodic lines and harmonic ones! This reminded me a lot of Ottorino Respighi, as I thought a lot of the brass textures (as well the use of the contrabassoon), were quite similar to how he orchestrated his "Pines of Rome" and the "Church Windows", particularly the last movements of both. Even the melodic shape of the A theme has as a similar solemnity to those Respighi movements. I'm also reminded of the "Winter Daydreams" Symphony by Tchaikovsky, in the introduction like @PeterthePapercomPoser said, but also in the B theme, particularly the use of the cellos having the melodic line, which Tchaikovsky uses in the 2nd movement; that's actually one of my favorite pieces of all time. I'm also reminded of "national school" Russian composers like Lyadov and Ippolitov-Ivanov, who both have some very atmospheric works for orchestra, like the "Melancholy Song" of Lyadov's 8 Russian Folksongs and the "In the Village" movement of Ippolitov-Ivanov's "Caucasian Sketches" suite no. 1. Also, the trills remind me of this Myaskovsky symphony movement: But don't let my many comparisons detract from the fact that your creative originality is present all throughout this Adagio. Your style is very beautiful and recognizable, and I love it! Also, if @Thatguy v2.0 is the #1 gmm fanboy, then please count me as the #2!

This is an unfinished work, I post this because I have no inspiration for what is to come after the climax part around second 40. Any suggestions / feedback would be highly regarded and appreciated.

There is a very cool Discord Server for a "young composers" community, which was revived (much like how this community here was revived) by someone who was eager to keep that community flowing. I made contact with the admin about the fragmentation of these similar communities. He could have just changed the name of the server and run separately from us, but instead he agreed it would make better sense to affiliate these two communities. I believe this will help us unite and integrate this community in a much more positive way. One thing to make clear is the admin, alias Puppy runs and will continue to run the server independently. Thus you will notice a link to the Discord server at the top of our homepage.

I love this so much. A lot of the members here could learn a lot from you with how you develop thematic material. I can't remember the last time I heard thematic development executed so clearly at this site. Not one single note felt out of place, as the opening theme was stretched and manipulated and bent with your fine compositional craftsmanship to fill the entire orchestra. You're a master at taking a fragment of music and giving it a metamorphosis into something otherworldly. There are loads of color throughout; no instrument felt like it was more important than the others. Lovely execution of the sax and euphonium, I'd say their inclusion was an experiment of success. The polytonality was a treat too. It needed that, as it gave your music the sense of wonder and dissonance I felt was necessary. The low brass and low strings to start the two A sections were probably my favorite spots; they gave a touch of darkness or something like that to balance the romantic/pastorale feel. The melody seemed to float above the orchestra in the winds, and the harp/piano/celesta trio was gorgeous underneath all the interplay of melodic evolution. The lush chords were superb, and the climactic spots were perfect. I know you weren't going for a stand alone piece, as it definitely felt like a middle movement of a symphony, and reminded me of Beethoven. Not in compositional style or material, but to me he had a gift of creating exciting outer movements while filling in the middle with something majestic and sublime, even with hints of the foreboding to capture a unique and wholesome beauty. Your attention to detail is admirable, and the artistry you provide us all for free is something I'm very thankful for. I tried hard to find something critical to share, as I gave this multiple listens to find something I could offer as "advice for future compositions." If there is anything, and as cool as the rhythmic section was at bar 22 and elsewhere, I felt maybe you could have explored a variation in the kind of pulse it gave. It's hard to say though, as I hope you attach a 1st and 3rd movement to this. Also, I know you went through tons of development with the melody by tossing it around the plethora of instruments you have, but the b6-5-1-b3 theme to me was the glue of the melody, and possibly giving it a sharper rhythmic twist might be something that would work. For instance, maybe those four notes as eighth-dotted quarter, eighth dotted quarter. Or maybe take the three grace note type rhythm and tinker those notes with that a bit more. Again though, with your intention of this being a middle movement, it would depend on what you're doing with outer movements. Maybe the static pulse is just what the listener needs, and as is, works just fine the way it is. Honestly, I just didn't want this comment to be me gushing over how much I've enjoyed this. Overall, you continue to capture my attention with each composition you give us, and surely deserve a standing ovation of praise. As always, I look forward to your future works, and consider your music to be the bar when I tackle the orchestra. It's rare that I search for members music to listen to out of enjoyment, as if this is some kind of Spotify where I'm lucky enough to be able to chat with the artist that moved me, but you're one of the few. Congratulations on a work well done, and thanks for sharing. If you're ever able to publish your music, let me know so I can be the first for my signed copy. - #1 gmm fanboy