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Good afternoon fellow composers! I am very excited to present my latest large scale work, the first movement of my Symphony No. 1. My plan for the symphony is for it to be a “complete concert experience” with two large scale movements surrounding two shorter and lighter movements. This first movement is thus quite long, clocking in at a little over 27 minutes. It is intended to be almost a “symphony within a symphony”, preparing tension to be resolved later in the work, while still functioning as a standalone piece in its own right. I had a few goals in mind as I composed this, feel free to evaluate how well I achieved them: Focus on simple, memorable themes and motives Write a large scale opening symphony movement that could also function as a standalone piece Build a large movement on the development of two simple motives, specifically Motive 1 - a sequential 5th motive, first in the bass clarinet and bassoon at the beginning Motive 2 - an alternating ascending, descending motive, first in the low winds/strings and English horn/saxophone in the B section Integrate euphonium and saxophone into the orchestra Make use of auxiliary brass The movement is structured as a Rondo (A-B-A-C-A-D-A-B-A-coda), albeit with several creative liberties taken. Since it is quite long I’ve broken it down into several smaller sections if you prefer to only listen to a small piece. The structure is detailed below: 00:00 - A section - the piece begins quietly with sustained notes in the basses, with the low winds introducing Motive 1. This is repeated and embellished by the oboe and others 1:38 - B section - the broad opening theme gives way to a heavy and ominous pulse in the low strings and woodwinds. Motive 2 is introduced here first in the English horn and saxophone, then expanded and embellished, and leads up to a climax 4:46 - the A section returns, this time building into a brassy fanfare, but left unresolved. This section ends with a lively cacophonous polyrhythmic buildup that develops Motive 1 and leads into the next section 6:56 - the C section opens with a contrapuntal section, which utilizes and expands Motive 2 within octatonic scales that plane between each other, then leads into an ominous ascending theme (an inversion of Motive 2) that climaxes with a fiery rhythmic dance in frequently changing time signatures, this is repeated, then interrupted by a quiet irregular heartbeat in the harp and celesta, that eventually erupts before returning to the opening contrapuntal figure, this time in the woodwinds 11:05 - the A section theme returns briefly, this time as stacked fifths in the brass, and stated explicitly by the muted horns 11:45 - the D section begins with a lyrical theme in the English horn (formed by combining and rearranging Motive 1 and Motive 2), which is passed back and forth between the saxophone and bassoon. The texture slowly winds down, allowing a woodwind choir to emerge. The mood is bleak, but the strings enter and the mood shifts suddenly to hopeful and optimistic, before an epiphany is reached. The key returns to C major for one more buildup to the climax, with the brass exclaiming Motive 1, this time in a major mode. 15:50 - formal return to the A section, with mostly the same structure but the instrumentation is varied 17:27 - formal return of B section, this time a quiet horn solo prepares a fast whirlwind of a climax, before coming to a halt and preparing for the return to… 21:37 - the A section fanfare returns, this time enhanced by auxiliary brass. The climax is more resolved, but still leaves something wanting before the cacophony from earlier in the movement leads into the coda 24:09 - Coda - the ominous ascending theme returns here and is used to build tension along with distortions of the fiery dance from the C section. The irregular heartbeat returns as well, and leads into a chaotic polyrhythmic volcano that over flows into the final statement of the two motives overlaid on top of each other, traded back and forth between the auxiliary brass and the orchestra As usual, I have several questions for feedback, 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? Does this work well as the first movement of a symphony? How about as a standalone piece? How well do you think the motives are developed? 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? 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 Synchron brass and woodwinds 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. -gmm Score link here

This piece was inspired by the work of Bear McCreary on Amazon Prime's "Rings Of Power". I imagined all the creatures of Middle Earth coming together in a large Gathering. Hence all the different themes weaved together! Have only spent two days on this project thus far: so expect to make quite a few revisions! New versions of the piece and score will be posted lower down the thread. Hopefully it sounds cinematic? That's what I was aiming for anyway 🤪

Superbly orchestrated as I've come to expect from you! The first 11 minutes feel very frenetic, which then gives way to the beautiful D Section. Lovely melody here, and definitely my favourite part of the movement. Reminds me of some of John Williams film scores, and I can hear hints of Prokofiev at times in the dissonant passages. Maybe a bit of Holst's Planet Suite is thrown into the mix, especially the harp in the D Section. Your motivic development is really good, and the music seems to flow along its natural course. Hopefully it will be performed by a real life orchestra one day!

(Edited) I found a way to fit my score to page. Here it is: RM Rizal Sorry about the careless reply, Henry. Pleased to know you enjoyed it.

Hi Henry for the warm welcome, and apologies in delay,,, umm, I was a bit emotional on the weekend and was a little embarrassed here. For the Fugue, the lul in the 5th measure seems to be a common criticism. I'll try if I can figure out something that sounds better. As for the chorale, I regret deeply the instrumentation. I think I would like it to a keyboard performance. I listen to it this day and go like "what was I thinking..." I appreciate you two listening to me, and I will do the same. I hope we can help each other and I hope to make this my new home to discuss compositions and music! 🙂

Hi @Alex Weidmann, You always know that less is more and I always love you for that. Most of members here including myself tend to add more and more, but you know how to achieve great effect economically using fewer intstruments and musical resources. For me it can be good trailer music with different music fit for different scenes! That piano ending can create a contemplative ending usual for a trailer. I will add more once there's the score and update! Henry

I won't consider my work really good, after all I know what I did is just changing the building body of the minimalist work and tricking with some more multiples. (Plus it's one of my earlier works lol, before 2019) Adding a sense of development sounds good 👍 Thanks for listening my work ❤️

Hi @SisselOnline, For me this is a work in the minimalistic style with all the instruments repeating the F-E-D-C-Bb-A-G-F-E-D line in different rhythm and beat. I am sorry but honest to say that I don't feel heavy at all after listening this. First is the instrumentation: I really don't feel like there are 2 pianos and a String Sextet here with the thickness of the sound. I feel like more a piano and a String Quartet wth the bell. Maybe there's not enough individuality of the instrument, new materials and rich harmonic content for this combination. Also I notice that in Part's Piece there are individual lines for each parts even it's minimalistic and have development at the end. You can add a sense of development by adding new materials, instead of having the same phrase all over in all instruments! Thanks for sharing! Henry

Hello @SoloYH, Welcome to the forum! As @Thatguy v2.0 noted you should probably split the pieces for individual posts! You don't have to apologise at all, we are just afraid that all the eggs put in a basket would be ignored all over! The fugue in F minor sounds nice for me, except I don't like the caesura of the subject in its initial appearance, but later it's compensated by other voices so it's fine! I just notice some notes in the alto part is having the notehead reflected, is it for indicating an individual voice? For the chorale in B minor, what is your intended style? I notice there are some parallels and tone clashes. The direction is not quite clear, but I love the combination of sound of it! If you have time you can also review fellow talented composers' works! I am sure you will find lots of interesting posts here! I will review the remaining pieces. Thanks for sharing! Henry

This was the first large work I wrote and does not reflect my current abilities. I started writing it in September 2019 and finished in January 2021. I'm posting it here because I'd like to make a revised and fully orchestrated version in the future and need some feedback for that. The piece is programmatic with 7 movements, an introduction, and a finale. I will share the intended the program in case there are better ways of depicting them. The introduction serves no programmatic purpose, but does introduce the most important motif, the four descending notes. The first movement is the Prophesy of Simeon and for its structure I state material and then stick that into a slower section in an attempt to imitate questions and wise answers. After the final answer is a musical "pierce" since Simeon says that Mary's heart will be pierced by a sword of sorrow. The movement closes sadly, foreshadowing the fifth movement. The second movement is the Flight into Egypt. In the story, an angel warns Joseph of King Herod's intent to kill Jesus, so they flee through the harsh desert to Egypt. The music reflects that with a slow beginning and then an agitated theme in a mode. Then, for when they arrive and live peacefully in Egypt, there is a calm hymn-like theme. A fugue transitions to repeat the angel section from the beginning, as an Angel tells them they are to return since Herod is dead. The agitated desert theme resumes and when they make it back, a very important theme plays, closing the second movement. The third movement is the Loss of the Child Jesus in the Temple. The movement begins calmly with the theme that ended the previous movement, as in the program, Mary and Joseph are walking home without the knowledge of Jesus being left behind. The structure of the rest of the movement is a series of 3 marches for the 3 days they spent look for Jesus. The movement closes with the hymn-like theme. The fourth movement is Mary's Meeting Jesus on the Via Dolorosa. This is the movement I dislike the most. The idea was for it to be in kind of an arch form, for I imagined Mary in the crowd watching Jesus come into view, walk past, and then leave her view. I don't think it worked particularly well, especially with how repetitively I use the main theme. The fifth movement is the Crucifixion. I begin it slowly with three points of the "pierce" chord from the first movement, for the three nails attaching him to the cross. Immediately after the third nail is a dissonant variation of the theme from the fourth movement. Then, a mediocre fugue on that same theme, which leads into a slowed down repeat of the end of the first movement with more voices, for the death of Jesus. The sixth movement is the Piercing of Christ's Side and His Descent from the Cross. The music starts quiet and relatively still. Then a spear is thrown, so to reflect that, I have flying-ish music. The "pierce" chord plays again but is transformed into consonance with waterfall-like arpeggios, for when the spear pierces his side and blood and water spill out. Then the hymn-like theme plays. To close, the quiet music repeats, but slowly descends, for Jesus being taken down. The seventh movement is the Burial of Jesus, and is in ABA form, imitating funeral marches. Afterward, is the Finale. I have 2 unresolved suspended chords, and then 1 resolved for Jesus returning on the third day. Then, after the greatest build-up I've ever written, the theme which ended the second movement returns, closing the piece. Welp, that's the whole piece. Again, it does not reflect my current style, and I don't think it as particularly good, though I am still proud of it. Feedback is welcome, of course.