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5 Orchestral Dances Composed during the last year 2022 and finally finished in a "suite". It was kind of a way of evading myself from trying doing something more dificult or "serious" but still really satisfied with the work. There's inspiration from (obviously) Brahms, Strauss, some Mahler among other composers. Orchestration: 2 Flutes +Piccolo, 2 Oboes, 2 Clarinets, 2 Bassons 4 Horns, 2 Trumpets, 2 Tenor + Bass Trombone, Tuba Percussion Strings Youtube Video merged.pdf

Hi everyone 🙂 A month ago or something like that I posted a draft of my first string quartet. It is now finished (at least the first movement). I'd like to know your thought about it: style? themes? harmony?

Hello all, I am new here in the forum. I am 25, live in Bonn (Germany) and am a computer scientist by profession. I've been composing for a few years and have already written many works. I play piano since I was 8 years old and also a little organ and clarinet. Everything I know about composing, however, I have acquired myself and has come about through a lot of practice. Unfortunately, I never had composition lessons, so I still make some mistakes, for example, in notation, form theory, etc. I compose mainly large orchestrated works and always strive to raise my technical standards and write more complex pieces. The movement is the final movement of my 8th symphony and contains both quiet passages and more moving ones. The movement reflects well my preference for romantic harmonies. The movement itself is quite free and does not follow a main motive (although there are recurring structures). It's very long I know but I would really appreciate your opinion. Also, please give me constructive criticism and especially suggestions on how I could improve further. About the instrumentation: Woodwinds: 2 flutes 2 Alto Flutes 2 Bass Flutes 2 oboes 1 English Horn 2 Clarinets in Bb 2 bassoons 1 Contrabassoon Brass: 4 French horns in F 1 trumpet 4 trombones 1 bass tuba percussion instruments Timpani tubular bells Strings: 1st violins (14) 2nd violins (10) violas (8) Cellos (8) Double basses (8) Symphony 8, Mov. 4 Finale.pdf Here the Soundcloud link: Greetings Nico

This is a piece I wrote a few years ago, to be part of a larger work, but I didn’t write the rest of it. The title translates to “prelude to sleep”. I wanted to capture those moments before you fall to sleep. So it’s a pretty minimal piece for strings, flute, oboe, clarinet, bassoon, harp and celesta.

Hello all, it's me again. Today I brought a happy and dynamic symphonic movement from my 7th Symphony in E minor, which I wrote a little less than 2 years ago. The tempo is Presto in a 6/8 time signature. I tried to create a bright spring mood in the piece. With lots of staccato eighths in the strings and a lively rhythm, it should describe a little ride through nature. From 2:50-3:50 follows a small quiet and somewhat more serious passage which then increases to 4:40 and dissolves into a warm and soft harmony (which to me feels like a warm breeze in spring/summer) from ~5:10 the original motif returns with slight changes and finally ends in a energetic finale. I think the inner structure is quite good so far. The coherence is more recognizable than in some other pieces of mine. But since this piece is already ~2 years old again, I think that's okay. I would like to post a few more of my older favorite pieces and hear your opinions before I move on to what I'm writing right now. About the instrumentation: Woodwinds: 2 flutes 2 Alto Flutes 2 Bass Flutes 2 oboes 1 English Horn 2 Clarinets in Bb 2 bassoons 1 Contrabassoon Brass: 4 French horns in F 1 trumpet 4 trombones 1 bass tuba percussion instruments Timpani tubular bells Strings: 1st violins (14) 2nd violins (10) violas (8) Cellos (8) Double basses (8) Here the Score: 5.Satz, Sinfonie no.7 - Partitur.pdf And the Link: Greetings Nico

Hi Nico, I like how you've used almost the full choir of flutes here (apart from the contrabass flute). I tend to use the alto flute quite a lot in my recent compositions, due to its mystical timbre. I wonder do you ever use other members of the clarinet family? I rather like the reedy tones of the bass clarinet. Thanks for sharing, Alex

This is lovely, reminds me of the cheerful nature of Schmidt's 2nd and 3rd Symphonies. I could see a nice Japanese animated film to this music, a train scene through nature, as you say, is perfect with the moto perpetuo at the beginning.

Hi all - in a previous thread I posted a chamber music work. I received some encouragement - so I decided to expand it to a full orchestra work. You can find the original posting here: So here is the first completed draft .... as you can see from the letter v - (I started with a) there have been many revisions!! By the way it is no longer called Adagio - I haven't decided on a Title as yet. All suggestions, comments, etc .... most welcome.

Alex ... thanks for the review. I am 99.9% finished. There are improved transitions, more interesting harmonic movement, and a much better ending. At the moment I am waiting to review the work with my Mentor. I actually have two endings! Not too sure which one works better. I hope to post the finished work soon. Thanks again for your continued interest in my endeavors. Mark PS: as for the bass rendition - I use NotePerformer 3. I am also a community orchestra Principal Oboist - so I my ear might be working well. I am constantly listening ... 😇

PeterthePapercomPoser, Thank you for your valuable feedback. I’ve been listening to your stuff and wow! You are not only a talented composer but also an amazing keyboardist. I really don’t know where to begin when critiquing the sort of music you compose. It’s complicated stuff and for the most part way out of my pop comfort zone. You’re compositions, to me, are like driving on a freeway compared to the way I putt slowly along down a country road. I can say that the way you always change things up with key changes and timings like throwing in triplets, keeps the ear engaged by keeping things interesting. Really great stuff! And you are also prolific! -Rick

I was rummaging through my bag of misfit music and thought someone might enjoy this short little waltz I composed a few years ago. It was from back when I was learning my DAW (Sonar 8.5.) I've never updated Sonar because it never crashes and just works really well. Like the old saying goes; "If it ain't broke don't fix it". It was very frustrating for me learning all the techie stuff in Sonar and I still barely know what I'm doing. Anyway, enjoy! -Rick

Henry, You are doing wonders for my self confidence! Glad you like it. C sharp minor is indeed a great key. I also love the keys C minor and F sharp minor on piano. YC is fortunate to have someone as musically trained as you, and of course many other musically trained composers here at YC. I've been told I should have gone to a music conservatory but that would be like placing a 3rd grader with basic arithmetic skills into a college level calculus course. For the record, I love mathematics... it's just that it hates me. The best I can muster for other peoples' stuff is "Uhhh that sounds good". I suppose I could fake my way to critiquing arrangements but I can't articulate my ideas as well as someone like you. Just know that I really do appreciate a REAL composer's comments and opinion. "A major and Bb major" you say?... I didn't even know that! *hehehe* -Rick

I like sound world that you’ve created. It has a point of view to it, that doesn’t rely on pastiche.

@PeterthePapercomPoser @Schorninator Thank you for your comments!! Of course I don't think that just because I shared it here I may not change things. Maybe in the future I'll see these things in a different way and I can rewrite in some form. This work was intended to be like it is in the way of simplicity regarding tonality or other aspects, that's why I didn't consider doing something more "adventurous". I wanted it to be symmetrical with the minore variation in the middle. But of course i take into account your comments for a future revision!

Maybe whem you complete some sections, you can make note of the motives and themes you use and try to let them reappear later! That's sometimes my method on composing to make the music more coherent! Yes to write things out will definitely help you improve more than reading dozens of theory books and listening to dozens pieces of music! I am looking forward to your new posts here Nico! Henry

PeterthePapercomPoser, Wow! Thanks a lot. Those were very thoughtful and kind words. I'm glad you like it. As to my Beatles obsession, yeah, I'm hopelessly addicted to their music. Listening to Beatles music is always another day at school for me. And you are correct about the "flutes" sounding synth-y. It's actually an old mellotron virtual instrument. And correct again; yes, it was intentional. I tried using the flutes contained in my old East/West Gold library of which all other of the parts are from, but I didn't like the sound. You just missed it by a hair with the hurdy-gurdy! At the 1:43 mark I was kind of inspired by the original theme song to the old "I Dream of Jeannie" TV show, not the later more recognizable theme, although I love that too. It's even in the same key which is probably why I got pulled in that direction as I have perfect pitch and it must have triggered some memory while I was fiddling around with instrument sounds. Check it out in this YT video at the 38 second mark! It's pretty funny! I guess I unconsciously ripped it off. And also compare the melodic phrase at my 58 second mark to the video's 49 second mark. I think the key here is off by a half step but apparently close enough for another trigger... Wow! I'm a musical pack rat! *hehehe* Thanks again! -Rick