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Hi everyone! I'm here to present my most recently finished work, the first movement of my String Sextet in G-flat major. I name this piece a subtitle of Heaven, Earth and Human to express my view on their relationship. (What a self bragging guy this is...) The piece is dedicated to my friend Johnson Ho. Guys and gals, please help me pray for his declining health and wish him all the best. He is definitely one of the reason why I start this piece and the reason why I finish this piece. Special thanks to @Thatguy v2.0 with his always original ideas which sparked my inspirations and new thoughts. Every time after discussion he always gives me new ideas on my composition and musical idea. And he's the one who make this audio perfect in my opinion. Thx so much and I'm so happy I get to know you in this forum and become friends with you as my musical guidance. I will post the mp3, pdf and YT video here first since I'm going to brag all those details after it haha🤣: Final First Draft of First Movement of String Sextet.pdf Final final first draft 01-06-2023 First Movement of String Sextet in G flat major.mp3 https://youtu.be/cI8MAn2XEPk If you don't want to read them, just ignore them!! (spoiler alert)😀😃😄😁😆😂🤣🥰😍🤩😘🤑😵🤢🤮🥶😨😱😭(spoiler alert) (spoiler alert) 😀😃😄😁😆😂🤣🥰😍🤩😘🤑😵🤢🤮🥶😨😱😭 (spoiler alert) (spoiler alert) 😀😃😄😁😆😂🤣🥰😍🤩😘🤑😵🤢🤮🥶😨😱😭 (spoiler alert) (spoiler alert) 😀😃😄😁😆😂🤣🥰😍🤩😘🤑😵🤢🤮🥶😨😱😭 (spoiler alert) (spoiler alert) 😀😃😄😁😆😂🤣🥰😍🤩😘🤑😵🤢🤮🥶😨😱😭 (spoiler alert) This piece is inspired by the thoughts of the great New-Confucian Chinese philosopher, Tang Chun-i. I immerse much in his philosophy and am always delighted reading his huge books. This work is particularly inspired by his thoughts of 9 states of mind, and I really hope I can depict what I feel towards the ninth state, the state of Heavenly(天) Morality Transcending (sorry for my bad English Translation... but this is way too technical for my standard....), his philosophy and Chinese thoughts in general. I choose G-flat major as the tonic since 1)the initial inspiration comes in this key, 2)it's the key of transcendence for me, 3) I want the sound less bright by get rid of those open strings notes, since truth for me is Aletheia in Heideggerian sense, which is hidden but to be disclosed only, rather than a bright thing to have. I know there are some discussions concerning key choice of strings recently, so I'm clarifying here. I had my initial thoughts for this piece in 2021 May when I woke up midnight, but then I was busying with my composing of Clarinet Quintet in C minor and thus ignored it. I wished to continue it in 2022 August after finishing my Quintet, but find it real hard to continue since I don't have the craft to do it. Until I joined YC and saw the following two posts: (Hey Jean @Jean Szulc I said I would learn something from your piece, and this is the product!!!!🤘🤘🔥🔥 Thank you! Will you post here again?) (Yo Vince my bro!!!🤘🤘 Thank you!) These two are absolutely great pieces (go check for them! Vince's piece is still on the "Our Picks" section) and they use the quartal harmony so well. I also learn from Jean's piece on the more extended techniques for strings. Then I had some ideas to finish the piece. This one gonna be something Chinese which is weird in a sense that despite being a Chinese I never write something Chinese. It's always Beethovanian and I really would like to reduce that element in my new piece. After writing the Clarinet Quintet in C minor, especially after having complete an all-controlling piece (esp. the 4th movement), I realized that I have too much reliance on forms and motives and I hope I can make them less explicit in my new piece. I love sonata form very much, but you cannot compose every pieces in it. And for me all the hard work pays off. For the instrumentation is two violins, two violas and two cellos. I love how the addition of 1 extra viola and cello (to a standard String Quartet) thickens the voice and strengthen the middle and low registers. It also gives more chance for viola and cello to sing while having their partners doing the accompaniment. For me the violins stand for the Heaven, violas stand for human and cellos stand for earth, though this is not mandatory interpretation of the piece as it's not always strict imagery. The structure of this piece is more a 3 part one. I have added some rehearsal marks on it to indicate the parts, and I will describe below with some (hopefully) interesting thoughts: (Timepin according to the video) First Section: 00:06 A, main theme. The accompanying texture comes from the first movement of Brahms's String Quintet no.2, one of my favourite of his piece. It starts with viola to emphasize the human call for me. Notice the theme in viola II in 00:23. That theme will appear throughout the whole movement. (Is this a Qi(氣) theme?)00:31 another important theme. 00:38. I like this theme for its contemplative nature. The theme comes from my Clarinet Quintet in C minor. Can you find it? I find it two days before in a wonder LoL. 00:54 B, continuation in high register with added voice. 01:24 C, transition, old theme disguised as a new one. 01:54 D, in D flat major/Mixolydian. The "Heaven" section in my original planning. 02:36 E, continuation in G flat major. 02:59 F, I love the conclusion in 03:13 very much. Modulate to C major to next section in 03:42 and I love the transition so much since it's real hard to compose. 03:42 G, the "Earth" section in my original planning, with cellos taking the lead 04:12 H, repeating the earth section in G-flat major 04:35 I, closing of first part, one of my favourite portion of the movement. I especially love that A-flat major outburst in 04:46. It's magical and I have no idea where does it come from as I only realize it's composed after I finish it. I always imagine Leonard Bernstein conducting this part, LoL. Very synchorinzed here, but it's denied and turn to minor (which will be further developed in the 2nd movement) Second Section: 05:21 J, the minor section. I believe this is the worst part of the movement but Vince's audio saves it. It appears a bit anguished here. The new theme in 05:28 is the basis of both section II and III. Some sort of fugato and imitations happen here though it's not time for it. 06:47 K. I love this part!! Very fluent in violins, and I like 07:06. It's a diminution of the theme of the previous part. I use sul ponticello here to make the sound more silvery. 07:29 L. Trying to reach back to opening section by quoting the first three notes of the theme. But it's external only since it's in F sharp major. Maybe the key difference is only visual and I may change it to G flat major. Also I don't know whether the harmonics work for the violins. I like this section though. 08:24 M. A pizzicato section further developing what's doing in part L. Daniel @Omicronrg9 must have inspire me for this part. I like the contemplativo section in 08:56 too with some call and response between the two violas (humans) 09:34 N. Transition to section III. I freakingly love this part! The transition for me is smooth, and it's transforming the minor theme of section II to a major/pentatonic one. Third Section. 10:05 O. Introduction of the fugue subject. 10:20 is the start of a triple fugue, with the subject in Violin the main one for me. 10:52 theme from 00:38 quoted. Subject through G flat, Eb minor, G flat. 11:10 P. First longer episodes, theme from part F quoted Subject through D flat. I love the preparation for the first climax of the fugue in 11:41. I love the climax in 11:48! Subject in G flat. 12:03 Q. Another episode to direct to C flat major. Themes in part D and the theme in 00:31 quoted. Subject in C flat and A flat minor 12:42 R. The great Con spirito! One of my favourite portion of the movement, The A-flat major is chosen to echo in climax of section I in part I. Final appearance of the subject of the fugue in climactic G-flat major, and leads directly to the coda. In 13:17 I have a moment when the first cello is higher than the violins to correspond with a Chinese philosophical concept in the book of Change, when the power of earth is up and the power of heaven is underneath, it's auspicious since the heaven and earth are communicating instead of isolating themselves. The Chinese words 乾下坤上 is written in the score though lest you know Chinese haha! 13:28 S. Coda, with a decreasing of tempo. I am initially perplexed whether to write like this, since my little Wind Quintet piece has kind of same treatment in its coda. But I just decided to write like this since it's beautiful and the two pieces are interconnected anyway. I want this passage to be like human successfully synchronize with the heaven and earth. It's quite similar to a Chinese opera here in my opinion. I freakingly love that half cadence in 14:03!! The coda ultima in 14:08 is written much earlier, in Nov 5th 2022. I know the conclusion but find the ways to it very difficult. But I'm happy I am able to achieve this ending!! This plan to be a 2-movement work, but I'm not gonna compose the 2nd movement until I'm ready. It will be very different from this movement though. It's such a long post LoL. Feel free to criticize or critique it if you have anything you don't like about it, or compliment it if you want! I don't mind any comments and I will love to have all of them whether they are long or short, good or bad, positive or negative! Thanks for listening! If you happen to read through this LONG post, thanks so much for it!!!!! I have too many things to tell LoL. Love y'all!! Update: The first part of the second movement of this Sextet is posted on Jun 2024: The second part of the second movement of this Sextet is posted on Jan 2024: Kind Regards, Henry

I do feel like the last section is more balanced now! Also it's only up to the end that I realize the trumpet in section G is tuned down to quieter volume, which means that this one is more fluent version! Henry

Hey Luis @Luis Hernández, The lydian opening is interesting for me. My favourite section is section C. It's interesting that you have already hinted the key in b.11. This section is so lovely with the addition (or reintroduction) of the harp featured in the first part of the aria. Overall this part is lovely. I would like to ask, are there some connections between this part and the last one in G minor one! Thx for sharing! Henry

I composed these two short Orchestral pieces after a harsh bout of existential dread. In the first one I wrote the polymodal/harmonic plan first and then filled in with a "plastic melody" technique that I've been using for a while in which I divide an original melody and travel around its motifs. For the second one I only planned the sections once it was begun and the idea grew more intuitively into having pairs of contrasting sections that develop on their own terms. Also I've been playing around with "microsyncopations" that blur the beat in the more complex slow sections. The sound is Noteperformer, the scores are pending revision so I won't post them unless there's a lot of interest for them.

The beginning of the second piece reminded me of Parsifal, with its differences..... True, it then sounds quite expressionistic. Then there is the harp with bells, good idea. But maybe it's too many ideas in a row. I agree about the contrasting parts, but it is also good to have a general organization where there is room for repetition (exact or with variations, depending on the style and taste of each one). There is another part that I like from 3:20 and it sounds like Richard Strauss in Metamorphosen. Well, there are many good ideas but so many in 5 minutes ...

Hi @Uhor, I love the first one with its narrative. It begins serene but disturbed, then suddenly in 2:43 it's turn to a scary passage! Great passage here! This also makes the resolution at the end powerful. For the second one, I think the first 50 minutes grand, and the style is turned into an early Schoenbergian angst. Harp combined with bells in 1:40 is great. Lovely brass augur in 3:40 too. Great pizz. ending with piano there (right?) to signify the finish of the story. In brief I enjoy the orchestral color and narrative of these two pieces. I do feel the angst in them. Thanks for sharing! Henry

There are some good ideas here, but I think it could benefit from a little more care in the harmony and voice leading. Just taking the main motif with which the movement starts, look at the fourth beat. We have a B natural in the bass, with an E flat and an F above it, and a high B natural up top. Functionally, this is pretty clearly playing the role of a dominant chord, leading from the subdominant (F minor) the beat before to the tonic on the first beat of the next measure. But it sounds awkward. For one thing, it lacks the root (G). The E flat is a non-chord tone, though I think perhaps I hear it as a D sharp, implying a G augmented 7. But the F and E flat (or D sharp) are just overwhelmed by the third, the B natural. A usual guideline when you're voicing a major chord is that you should double the root and the fifth before you double the third - obviously not a rule one always has to strictly follow, but the tripling of the third, while the root is absent, really sticks out. Those B naturals also give us parallel octave movement between the first violins, the celli, and the basses (all moving C - B), which is also something that can sound awkward. Finally, look at how this chord resolves. The motion of the first violins and celli makes sense (although it's again parallel octaves), with the leading tone resolving upward to the tonic. The basses resolve not with the expected step up to C but with a leap up to the C an octave higher. The E flat resolves with a leap upward to G, without any particular motivation. And the F also resolves upward to G, defying the usual tendency of the seventh in a dominant chord to resolve downward to the third of the tonic. The resulting chord lacks a third - which is not always a bad thing, but since we've just heard an E flat on the previous beat, I think our brains parse it as a C minor chord with something missing, rather than as an open C5. (A general guideline is that in a major chord, you want to double the root or the fifth and avoid having "too much" of the third, while in a minor chord you want to double the root or the third and avoid having too much of the fifth). If I were writing this, I'd probably write that opening phrase as below. I've moved the 2nd violins and violas up a bit, because voicings typically sound best with wider intervals in the lower part of the chord and narrower intervals higher up. I've also changed the chord on the 2nd beat to a C minor, because I think the sense of motion and urgency is served by having three successive chord changes rather than repeating the F minor on beats 2 and 3. Please understand, I'm not trying to "correct" your writing - my version isn't necessarily better, but I think it illustrates what I see as the problems with voicing in your version. Also, I'm not picking on those few measures because they'e bad; I'm just trying to use them as an example of the kinds of issues with voicing and voice leading that I think you should pay particular attention to. Again, I think there are some really strong ideas here. I hope this doesn't come across as overly critical!

Hi, you should listen to Mozart's concerto for flute harp and orchestra in C major k 299.

Hi Sam, Once again this piece is really good. Like this time this really reminds me of Debussy. Nga Mihi Arjuna

An interesting pleasant work. I noticed that the work moves between a tonal (at times) and dissonant harmonic/melodic lines. Maybe you may want to review those tonal resolutions and make the work more consistent with its non-traditional dissonant moments/harmonies. Keep the work more angular .... Mark

hi! i'm new here. this is my first post! i recently write this piece that i think you might enjoy if you are into a darker harmonic palette. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QpNLO91ryqE the piece grapples with new circumstances and transition. haunted by aching remembrances, REGENERATION explores themes of disrepair, aftermath, reconstruction, and the desire to change into something truer, stronger, and, altogether, more beautiful.

Hello guys, long time no see. I have been quite busy and I struggled a lot with this composition, but it is finally over and I came here to share it with all you. ^^ I hope you don't mind me copying the video descrition, I'm to tired to do a custom descrition here. This piece took so long to compose, around 45 hours. The main reason for that was that I got a mental block with it and I couldn't tie two sections of the work. I'm thankful to Carlos Barbé for enlightening me and making realize a couple of key things that I needed to sort out in order to do some progress. This is the last composition I will do for my "Dream Fantasies" set. After some consideration I decided to let the performer decide in what order to play the 3 pieces. I wanted to offer some freedom and let different musicians decide how they understood the whole thing. The piece is filled with lots of references to Nostalgia and A Sleepy Apology, so it can work as a nexus or a summary. This piece in particular is quite abstract, but its main theme is time. What it really means... Unfortunately I couldn't get a better performance because I finished this piece yesterday (31/01/2022-08/04/2022) and the most technically challenging fragment was the last thing I did. So I had vitually no time to properly practice the thing and also the piano where I played is super unbalanced (sometimes you play a key and it doesn't make a sound and in other instances it sounds too loud). But I think at least I got the right mood I had in mind (even though I calculated the piece should have a duriation of around 5' 40", so I played the slow section way too slow, sorry about that haha). Hopefully I will be able to record in my own piano in the near future. Oh, and I played this while having some kind of injury in my feft hand index finger, so yeah haha. And my hand hurted a bit after the loud section with 4ths, I don't know what I'm doing wrong to get injuries so easily. Thank you to everyone who supported me and showed interest. See you soon. 🙂 Also if anyone wants the score send me an email to ivanmusic1886@gmail.com . Although I'm still doing some modifications and even this recording has a detail that I changed in the score (not a big deal tho). Link: