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Hello dear young composers, dear old too, dear in between, neither old nor young... New piece that I have just committed and whose first I am delivering to you, Autumn twilight, for piano and singing. As usual, use of a BBC SO pro piano sample (Spitfire audio), and my voice captured by a Schoeps MK4. Manuscript photographed for visual support. The poem is still by Stuart Merrill, which therefore represents a triptych, and ends a cycle for me. (I'm already digging my head to know where my steps can lead me next...) I hope you will like it despite the somewhat past tense side of the musical language (but I know you are used to it now). Good listening and see you very soon. K.

Heyo new work just dropped. I've put everything surrounding this piece into the pdf score, or you can just read it in the video description. Which btw, I've finally made my first score scrolling (there's not even scrolling its just a slide show) video! This score took me ages to polish and I'm so happy of how it looked! I know it's not the most interesting work texturally, but thematically I think it's fine. And since this work borrowed themes from somewhere else, I've decided to link the original music down below so you can check out the original music and listen to what I've borrowed, I guess. Enjoy! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SPa8bPqQfmo https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z34enKCqRGk https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t5vG4Be1Ci8

I agree that there is very good material here. Sometimes it sounds modal to me, sometimes like quartal harmonies. But in general terms as far as the orchestra is concerned I agree as well. What there is is a very large predominance of the string sections. I think you can try to pass the baton to the winds, even brass. These are left for very punctuated moments. On the other hand, and this is an observation for myself, also, when a mockup is made with a virtual orchestra, the instruments in which a2 is indicated, are really sounding one. I think that is, together with the fact that the virtual sound is much more unstable than the real one, it makes the timbres very unbalanced. What I do when a pair of instruments go a2 is to write both (one with stems up and one down). It is true that a2 does not sound twice as loud as 1 solo, but it changes the timbre.

Yep. The harp part is indeed difficult. I think I would write an instruction for the harpist to play slower (a slight ritardando) at parts where there are a lot of pedal changes. I think that would add to a subtle sense of rubato too. Actually I intended the rythmic illusion you mentioned. I think it would be kind of funny to suddenly change the time signature (from common time to 3/4) after the first 2 phrases to see how that sounds lol and yeah, it kinda sounds confusing yet natural.

The harp part is difficult with quite a few quick pedal changes required. The tempo is quick and the harp has constant 16th notes which are hard to execute while also changing the pedals. Meas. 6 (B to Bb), 7 (A to Ab), 8 (C to Cb and G to Gb at the same time - quite difficult), 9 (Db to D and Gb back to G at the same time). I don't want to go through the whole video pointing out these difficulties (and it would be easier if you had included a pdf score). Other than that the piece is quite pleasant to listen to! Also, starting at measure 26, the first time I heard this piece I perceived a kind of rhythmic illusion that the first 8th notes in beat 1 of the bar were actually an anacrusis and beat 2 was the downbeat. This illusion persisted until measure 30ish. But now that I've heard the piece multiple times I've maybe learned how to listen to it properly ... LoL.

As I may have mentioned before, one of my specialties is writing for unusual combinations of instruments. Here I have written a four-movement quartet for a rare ensemble consisting of 2 Oboes and 2 Bassoons. I tried to make all the parts as equal as possible. I realize much of what I've written is challenging, but I have shown this piece to professional musicians who have assured me that there is nothing here that is beyond the pale. The opening movement is a standard Sonata-Allegro. I reversed the traditional order of the inner two movements so that the Menuetto is second, and the Adagio ed affettuoso is third in order; I feel this Adagio is one of my better slow movements, owing much to Mozart for its styling. The final movement is unusual in that it is a sort of fugal Sonata-Rondo, with chromatic contrapuntal sections interspersed with contrasting material. ***** Quartet in A minor for 2 Oboes and 2 Bassoons (2019-2021) - Composed: December 27, 2019 - April 6, 2021 at Austin - Style: Classical, ca. 1790-1800 - DuratIon: 24:30 I. Allegro non tanto ma con fuoco (00:00) II. Menuetto: Allegro (08:20) III. Adagio ed affettuoso (12:10) IV. Tempo giusto alla breve (18:35) - Electronic Rendering by Finale 26 music notation software "Human Playback" with NotePerformer 3 artificial intelligence assisted interpretation.

Entry B - "a knee in the grass through my eyelashes" by @GreenGiantCanOfCorn (for Soprano and Piano) This piece was constructed around the accompanying poem. The poem depicts the listener (you), entrenched in a dream. The narrator (again, you, the listener) is stratified between three levels: the needer, the object of your own desire, and the observer of the entire scenario. Within the text, these three cognitive levels are distinguished by italicization and paragraph alignment. In this way, the text is able to detail a complex dreamscape of self-doubt and need through its use of form, without imposing a specific narrative or temporality. To detail the compositional aspects of this piece, the musical form serves to highlight the dreamlike non-linearity of thought and memory. It's not that this piece is formless; rather, it is incredibly aware of form, employing it as a cognitive guide. Section boundaries are often blurred with either extremely unpredictable or extremely familiar materials. Even silence is used, stored, and recalled as a familiar material. The form is real because the listener needs it to be. Therefore, it is indistinct and varied in its macro shape, and confident and intense in its phrase- and section-level materials. The piece also uses technology: two E-bows on the piano, with sustain and sostenuto pedals to allow infinite oscillation. Additionally, the soprano sings into the piano to sympathetically vibrate the piano's strings. Not that this needs stating, but stylistically, this isn't supposed to be a "pretty" piece just because it uses harmony. For better or worse, existing within the contemporary world means that listeners likely have instincts regarding functional harmony. This allows the piece to utilize such instincts to construct sectional contrasts between familiar and unfamiliar approaches to expectation and fulfillment. TLDR: on a structural level, this piece does not commit to any one method of utilizing harmony, and instead uses harmony as a concept to evade expectation. This is a needy piece, a "waking up sweating and the sweat feels cold, and you can't tell if it's in a good way" kind of piece. a knee in the grass through my eyelashes centers the contradictions and anxieties present within the unconscious mind as we define our own personal truths. Thank you so much for the opportunity to be considered for this competition. I would also add:

Have not been on the forum for some time! Its nice to be back haha. I just finished high school so I have time to be on forums again lol I had written this quartet at the end of last year, it took me around 3 months to complete. Its the first time trying to write for strings only! It has 5 movements with each a very own feeling to it. Hopefully you enjoy it 🙂