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Good day, It has been a fair bit since I last posted something of my own creation on the forum. I've been working on all sorts of different things, discarding most of them, and keeping others, but this is the most recent work I've been working on, a Trio for Flute, Violin and Cello. It is my first attempt at something in sonata form, and my first dive into the world of chamber music. I would like some feedback, and some suggestions on what ive done so far. Yours, Arjuna

They are three harmonious pieces and I think they are in a gallant style, which is one of my favorites. I would like to make two remarks about the third one: 1. The modulation from Amaj to Cmaj (using Emaj) and also the return via Cmaj - Am - Amaj ... seems to me a bit strange for this style, especially since they are not prepared. These triadic relationships are more posterior, at least used so boldly. In this period the tonalities where you modulate to are part of the format and going so far out of the way diverts attention, it's as if the listener can momentarily "lose" what's going on. 2. I think that the use of the anacrusis and repetitions is not entirely conforming. As written you have 5 parts in some measures. This could be written in a more correct way. In my opinion the silence is left out, well it would take longer to explain.

@PeterthePapercomPoser What you mention about the anacrusis and 5/8 at the beginning seems possible to me but it is complicating what is there. The point is that by delaying the E flat in the bass, you make the interval not a fifth with the Bb (which is a consonance but not as nice...) but a third with the G. On the other hand it adds interest as it doesn't sound so square. The fact of modulating by thirds is that this relationship of ascending major or minor thirds is common in romanticism, both modulating and following each other. I did not conceive this as a "musical work" but as an exercise. I may continue it because I like the sound of it. Thanks for your feedback.

It's quite good, I liked the melody a lot.

The beginning sounds like a military march for Martians! LoL I love the mysterious quiet section of this which sets the stage for that great string glissando! I'm wondering if that's a Theremin you're using for that vibrato electronic sine wave type sound. It sounds really cool and appropriate for the theme of this music. Great job and thanks for sharing this creepy yet stately march!

Very nice harmonies! And the melody is charming as well. Because you start with an 8th note and a 2nd beat that is then stressed by the inclusion of the left hand Eb it sounds like the 2nd beat is the downbeat in that measure. At least I hear it that way, but then in the 2nd measure the stress is on the 1st beat so there it begins to sound like 6/8 proper while the measure before sounded like a kind of 5/8 with an anacrusis. Why do you always modulate by a major third? Eb major -> G major -> B major. This is really short and would be nice if you now introduced some contrasting melodic material in the new key of B major. Those are my thoughts. Thanks for sharing!

Hi, One of my goals here is to show we have lots of compositional resources at hand. Of course, many of you know it, and use them. Sometimes I write very short pieces to "test" the effect of one or other harmonic combination. Later on, if I like the results, I take it for composing something more expressive. In this case, I try to mix the eclesiastic modes (dorian, lydian, eolian, etc...). When we use two modes at a time = bimodality When we use two tonal centers at a time = bitonality When we use two modes and two tonal centers at a time = bimodality + bitonality, which is what I did here. The piano is perfect for this purpose: one hand one mode in a tonal center, the other hand in different ones. Of course, every combination is different. I wouldn't say there are better ones, worse ones. Unavoidably, there are clashes here and there, but the task of a composer (even the amateur, like me) is to control them to create relax-tension. Please, these pieces are not intended to be "beatifullly expressive". They are meant to show the effect of the combination. I wrote them in a few minutes. Study I = D dorian + C lydian Study II = D locrian + G mixolydian Study III = G dorian + A eolian I always encourage, particularly to amateur composers, to read about this stuff, to explore a little. The musical universe is endless, and it is there to expand our expressive possibilities.