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I think this is quite successful. If you want the instruments to feel like characters and have a sense of a storyline, that feels very possible. Just decide on the details and let that guide your decisions going forward with the next movement. Personally, I feel like I'm watching/listening to different species of competing birds on a pond on a lovely spring day. 🙂

I just saw this now, thanks for the inclusion and will be sure to check out these pieces. I'm always looking for music I like from living composers.

Today perhaps more commonly known by the title "Down to the River to Pray," this traditional African American spiritual was first published as "The Good Old Way" in 1867, two years after the end of the Civil War, and is believed to originate from the Tennessee, Arkansas, Mississippi area. A variation of the tune was popularized by the movie 'O Brother, Where Art Thou?' I wanted to familiarize people with the older version of the melody, since all the arrangements I have seen in recent years use the 'O Brother' version. As the text in the earliest published copies is very sketchily presented and 100% repetitive if taken at face value, (after the first verse, it just says, "Sister, etc." I took the liberty of modifying it slightly to add a little variety and sense of storytelling as well as harmonizing the different verses in different ways. The melody which begins at rehearsal mark C was whistled by Dick, last name unrecorded, a black pole-man on the steamboat Marion on the Ocklawaha River route in May of 1875, as transcribed in the book "Florida: Its Scenery, Climate, and History." I loved the idea of adding another musical source that would be completely novel to all but the music historians, and that in all probability the melody is Dick's own composition. There is just enough information about him that it is possible that someone researching family history may recognize him as their ancestor and add more detail to the story. I'd love to hear your thoughts! As I went down in the valley to pray, studyin' about that heav'nly day, when you shall wear the starry crown, Good Lord, show me the way. Oh, mourners, let's go down, let's go down, let's go down, Oh, mourners, let's go down, down in the valley to pray. As I went down in the valley to pray, studying' about that good old way, and who shall wear the wings and crown, Good Lord, show me the way. Oh, sisters, let's go down, hand in hand, let's go down, Oh, sisters, let's go down, down in the valley to pray. As I went down in the valley to pray, studying' about that good old way! And would you wear His robe and crown? Good Lord, show me the way. Oh, brothers, let's go down, let's go down, let's go down, Oh, brothers, let's go down, down in the valley to pray. Down, down, Oh let's go down, Good Lord, show me the way... As I went down, down to the valley, green swaying' trees, show me the way. As I went down in the valley to pray, studyin' about that good old way, and you shall wear that starry crown, Good Lord, show me the way. Oh, sinners, let's go down, let's go down, let's go down, Oh, sinners, let's go down, down in the valley to pray!

I hate to say this, but: A piece of paper from a university or whatever is not going to get you a job in music composition, as over the last 30 years, the field has become dominated by extreme nepotism and anti-intellectualism. Further, many post-secondary institutes are no longer interested in teaching the craft of composition, but rather heavily-politicized post-modern, atonal approaches that are about as disconnected from the masters as you can get. They are much more concerned with playing trite games about what a piece "means" than whether or not it actually sounds like music. They do not value mastery of western music tradition and are increasingly hostile towards it. One user who used to post here stated that when he went to school (majoring in composition!) they did not even study melody writing, which Mozart described as "The essence of music". This is something that would've been unthinkable back in John Williams' heyday. I wish I could say that was a rarity, but I am personally unaware of any post-secondary education in music that is worth pursuing today. I myself had auditioned for college music study over ten years ago (when I was already making money with music), but refused. Not just due to the cost, but the fact that the first year would've been studying all the things I JUST PROVED I knew to them by challenging and passing one of their theory exams. I only know of a handful of composers working professionally who have degrees, and I have never once been asked about education in any interview with a potential client. A composer friend of mine in LA always says, and I agree with him: "The best business card or resume you can have is really great work." However, know this: Even if you are doing really great work, it is now more difficult than ever to get into making serious, consistent money with music composition. The only areas to really make money are in film, TV, and video games. • The film industry in Hollywood is only going to let you in if you have serious family ties to the industry at this point. The film industry outside of Hollywood or at least Hollywood-budget productions is generally not profitable: For film makers or composers. • Television and advertising can still be lucrative, but they mainly deal in music licensed from libraries and competition is fierce; some composers make a great living at it, but it takes years of building a strong library of music. • The video game industry is on course for a very serious crash and probably not advisable to get into right now. When I started (and primarily worked in) video games in the 2000s, games were easy to get into, indie gigs were plentiful even if most failed to make it to market. You used to be able to just find a gig online. Today, almost every hub for Indie Game Development is gone (long-running IndieGamer Forums actually shut down last week), the big players in the industry mostly hire big names and often from the film industry. So what can you do? Firstly, I would not necessarily seek to impress people who can GIVE you the job, but rather, people who can FIND you the job. Getting representation can seriously help. Most companies with serious cash in the aforementioned industries, if they are not already using the same person they have for years, will turn to a talent agency, music library company, etc. to find a composer who meets their needs. An agent makes money when his composers make money, and he already has industry connections. Thus, it is in his interest that you get work. However, getting such representation if you haven't already done something noteworthy can be difficult. Lastly: Keep making great music, travel, and make a lot of friends in various industries. If they know you do music, and you do a great job, you never know where that will lead. True, funny story: Years ago, I was arguing with some older guy online about music. When I said I did video game music, he said "Oh! My son works for a game studio here in Croatia. I think they're looking for a guy to do music, I can forward your name and information if you like?" I said sure, thinking I'd hear nothing back and that it was probably just some indie studio. Well, it turned out Damjan Mravunac wound up returning to the gig, but hey...closest I ever got to a shot at scoring Serious Sam 4 =)

Nice! I like the canonic imitation at 11 - 12. I also like the waltz-like rhythms in 3 - 4. Then, at 30 you once again use imitation between the left and right hand which I find interesting. And, I like how in 33 - 34 you start the voices in canonic imitation to then bring them together at the interval of a 2nd. Very interesting counterpoint there. This is a very abstract/gesture-dependent style which I've sometimes written in myself although I haven't published any of that on here. Thanks for sharing this cerebral piece!

Hi everyone, Here is the final movement of my Piano concerto in C minor. I began composing it in the first lockdown of 2020 (!), and finally managed to end this (time-consuming) work. The final movement is a rondo. I will surely write the plan of the movement in the next hours even though it is quite clear. I use the main theme of the concerto in this movement (the one of the first movement). If you want to be familiar again with the other movements of this concerto, here are the links: Finally, here are the PDF and audio of the 3rd movement: