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Greetings. It has been a while since I posted something on this forum. I didn't get to review compositions by other members lately due to being busy with my studies, and I'm sorry for that. Anyway, a few weeks ago, I decided to write a theme and variations for the piano. This was my first time writing music with this structure, but it was not because I lacked inspiration. I took it as an exercise to boost my creativity and improve my composition skills. This eight-minute-long piano piece, written in E-flat major, is one of my major works. It consists of a theme, five variations, and a short finale. These variations are based on a simple theme I created, which I finished within a few hours. On average, each section took me a day to complete. One difficulty I faced when writing this composition was to keep the material interesting while not being too distant from the theme. Here is the breakdown of the structure of this composition: Main theme (E-flat major, Maestoso, 6/8): It's an operatic yet simple theme, which opens forte and Maestoso. 1st variation (E-flat major, 6/8): This variation is a berceuse with grace-note embellishments in the melody and frequent hand-crossing. 2nd variation (E-flat major, Più mosso, 6/8): This playful variation features sixteenth-note figurations in the right-hand part. 3rd variation (A-flat major, Sostenuto, 6/8): This variation is a serenade and the slowest among the five variations. This variation ends with a long pause, marking the beginning of the fast section towards the finale. 4th variation (E-flat major, Vivace, 6/8): This variation is partly inspired by the third movement of Beethoven's fifth piano concerto. This fast section demands virtuosity and contains a short cadenza passage. 5th variation (E-flat major, 2/4): This variation is an étude featuring rapid triplets in the right-hand part. This section is the shortest among all variations, lasting under a minute. Finale (E-flat major, Presto, 6/8): The finale opens with tremolos and a horn-like passage restating the main theme, followed by a reprise of the fourth variation at a much quicker tempo, quickly concluding the piece. Let me know what you think about this piece. I hope you'll enjoy it! Carl Koh Wei Hao P.S. The audio was generated on MuseScore 2.3.2.

Hey @Carl Koh Wei Hao, Welcome back! The theme for me is quite like a Chopinistic waltz in 6/8 time, but not too operatic for me. The change of touch to appoggiaturas in variation 1 adds grace to the theme, good job on that. But maybe it will be hard for the pianist to discern the original theme since it is hidden among the appoggiaturas? The 2nd variation reminds me of the second movement of Chopin's third piano sonata, also scherzando in nature and also in E flat major! I love the texture of 3rd variation. You make good use of the arppeggios and the texture there is flourish and harp-like. And the change of articulation in 4th varaition is funny! I am sure the etude can be played but it's very hard to capture the lightness of it! Weirdly it reminds me of the final movement of Berlioz's Symphonie Fantastique when the witchy theme reaches E flat major there. But I also really feel the 3rd movement of Bee's 5th Concerto here, not to lie! I am sure you have taken Chopin's op.10 no.11 into consideration in the 5th variation with similar texture (and the same key!). The finale is very successful when you introduce the Naepolitan and flat submediant keys here, pushing the piece to climax! I may wanna have some variations set in the minor keys or at least in different keys, other than the only variation in A flat major. But still this one is very enjoyable which showcase virtuosic skills and light style in romantic language. No need to feel sorry about that. There are bunches of people here who only post but never review, or don't even reply to other members' review on their own works, and you are for sure treasured here on YC! Thx for sharing this enjoyable piece! Henry

One day a couple of weeks ago, I found this post on /r/composer where some guy (/u/AHG1) wrote a fugue for organ when he was a teenager. Anyway, I thought the subject was interesting, so I decided to do the fugue my own way. The original composer supported my endeavors as well, so I'm happy that he can finally see what I've come up with. This isn't a particularly unique fugue in my opinion, but any and all comments are of course welcome regardless. https://drive.google.com/drive/u/0/folders/191AToucbt0E9Py-6MqM0y_22IHwqxq6R

Hi @Henry Ng Tsz Kiu, Thanks for your feedback! I am glad that you enjoyed my piece! I agree with you on this. I may want to fix the notation in the future, but once it's played, the melody should be distinguishable. It just takes a little effort to recognize the theme from the sheet music. Maybe adding some accent marks would help. I usually use staccatissimo marks when notating music at rapid tempos. I am unsure why I did that, probably to emphasize that those notes should be highly detached. Liszt also used this articulation in his Grand Galop Chromatique. Chopin's études may have influenced this variation somehow, but I feel it's more towards Czerny's style. I thought about this before and had planned to include another slow variation in G-sharp minor. However, I did not write it eventually because I felt that five variations should be sufficient, given that each variation is more than a minute long on average. I tried to keep the length of this composition under ten minutes, or else it may become quite bland since the same idea is repeated throughout the piece, albeit with different textures and characters. Thank you for your time reviewing my work! Carl Koh Wei Hao

Hello Henry! I am sorry for the delay of my response. I just had too many things going on here. Thank you very much for your response, and I am glad that you like the piece. I started this several years ago, and it has been lying unfinished in the drawer, before I decided to finish it. Thanks for the advice for bar 46. It will be simpler to read without the sudden change in Ab minor. I always seem to have spelling problems. This is an important issue, but very few people bother to comment on it. You are the great exception, and I am VERY grateful for this! Thanks also for your advice on my staccat- o/issimo question. Initially, I used ordinary staccato marks, but I became a bit confused after hearing the MIDI playback, where the duration of the marked notes was too long. I agree entirely with your suggestions. Of course, a real pianist will do it correctly. I will change it back to ordinary staccato. The Allegretto Giocoso is also a nice suggestion. Moreover, I will think about the 2/4 meter . And I will stretch the suspension in bar 101. Once more, I want to thank you again for your excellent feedback! ps: if Mark reads this: Thank you for your comment.

Hey Arjuna, Thx for liking the piece! Maybe I don't think of it highly enough is because it's not too emotionally deep which is the opposite of my own personality. I will say I was diligent enough to work out the motives there. Yeah I love that passage too, as I play with the expectation of having a loud return back to recapitulation there but actually not. Henry

This is the first time I have heard of the piece and the opening is captivating! I should have finished it this week.

This is wonderful and I love the vocal rendering. I'll have to check out this website!