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Hello everyone. I have sad news. After much deliberation I decided that I want to quit composition and music overall. I lost the joy in creating my own pieces and I don't want to earn a living with music. I'm truly burnt out and I only like being a passive listener, without even trying to analyze the pieces. So, most likely I won't ever use this account ever again and for most people I will disappear. I unlisted all my videos on YouTube, that channel doesn't define me anymore and I want to move on. I want to say that I had a really good time in this community, specially at the start when I joined. I want to thank @Henry Ng Tsz Kiu and many others for supporting so many young musicians and keeping this forum alive. Also I'm glad I met @Theodore Servin and @Gwendolyn Przyjazna, who are good friends of mine now. I hope this forum will keep on going and helping new composers get a good basis that allows them to offer an artistic/cultural contribution to society. Best luck to everyone! Take care Sincerely, -Ivan

I've checked the first page and the last four exercises, see the attachment below. There aren't really any serious technical problems, though. If something is not entirely clear, feel free to ask.

This is the updated, final version of my Baroque keyboard suite, in the style of Bach. Overture Allemande Courante Air Scherzo and Trio Sarabande Bourrées Gigue Duration: 35:10 For details on the suite as a whole (including its architecture), and of the individual movements, please refer to commentary.pdf.

Hi @mercurypickles! I think given the difficulty of your piece the performance went very well considering it was sung by high-schoolers! And congrats on getting performed! I like the text, although I won't profess to understand what it means! (But I'm kinda disappointed - no mention of Betelgeuse?! LoL) I like how you set the poem. The piece starts with a soloist who is clearly the most skilled singer and who you demanded the most out of. Then, the rest of the choir takes turns singing, first the women, then the men, and then you finally bring them together with the soloist joining. What was the meaning of the dissonant chords that the piano sometimes inserts in between the phrases? I think you had plenty of harmonic variety and lots of changes in key, so the performance went well considering that! Thanks for sharing!

I really like this cantata. You do a lot of things really well: the bass line is nice and melodious, you have very catchy ritornello themes, the macro structure of all of your arias & sinfonias make musical sense, there's a great deal of variety between the movements in terms of the core musical ideas, and you have a great sense of rhythm - all of the pieces have an excellent driving energy. It's clear that you have the Baroque spirit in you! The biggest thing I personally find lacking throughout is more adventurous melody and harmony writing. I find myself wanting more use of chords in first & second inversions, suspensions, seventh chords, appoggiaturas, more frequent modulations and use of chromatic chords etc. - all the usual musical devices that spice up your work and give it lots of colour (Disclaimer: having listened to Bach all my life, I am not familiar with the Italian Baroque, so perhaps this is my complaint with the idiom as a whole rather than your music specifically). Two other definite issues: the "recitative(s)" here ought to be called "arioso(s)". Assuming this is a solo cantata, I also think the tessitura & range of your alto should be more consistent throughout the cantata. Compare what he/she has to sing in the first aria vs the last, as an example. All of the music I compose is in the Baroque style too, so perhaps you may be interested in this?

I want to have this playing all the time while I'm working, or driving...or just living. It really brings me a sense of connection, and in a way, some melancholy. But in a beautiful way. Or maybe the word I'm looking for more is...longing. But I do love it! It feels like the ending of a movie, where things have ended up right...with loss along the way...but now- stability.