Leaderboard

It's time for the annual Young Composers Christmas Music Event! The Brief Same as ever year - write anything inspired by a winter celebration (e.g. Christmas, Hannukah, Kwanzaa) or just Winter in general (or Summer for those of us in the Southern Hemisphere). If you want to participate, pop a comment below! You could have a look at last year's competition for inspiration if you like: As usual there are no prizes and everyone's a winner. You will however, be rewarded with a beautiful badge designed by our very own @PeterthePapercomPoser. Submissions are open now (8th December). Submissions will be included in this thread. There is no deadline, though preferably your piece should be done before Christmas or at least before the end of December. What are you waiting for? Get composing!

Well, it's good to persevere. Does it really matter how original you are? Looking at your profile you have a good range of "favourite" composers. Would more listening at perhaps a slightly broader range help, noting you like the Impressionists as well as Romantic? In a way I feel your pain. I can "do" music, went through species counterpoint and harmony (voice leading), have a good ear (the old "You whistle it and I'll play it joke") College did more harm than good so I turned to a different profession and never took music seriously. Can also appreciate stresses of work and a smaller extent family. I've also developed resentment towards cut and paste film music and the ridiculous tinkling of music that's forced on us with every TV documentary and ad. I'm sure much of it is composed by computer but having done a couple of commercial things find it too easy to throw together a few minutes' dross. None of this helps with serious composition. But let's keep on trying. Here and there something good comes of it. All the best with your endeavours.

You should see the garbage Christmas music I've submitted lol. Anything you want is fine, this is lighthearted and fun.

This is something I've been working on off and on for the past three years. I still have three scenes for Act 2 to finish, but decided to share Act 1 for now. The original idea was for this to be a ballet, as I wanted the challenge to tell a long story only though music. I included a breakdown for each scene to know what is happening. It is based off of a Norwegian fairytale, with a few modifications here and there. East of the Sun, West of the Moon ACT 1 Scene 1: During a great famine, a peasant (Åge), is searching through the woods, looking for food. Suddenly a great white bear (Bjørn) appears before him. The bear offers to give him all the wealth and food he could ever need, in return for his only daughter. Although troubled at the thought of what the bear will do to her, he accepts, knowing that his wife and other children will starve if not. Scene 2: Upon returning home, the peasant tells his family of the bears offer of wealth and food. His wife (Liv) and sons are shocked that he has traded away his only daughter. His daughter (Tove) is horrified that her father has given her away to this magical bear, but accepts her fate, knowing that it will save her family from starvation. Bjørn comes to collect his payment and bestow upon the family what he has promised. Before their eyes, their shack is transformed into a mansion, filled with gold and endless food. Tove reluctantly follows Bjørn into the forest. Scene 3: The Bjørn and the Tove travel through the woods, with few words spoken. A pack of wolves attack, but are driven off by Bjørn. As they reach the edge of the woods, Tove suddenly sees a magnificent castle. Bjørn informs her that this will be her new home. Bjørn tells her that the only rule she must follow, is to never light a candle during the night. Scene 4: As night falls Tove prepares for bed and puts out all of the candles in her room. She climbs into bed in the darkened room and begins to drift to sleep. She is startled by someone entering the room, she calls out, but no one responds. She goes to light a candle, but then hears the voice of Bjørn, reminding her that she must never light a candle during the night. After awhile she also drifts to sleep. Scene 5: Almost a year has passed and Tove has discovered that Bjørn isn’t the monster she first thought him to be. She finds herself beginning to feel a deep affection for him, just as she notices that he also is falling in love with her. Scene 6: One day Tove asks Bjœrn if she may visit her family, as she is missing them. He grants her wish, but makes her promise that she will not speak to anyone about her life at the castle. Tove returns to her family and they throw a celebration in honor of her visit. During the celebration, her mother continually tries to ask her about what goes on at the castle, but she manages to avoid the questions. After the party has finished, Liv corners her and demands answers to all of her questions. Tove reluctantly tells her mother about the mysterious man who enters her bed each night. Her mother tells her that after the man has fallen to sleep, she should light a candle so she can see who it is. She tells her mother that she is forbidden to do that, but her mother tells her that no one will ever know. Scene 7: Back at the castle, the pattern of events continues as before. During the night the mystery man enters her room, climbs into bed and falls asleep. After a few nights, she decides to do as her mother has said. She waits a long time after he has fallen asleep and then lights a candle. She leans over his body to see the face of a beautiful young prince. She is so captivated by his face, that she doesn’t realize that melted wax starts to drip from the candle. It lands on the sleeping man, the heat waking him from his slumber. He sees her looking at him with the candle and jumps from the bed. He explains that he is Bjørn, and a witch (Revna) had transformed him into a bear, because he refused to marry her. Under the curse, he must spend each day as a bear, only becoming a human at night. The only way to break the curse, was for a woman to fall in love with him, without ever looking at his true face. Only by earning her trust could the curse be broken. After apologizing for having failed her and himself. He must now marry Revna and be imprisoned in the house that is east of the sun and west of the moon for the rest of his life. The room suddenly goes dark, as light reappears, Tove finds herself in the forest, alone.

I think I'm going to participate! Would a sax quartet tounge-in-cheek version of Sleigh Ride be acceptable? Thank you!

Dude, this is cool! I'm loving the Afro-American Jazz era-style chord voicings here. The use of Grace notes to accentuate the melody and countermelodies beneath it works well. Creative chord progressions, and powerful transition choices. I also heard you've got good skill with balancing and giving each section of the orchestra a "featured" moment within the work. Which is always appreciated by live orchestral groups, for sure. (I'd know! I used to play in one! Loved getting me a Trumpet solo that ended on a high D6 or D#6. Those notes, specifically, when played well by a trumpeter will just ring out and resonate well after the player cuts off. Love those moments, in my previous experiences. anyway, I got off track. ADHD brain.) Overall, I don't think you've done a bad job here at all man. Props to you for getting out of your comfort zone to try doing orchestra work again. You have a knack for it, like many others on this platform do! 🙂 You fit right in, brother.