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Sir Pickles of Mercury hereby declares his entrance into the Grand Competition. (also: happy five years on the forum to me!!!!)

I’m excited to share my new piece: Sonata No. 23 in F-sharp major, written in binary form. It’s a charming and playful work, full of unexpected harmonic twists that give it a unique and stylish character—perhaps the most distinctive sonata I’ve written so far. I composed this piece in just a few hours spread over two days, making the creative process as spontaneous as the music itself. I hope you enjoy it as much as I did writing it—let me know what you think in the comments!

I enter

No, they are not allowed since you need a trio Quartet, or a quintet .chamber Orchestra’s or in this case what you may be referring to as a string orchestra at minimum could contain at least up to nine players. Two per part other than double bass since they rarely get Div.

Hallo @interlect , that is a good question. Honestly, I also never heard about „Counter-Melody“ or „Twin Melody“. However, since I’ve always use counterpoint when composing, possibly I can explain something about. First of all, the “reviewers” who have concluded that this piece is not counterpoint may be somewhat surprised, since the piece has a “jazz” or “big band” feel that one doesn’t necessarily expect when looking forward to a piece performed on an organ, a piano, or perhaps by a chamber orchestra. But that kind of „style“ is not the issue. Counterpoint is not a style of music or related only with a certain era, namely the Baroque time. There is, for example, a Russian composer, Nikolai Kapustin, who wrote always in Jazz „style“, including 24 preludes and fugues in Jazz style, which – of cause – apply counterpoint. So, counterpoint is a composing technique, rather than a style: Counterpoint, or polyphonic music is all about voices that form rhythmically and melodically independent (horizontal) musical lines. When two or more such voices occur in a piece of music, they interact with each other, following certain contrapuntal rules and thus creating harmony. Since all voices are equally carriers of the melodic and rhythmic material, there is no specific melody voice and no subordinate accompaniment, for example through (vertical) chords. While singing independently, the voices do not have to be completely unrelated. Often, one voice repeats or imitates what another voice has sung before, as is the case in a canon, for example. Counterpuntal compositional technique fascinates with its efficiency in the use of thematic material. Once started with the (fugue) subject and the „accompaniment“ in the other voices (which is, in fact, no accompaniment but material being developed in interaction with the subject), there is enough material with which to compose without having to stop and reflect. To come back to your example: To me, it’s inherently a typical jazz piece based on a chord progression over which the band begins to improvise. In a chord progression, the vertical approach—that is, the chords themselves with their harmonies—is the fundamental compositional or improvisational technique. The melodic material follows these harmonies and generates the horizontal lines as a result of them, rather than as their original idea. And even though your two brass sections interact with each other in a kind of melodic dialogue, I get the impression that they are engaged in a “playful competition” to see who can deliver the better improvisation over the underlying jazz harmonies, rather than developing a “subject” or thematic material. There’s nothing wrong with that, and I really liked the piece, but it is also for me no counterpoint, and the other classifications like “Twin melody” or “Counter-Melody” (which, as far as I know, aren’t clearly defined terms) seem to be an attempt to express in a single word what I’ve tried to explain in more detail.

This is my submission for the Landscapes competition. For my landscape I have chosen this photo I took a few years ago while on vacation on Whidbey Island, which sits on the Puget Sound near Seattle. It's written for Oboe, Bassoon, and Harp. I wanted to capture the quiet, stillness of the moment with music that is very simple and delicate. Morning On Whidbey Island.mp3 Morning On Whidbey Island - Score.pdf

Several months ago, I posted a piece which was at the time an exercise in sonata allegro form, which I decided to make the third movement of a sonata in d minor. I've had this theme in my head for a while, so I decided it would be the perfect time to use it. I went down a big rabbit hole of nonfunctional modal harmony, which was quite fun but really challenging to work out (though I wrote the secondary theme in five minutes during a chemistry lecture). sonata in d minor movement 1 audio.mp3 sonata in d minor movement 1 score.pdf

Seeing as my schedule will open up in the next few weeks, I suppose I will participate :)

A beautiful piece that strikes me as being in the neoclassical style. It’s always lovely to see handwritten sheet music. I’m not sure if it’s a live performance or a virtual instrument; these days, anything is possible. The sound is a bit ‘muddled’ for my taste in a style like this.

Wieland, thank you for taking the time to comment on my work. Your interest is much appreciated. Mark

Well, whether or not you wrote specific bowings, you still wrote slur markings for the strings, which to them imply bowing information. Whether or not it's explicit, you can always justify your reasoning as the following; "With the given technicality of the work already demanding high accuracy from the performer, I wanted to take today to test if my orchestration would make the bowing information clear and implicit. For today, I decided to give their bowing instructions based on the slur markings in their parts, and following this session, I will amend and update the bowing instructions on the final copy of the score before its first performance." This essentially covers you in case they ask about it

I really enjoyed this! I think you capture the "voice" of Schoenberg that he has in most of his orchestral works. I said this in a previous review, but orchestration is really subjective....so here are my suggestions: First piece I think the oboe is suppose to be piano as well (it's not marked in the score). I also think the pickup Trumpet run can be transferred to the clarinet I don't think the 1st trombone needs to double the cello/horn in the 4th bar. In measure 7, unless the orchestra has 5 timpani drums (or an EXTREMELY good player who can quickly adjust tuning) that is going to be difficult In measure 8, that trumpet part looks questionable...that 32nd note might be messy In bars 13-14, probably could combine the cello/bass part to be played by divided cello....helps with thinning out the sound since it's marked p Generally, it's really hard for brass players to play pp or ppp when there is a moving/active part with leaps. I would give the trombone/tuba part to a bass clarinet and/or bassoon near the end. Second piece I would've used bassoons instead of horn in the 2nd measure. They sound more "dry" staccato and will blend with the pizzicato I'm assuming "ord" means Arco? make that clear in the string parts Trombones don't usually read in treble clef. I would change that to a tenor clef in the last measure. Third piece I would just have the tuba play without doubling from trombone. The passage is already pp and tuba has a more rounder sound for that I think the pppp markings are a bit much Fourth piece Measure 10: that bassoon/trumpet figure is going to be very tricky to play in unison. I would just have trumpet play it (even though it would be a challenge) Fifth piece From how it's written in the score, it looks you only want half of the 2nd violin section play measures 8-11? Sixth piece There is a lot of pp and ppp in here...but a lot of instrument doubling - for example bars 5-6 cello/bass doubling bass trombone/tuba AND all bass instruments the last measure. I would do mutes for all strings and brass in this piece. Maybe even solo strings to reduce the sound. The last two eight notes could easily be just a single bass player doing pizzicato

Hello @Luis Hernández ! I’m not able to write a „review“ today since therefore I would like to explore the six little piano pieces in more depth in its original version to compare them with your orchestration. So for now, all I can say is that I really enjoyed them and consider them good examples of orchestration—especially for someone like me who has no experience yet. The great thing about them is that the pieces are so short yet still expressive—so there should be no excuse not to go even deeper into the details (if the time allows me). Now, somewhat off-topic: Two days ago, I attended a performance of Dvořák’s “Stabat Mater” with a full orchestra and a massive choir (430 singers). This was a real fun, not only because of the bombastic sound, but also because I was able to follow Dvořák’s orchestration live. It is the total contrast to the „six little piano pieces“, since he stays very long on the harmonies and even single tones – letting them „rotate“ through the entire orchestra. At one point, you hear and see the cellos playing a chord while the double basses accompany them with pizzicato. A moment later, you can still hear the chord, but you see that the cellos have stopped playing, and after a moment of surprise, you realize that the horns have taken over and the pizzicato has been reinforced by the timpani. Yet the transition was so seamless that you didn’t even notice the change in instruments, only a slight shift in timbre. And by the way, the first movement of the “Stabat Mater” begins with exactly one note being played for nine measures, passing through all the instruments before the main theme begins. That reminded me of one of your recent posts: “What can I do with two notes?” 🙂

[INFO DUMP] Kvothe has merit in their critique. There are plenty of truths about music and the most basic one is that this art is here for you to enjoy. Whether it is by music creation, performance or listening to a song, it is here for all humans to express and interact with. This said, we live a society, and there are rules, expectations and trends for us to follow. In the music industry, this is very much true. Most of us here are professionals in the classical/ traditional aspect of music creation and performance, while some focus on more modern productions and performances on the popular stage. When it comes to the idea of having your work performed, the first and most basic universal is to have sheet music ready for musicians to perform. Sure, a studio or individual can only use the MP3 render and call it a day, however, that may not work for all cases. You may hire a band or an orchestra to play the music, however, they too will expect some PDF or printed copy to use. No matter the means, if you truly wish to participate in this field, you must inform yourself on the current practices. Why? Because there is an expectation and standard for music distribution. One aspect often overlooked is the side of copyright and trademark protection. If you have a work performed or licensed, you need to have this protection for widespread use. If you publish the score, it must also be protected. Just because "you made it" doesn't always guarantee it is protected. To tie back in, this is the fundamental point of Kvothe's comments. You cannot just throw a score out into the community and expect everyone to respect it like they would a Mozart work. There are professional expectations in engraving, formatting and document layout. So much so, people may disregard your score if you misspelled an instrument part. Sheet music distribution is under a lot of scrutiny and please do not take any comments about it personally. We are all spoiled by good sheet music and to be fair, we expect to see it... especially if we have to spend money for a copy.

Why hello there, When I was listening to your piece, I heard a compound meter and not simple meter. From the score, you have a simple meter (3/4) with triplets that gave me that me that impression. and Other triplet figures too... Switch 3/4 and replace it with 9/8. you will still have the triplet feel! You might have to adjust some bars to adjust to meter. But overall, you will be surprised... The direct modulation from D-A was a nice surprise. It reminded how J. Williams modulates.

Hi there, The operative word was "could". Does not mean there will be. But could be. And that depends on the budget. Even Indie studios can have live musicians (see silk song).

This is partial correct. However, in media works, there could be musicians involved. Ergo: why not make sure your demo and your score is ready?

Melodies Themes Motives Harmony Chords Textures Form Development Structure Time Originality Creativity Score Presentation Instrumentation Orchestration Playability Execution of Given Challenge Taste 9.5 9 9.5 8.5 10 9.5 8 8 Average Score: 9

So... Seeing @PeterthePapercomPoser a.k.a PeterthePitifulcomPoser and @Thatguy v2.0a.k.a VincetheVeryVindictivebutnotValiant having their fight, I was enjoying my popcorn aside. But then I saw that Peter’s badge for this year Christmans event is so beautiful… it allured me to write my own Christmas music! This piece is really a joking fugue which uses Jingle Bell and Vince‘s “How the Shopper Stole Christmas” as the subjects to form a double fugue: (We all know Jingle Bell right...)(It’s great to escape from the pressure of the 6 voice fugue of the Sextet Second movement LoL….) I know Vince hates fugue, so I deliberately manipulate his theme with all sorts of fugal techniques to troll him muahahaha!!! I also include some quotations including my own throughout the piece haha. I dedicate the piece to him since I have trolled him haha! However, the more I compose this one it appears to me less of a joke… Joking Fugue on Jingle Bell and my Friend’s Theme Final.pdf Here's the structure of the piece: 00:02 Jingle Bell Section. Includes troll stretto, troll inversion and troll retrograde. Crushed by the Hammer at the end… And we need some help with the “festive mood”. 02:10 Shopper Section: Includes troll stretto, troll inversion and troll retrograde (the same LoL). The bell is repaired at 04:03 so the Jingle Bell theme returns to combine with the shopper theme but appears in minor. Some interesting polyrhythms happen there too, maybe Vince’s prelude style secretly invades. Tension building (but still have time to quote my own work LoL) for the… 05:28 Overly-Triumphant return of the theme which quotes the texture of the Emperor Concerto, another counterpoint of both themes and ends in a learned way LoL! Thx to Vince for this perfect audio! I think there are no tears here this time @chopin and no random pauses anymore I think. Hope you all enjoy this one and Christmas! Henry

In your comment following my score analysis last week, you sent photos of an excerpt from a book detailing some orchestration stuff. Kvothe was asking if you know what book the photos were from.

The output is fantastic, you did a great job with the production quality. But when you post in these forums though, please be mindful and respectful of other people's critiques or opinions. Unless you specifically tell us otherwise in your post, you are essentially inviting us to be critical. And @Kvothe 's observation about your sheet music is 100%. It's clear you sequenced this in some other program though, and it appears you are using MuseScore for the output of the sequenced output. This would explain the engraving issues. With that said, the music itself, is beautiful! It instantly brings me back to the 80s!

This piece of music did it’s a really good job, capturing the quietness and beauty of the given landscape. It’s not really my cup of tea, but it’s relaxing and it gives the atmospheric feeling that you’re actually there. Melodic material. 7.5 Chords and texture 6.7 Structure 7.4 Originality 8.2 Engraving 9.7 Orchestration and playability 7 Execution 9.86 taste 5.2 Total 7.69

Very Good Well Done You've Set a Standard that's Hard to compete with.... By using only 3 Instruments, you've been able to create an inspiring, "MOOD".

Please submit links to your Landscapes - Soundscapes competition pieces here! (Please don't submit your music directly into this thread - rather, create your own dedicated thread where members will be able to review your music there - Upload Your Composition for Analysis and Feedback and then copy and paste the URL of your topic into a reply that you make in this thread). Thank you for your participation! To read the requirements/specifications of the competition and declare your intent to participate go here:

Dear friend, thank you very much for your kind words—I’m glad you liked it. The piano is the Pianoteq 9 plugin. Sometimes the compression or the microphones might not be properly adjusted, so it can sound a bit muddled, but Pianoteq is the best there is when it comes to software. Also, I’m the one playing. I record it using the GarageBand program.

I really enjoyed it. And it reminded me of Ives’s sonatas, although he didn’t improvise. Certainly, given its length and the fact that it’s improvised, it’s phenomenal. It never loses its direction or its appeal.

I've heard those before; even after writing music for 38 years, it sounds impossible to a non-pianist! Easy trick to it, I suppose.

Oh! Really easy scale down.

Hi ....................Whats the difference between "Counter-point vs TwinMelody" ? The Track below was submitted for a Counterpoint Evaluation, and came back as Negative, stating: not counterpoint. A Double brass Section 1: panned left 2: panned right If its not counterpoint is it classed as a Counter-Melody ? COUNTERPOINT vs TWIN MELODY.mp3

WOW Wieland Handke ..............Are you Intelligent ! what a wonderful post, i shall be referring back to this regularly thank you. when a woman has a double pregnancy, its called TWINS....... so a "Twin-Melody" is a Double-Melody, know as "Polyphony". when you think of a Cave man & woman................we've come along way from Hitting a Drum with an Animal Bone......he he thanx again x https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Counter-melody https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Polyphony

Measure 36.

Hello This piece is fantastic. It sounds very modern in many ways: dissonances, harmonies, dense textures, etc. But it retains a Baroque spirit. Bravo.

I like this, Tristan! As good as anything I can do for piano. You have followed me for long enough to know that I can't even play piano, but are those rapid chromatic glissandos possible? Maybe they are, some special technique; never really looked into it. I write very conservatively for piano.

Never heard of Twinmelody! Henry

Thx bro - you were a HUGE help!! I learned so much.

Thanks for the comments, Alex! The piccolo will sound an octave higher than written, so technically it is still pitched above the flutes. I agree! I tried figuring out how to do this in Dorico but couldn't figure it out without it looking weird (hence my note). The "vertical" accents denote Marcato. My interpretation is that they are played stronger than your regular accent and are slightly shorter in duration (a half note maybe played as a dotted quarter perhaps)...each note with the Marcato marking needs to be hammered and short-ish. Err...I guess that is subjective and depends on the context of what else is going on in the score. sffz definitely is more "hammered" than sfz

Hallo @HarryWood ! First of all, a warm welcome here at the YoungComposers Forum! Here are you among numerous music enthusiasts of a huge variety concerning their styles, compositional approaches and skills, so that I think, you’ll get the desired feedback. I was curious about what to expect about the style of your music, since you’ve called you a „new neo classical“ piano composer. The term „classical“ reminds me first to Beethoven or Mozart and „neo“ means for me to integrate more contemporary harmony and tonality. After listening to your pieces, they remind me more of Beethoven’s „Für Elise“, Richard Clayderman’s „Ballade Pour Adeline“ or „Comptine d'un autre ete – l'apres-midi“ from the French movie „Amelie“. Although all that pieces are very popular, that kind of genre is – as mentioned already by @Luis Hernández – somewhat too soft and non-exciting for me, too. Please don’t misunderstand that as a criticism on your person or your achievements in piano playing for about one year. The pieces sound good and have a calm mood, but putting some more ingredients in them would make them more unique: Whenever I think about what a good piece requires, the following things come to my mind: • First, a piece needs an idea how it could sound like, what mood it should have or which other pieces could be used as an inspiration (I think, that „ingredient“ you have already achieved with your pieces). • What a piece makes unique or captivating is a clever idea, creating a „unique selling point“, bringing some surprise to the listener. That is the „spice“ of the unexpected, for example a distinct harmony progression, an unexpected tonality or dissonances or a rhythmic surprise such as an unconventional meter (so I could imagine for your pieces a kind of Jazz harmony or somewhat more dissonant harmonies). • Another important thing is to think about the form of the piece. While this is a more theoretical topic, one sometimes has a good melodic idea (or even a number of), but the question is, how to put them together. So now the reflection comes, what the piece could be structurally, a simple A-B-A form, a rondo, in sonata form, a number of variations about the main theme? • A final question could be: In which context should the piece appear? I could imagine, that it is more satisfying to have an idea or „project“ of multiple pieces to be put together, for example, in a cycle such as „Six preludes“ or something like that. With such a framework in mind, you don’t run the risk of trying to create numerous unrelated pieces and perhaps putting them „unfinished“ away. The incentive „Now have I finished number four of six“ helps yourself to focus and you’ll see, nearly every piece is worth it to be retained. Looking around here at the forum would be a perfect place to get inspiration and don’t hesitate to „review“ other compositions too, even if they are from „more experienced“ composers. Every reply is welcome and receiving the „incentives“ (such as points, badges and finally ranks) does not primarily depend on the quality and quantity of the compositions you shared, but even more from the amount of feedback you’ve given. And, by the way, if you share your scores, too, the reviewers would be able to give more in-depth reply, for example also concerning the „art“ of score engraving. Friendly regards. Wieland

Hello! This piece was one of my favourites to compose, sadly the software that i use to render the lyrics (Cantamus) didnt work nicely for the words: Cricket, Leap'd, Jump'd, Alive, Pass'd and Tra la la. So sorry for that! I hope one day they can update the software and its able to render it correctly! (If you guys have suggestions for free realistic vocal synthesizers i would be pleased to check them!) The story is about a woman and her beloved singer cricket, who sadly has passed. Alternative title (Detto lo) "lament for the death of a singer cricket." Lyrics: I once had a cricket green and strong and he went: tra la la la He leap'd and jump'd and sang, He did not use the common slang tra la la la Then one dark day he pass'd my cricket went away No more music no more dance, goodbye my cricket. tra la la la. I once had a friend that sang for me and he went: tra la la la But now he's not alive, And i still sing in the wildlife tra la la la No money in this world can buy my cricket back No gold coins nor golden rings can buy my cricket tra la la la. Poem written by: MYSELF! mixdown-_1_.mp3

An emotional piece with a meticulously crafted score. The multi-divisional arrangement of the string section is particularly interesting.

No, it was MuseScore's built in theorbo, in their MS Basic sound font.

Some badges must me earned. Some are given freely, but there is one badge that rules them all. Legend holds that a mysterious "better than thatguy" badge is given only to a chosen few. You must search through the members profiles and sift through their badges to gain further knowledge. I wish you well in your quest.

This is an aria for alto, flute, strings, and continuo in the late Baroque style. The text is taken from Goethe's Ganymed, and a sample translation can be found here. The form is binary, with the usual closing orchestral ritornello joined by the soloist.

Hi @Fugax Contrapunctus! Very cool idea! I actually do something like this harmonically speaking in my Variations on "Deck the Halls" for Piano and Orchestra. I cycle through the whole circle of 5ths twice over before returning back to the home key, although it's not a canon. Very effective orchestration here, starting with just strings, adding woodwinds and then introducing the choir - very multi-dimensional approach to a simple repeating canonic structure. Thanks for sharing!

It's been a few months since i uploaded this prelude, and it finally has a fugue. Not much to say here, other than that I felt like using a few more fourths, sevenths, and ninths than you'd normally see in a three part fugue.

so deliberately bad and un-Henrian anyway how do you reach major 10ths 🙂 ?

I just posted it up here: I enjoyed listening and I'm glad I did!