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I am stoked to finally release this great collaboration with @Maharani that we've been working on for over a month! I first found out about Marissa's Solo French Horn sonata through the United Composer's Collective discord server (UCC). I offered to play and record at first just one movement but then it turned into a full 4-movement project. I spent a lot of time practicing almost everyday getting my chops into a state of preparedness. Honestly - it was a bit like training for a marathon! LoL The movements are as follows: Sonata Aria Capriccio Ciaccona We are also including two versions of the score - the handwritten one by Marissa and a more official and mistake free engraving by me. Bandcamp link: https://maharajah.bandcamp.com/album/sonata-per-corno-op-4 Let us know what you think of the composition, engraving as well as performance of this work! We'd be stoked to hear any of your comments, critiques, suggestions or observations! Thanks for listening. Sonata per corno – 1. Sonata.mp3Sonata per corno – 2. Aria.mp3Sonata per corno – 3. Capriccio.mp3Sonata per corno – 4. Ciaccona.mp3 Sonata per corno – handwritten score.pdf Sonata per corno Complete.pdf

Hi @draingxngceo! First of all, a hearty welcome here to the forum. I’m very excited about your post, because your passion for fugues and the attempt to compose your own ones after studying the Well-Tempered Clavier remind me of my own first steps in composition many years ago. You have tagged the post with „beginner“ and mentioned that you „don’t really have composition knowledge or experience“. However, the short „sketch“ of an exposition of a fugue is not „nothing“, so I think you indeed have acquired a basic knowledge about fugues through studying the ones from the WTC (or you are just extraordinary talented from nature :-)). That said, some of my more general explanations about fugues below might be obvious to you, but that basic knowledge on fugue writing/analysis might be interesting or useful for other readers, too. Getting started. Before I’ve listened your fugue exposition for the first time, I took a look at the score to get an initial impression. At the first glance, it is not entirely obvious what key the piece is in and how long the fugue subject is. Your fugue subject does not prominently start at the pitch of B or G# and the last note of the fugue subject can only be identified by comparing all three subject entries: It is a B, the first sixteenth note in measure two. Therefore, I am now certain that the fugue is in the key of B major (which is perhaps hinted at by the title “B Majuh,” but—I’m curious—what language is that?). No that is not an error - it makes it somewhat harder to analyze the fugue. With that first impression and the comment of @Luis Hernández I have now taken a closer look at your fugue in order to conduct a more detailed analysis and perhaps offer some suggestions or solutions for the few issues I noticed or that have already been mentioned by other reviewers. Below you will find my annotated score as well as an audio version. The fugue subject. A fugue starts with the introduction of its central melodic material, called the fugue subject. As the fugue subject is introduced by one voice solo, anyone can easily recognize a fugue. A melody to be used as a fugue subject must meet certain requirements in order to be suitable for this purpose: It should have a distinctive melodic and rhythmic character so that it is memorable. The melody may contain smaller fragments (motifs) that can be developed later in the fugue independently. The subject must clearly define the home key (tonic). However, a good fugue subject avoids a final, closed cadence and appears “open” to forward motion. Typically, subjects are relatively short (from one to four bars), although they can be longer, and stay within a moderate range (often an octave or less). The melody should maintain a steady flow - with a mix of rhythmic activity - that creates and preserves momentum. You’ve created an interesting fugue subject that meets almost all of these requirements. I especially like its memorable rhythmic character. Starting with rests (I see, you have studied Bach’s fugues from the WTC where he often starts its fugue subjects with rests), helps that the subsequent subject entries encounter seamlessly in the continuing flow of the fugue and prevents that the fugues rhythm becomes too „static“ or „blocky“. The only „weakness“ concerning the above definitions is that it „meanders“ around the home key B before the tonic is established by the final note. There is nothing wrong with that fact – it might bring some more harmonic freedom or possibilities within the further development. In my annotated score I have emphasized the fugue subject in blue color and marked its start with the letter T (i.e. „Thema“ for subject in German). As you can see, I have separated the last sixteenth note of the subject from the following ones and included a caesura in the phrasing to emphasize the end of the subject and to separate it somewhat from the following sixteenth-notes runs, which represent the (beginning) of the counterpoint. Dux and Comes. Once the subject has been played by the first voice, it is then imitated - one after the other - by the other voices. The answer is not a repetition of the subject on the same pitch, but transposed one, up a fifth (or down a fourth) to the dominant. Such an answer is called “Comes” (i.e., companion), while the original subject entry is called “Dux” (i.e., leader). The third voice enters again in the tonic as Dux, the fourth voice - if present - in the dominant as Comes, and so on (although there may be deviations from the order Dux - Comes - Dux - Comes). Your fugue exposition consists of three voices which create an „ordinary“ arrangement of Dux and Comes: First subject entry as Dux in the Soprano in the tonic key of B major, second subject entry as Comes in the Alto in the dominant ky of F# major and finally third subject entry as Dux in the Tenor (or Bass) in the tonic key of B major. Real and Tonal Answer. Whenever the subject entry by the Comes is a literal, note-by-note transposition of the original subject as played by the Dux up a perfect fifth, we speak of a „real answer”. However, it might be necessary for some kinds of subjects to perform a slightly modified transposition - called „tonal answer” - especially with regard to the dominant note (i.e. the 5th scale degree), if it appears prominently at the beginning of the subject. In the second subject entry you have altered the first pitch from an A# (as it would be when applying a literal transposition) to a B, in order to stay in the tonic key of B major for the first while. That is a kind of a „tonal answer“, but interestingly not applied at the fifth or the fourth, but on the third. There is nothing wrong with it; rather, it proofs that the fugue subject is somewhat „advanced“ or „challenging“ in its harmonic line. Counterpoint and Countersubject. The counterpoint is a distinct melodic line that accompanies the fugue subject (or its answer) in a different voice. It provides musical contrast and rhythmic independence against the main subject. Whenever it appears more than once, it is also called „countersubject” - as it is a recurring companion of the subject, perhaps throughout the entire fugue, but at least during the exposition. It must be constructed to sound harmonically correct when inverted (e.g., if it is used below and above the subject), calling it an „invertable counterpoint”. If the melodic line accompanying the subject does not return regularly, it is considered rather than a formal countersubject. Your counterpoint is a „free counterpoint“, not a recurring one that could be considered to be a „countersubject“. Because of its sixteenth note figures, it moves forward, introducing momentum. Furthermore, especially in bar 5, you have distributed that movement between the Soprano and Alto which is a good example for counterpoint in its rhythmically sense. All in all that rhythmic texture creates a (nearly) perfect „complementary rhythm“, that is when the different voices complement to each other so that there exists a played note on every sixteenth beat, from whatever voice it comes. In the transition from mm. 3 to mm. 4 I have introduced some slightly modifications (highlighted in yellow) in order to emphasize that complementary rhythm, ensuring that all sixteenth notes beats „are played“ mitigating the somewhat „thin sounding“ octave on F# on the first note of mm. 4 (even if it is not a parallel octave, that particular note sounds „thin“ for my ears, causing me to “stumble” a bit while listening). By the way, the tritone in bar 6 – which was mentioned by @LuisHernandez – does not sound so bad to my ears, so my mitigation for that passage is also more a rhythmic modification in the sense of complementary rhythm (with the benefit that the dissonance is shifted more to a passing note): Exposition and Development. The complete, subsequent entries of the fugue subject in all voices is called a development of the subject. The first of that development sections - e.g. the initial introduction of the fugue subject through all voices - is called the exposition, since the subject is presented here for the first time, usually obeying the rules of „Dux and Comes” as explained above, thus presenting the subject in the tonic and the answer in the dominant key. In the subsequent development sections, those „rules” are often interpreted more „relaxed”, meaning that the subject now appears - after a modulation by an interlude (or „episod”) - in other keys (such as related keys as the dominant or subdominant or the parallel key, or even in more distant or unrelated keys). Furthermore, now „fugal arts”, such as inversion, augmentation and diminution and stretto are applied increasingly to depict the subject in an altered nature, or to create tension. In the closing section of a fugue, the subject finally returns to the tonic key, sometimes over a tonic or dominant pedalpoint. There might be a passage after the ultimate subject entry, which is called a coda and whichs purpose is to bring the fugue to the end with the respective cadence. Your short example (measures 1 to 6) is – in my opinion – a good exercise for a fugue exposition. Episodes . An episode is a transitional section that separates the development sections of a fugue, acting as an interlude to modulate between keys and to create contrast. Episodes often feature sequential repetition of a melodic pattern, which contributes to the modulation and creates a sense of forward momentum. As a general “rule”, the complete fugue subject does not appear within an episode. However, episodes typically - though not always - use motifs derived from the subject or countersubject. Measures 7 and 8 could be the beginning of an episode (while I consider mm. 8 „unfinished“ in the soprano part). When listening that final two bars, I could imagine, that the fugue subject re-enters in the second half of bar 8, thus closing the gap in the soprano part with its first upbeat-motif ... Conclusion. I very enjoyed your attempt at composing a fugue and I’m excited to hear more about the success of that fugue(s). Perhaps, my comments and my slightly modified version can be useful in that process. (And as you can see – and hopefully hear -, I have introduced some extend of dynamics, articulation and tempo changes in the score and audio, expressing somewhat how I would interprete the piece as a piano player.) As for the suggestions to start by studying books and trying out “simpler exercises” (such as inventions, etc.) - yes, that’s undoubtedly true. However, if you enjoy trying out writing fugues, I would strongly recommend to continue that - and, of course, study Bach’s fugues from the Well-Tempered Clavier - only the best source is good enough for learning! B-Majuh-piano-steinway-b.mp3 B-Majuh-colored.pdf

These days are great in that I can see such nice collaborations like Henry & Vasilis, plus the Peter & Maharani pair! 😊 Peter, these pieces were good to hear. This kind of solo melody music is somehow difficult and you made nice pieces. I love your reverb version and, of course, Maharani's one. I think I like "Sonata" - this is a good opening for starting listening to these. Thank you for sharing. By the way, I've never listened to horn solo pieces. I know solo trumpet, saxophone - jazz sometimes does that but are there any solo horn pieces like that? I don't know. As for solo music, I love Paganini Violin Sonatas, not horn, though. That's awesome, isn't it? Anyway, nice job, both of you! I enjoyed it :) Hello Alexx, you can see Peter's horn in this topic, haha. For your reference! Best, Lithl.

Nocturne- E minor.mp3Nocturne- E minor.pdf Hello. Recently finished this piece and felt it was something interesting to share; What i feel makes this piece distinct is that its quite heavily harmonically driven, as in the melody doesn't stray far from the current harmonic background; I'm quite satisfied with the structure, as i feel it keeps the piece interesting and fresh all the way through; I'm still not sure if i should say this piece is in E minor, as its never really suggested until the very end. (also this piece used to have a subtitle in early stages, but as i was composing further on it didn't quite stick, so some ideas of what to call it would be nice) Thoughts and feedback are always welcome. Enjoy the music.

Good evening=) I’ve watched and listened to your Quartet. It seems to me that this is a very raw piece that needs serious revision. There are a great many purely technical issues. Even in computer playback, your texture doesn’t sound good, and with live players it will sound even worse. Your voices often cross and double each other. For example, in the “Pastorale”, right at the beginning, the cello and viola play the same notes, but the cello sustains quarter notes while the viola plays eighths. As a result, both will sound poor, and the accompaniment will get muddy. What’s more, your voices aren’t independent. You double many of the moves (literally in the second measure the cello, the viola, and the first violin, which has the melody, all play the same descending B–A together, and in the fourth you for some reason double the melody in the bass). This sounds extremely inexperienced. Avoid this. If you do double something (for example, if you need it for some effect), double everything, and do it consciously. If you don’t double, then don’t do it anywhere. Avoid moving all the voices in the same direction, especially in four or more parts. You’re working in a style close to the classical one, and such moments really grate on the ear here. In fact, they sound bad almost everywhere, and here especially so. Why you changed the type of texture in the 5th measure is completely unclear. There is neither the end of a section nor some especially important part of the theme there. It isn’t needed there either structurally or in terms of meaning. It’s as if you tugged the listener by the sleeve, they got ready to hear something important, and you didn’t say anything. The listener was disappointed :) You are trying to fill the entire vertical space from the bass to the very top, and there is no good reason for it. There is a good rule: the lower the register, the wider the intervals. Narrow intervals in the small octave and below sound unclear. They can be used there only with a clear and evident purpose. In your piece they often just sit there for the sake of being there. That will sound bad too. More notes doesn’t mean a richer sound. Four voices are quite enough in a quartet. They will then sound very clean, expressive, and beautiful. And if you want a rich sound, it is achieved by making the texture more polyphonic, not by mechanically adding notes. I hope you’re not offended by my remarks. All of this can be easily fixed, and it will come with practice :) I wish you luck and inspiration. Alex

Hello Everyone! Today, I am sharing an old work of mine that I have been reorchestrating and revising: The Golden Lakes. PROGRAM NOTE: The Golden Lakes is a short and evocative work for concert band telling a story of night and day upon a lake. Inspired by the geography surrounding the home of the composer, The Golden Lakes evokes the glimmer and sparkle of light from the sun as it crests over the horizon into darkness. During the night, the lake is left vulnerable to the winds, darkness and more, ever waiting for the sun to come back and bring warmth. Originally composed in 2024, this work was commissioned by Kistler’s former band directors. In 2026, this work went under revisions by the composer in the early fall following a period of chamber works he created. This version presented to you is the piece he revised in 2026. Join the concert band as they take us into the landscape and paint us the scenes from The Golden Lakes. This work is set to be a Grade 3-4 for wind band. If you wish to know more about the work, check out the "About" section on page 4! Lastly, if you enjoyed this work, leave a reaction and a comment detailing your thoughts! AUDIO_Golden Lakes.mp3 SCORE_GoldenLakes.pdf

Hello A fantastic piece, rich in colour and beautifully orchestrated. I find this sort of work for wind bands to be a rather distinctive genre, and by no means an easy one. In the area where I live (Spain, on the Mediterranean coast) there’s a very strong tradition of street bands (marching bands?). They play whilst marching the whole time and consist of dozens of clarinets, oboes, flutes, sometimes saxophones, and percussion—including timpani, which are constantly pushed along by two assistants. There are many bands here and they play at the local festivals. For example, in many villages and neighbourhoods, ‘Moors and Christians’ festivals are held (lasting 3–5 days), as this country was under Muslim rule for seven centuries (from 711 to 1492) and these festivals re-enact the final Christian victory. Anyway, it’s fascinating. And that’s why we have such a wonderful Muslim heritage in this country in every aspect (traditions, cuisine, the language). These bands parade with various groups throughout the day and play pasodobles, music that sounds ‘Arabic’, and so on… That’s why I’m so fond of this sort of band. Anyway, sorry for rambling, but I’d like to congratulate you on this music.

Piano sketches can be useful for beginners in composition because it keeps them focused on making sure the raw musical material is worth actually expanding into something big like an orchestra. However, once you are skilled enough in simply "composing", and your familiarity with the orchestra grows, you tend to outgrow the sketch and see its very limited utility. I actually sort of dislike the piano as an instrument, because it is really not very expressive and sterile, whereas the orchestra can play from whisper quiet to deafeningly loud and with a huge number of articulations that a piano simply cannot emulate. What can happen if you rely all the time on a piano sketch is that you will orchestrate the music in a very basic manner; no trills, horn rips, portamento, mordents or other ornamentation...because the piano is not really capable of it. Another issue is that in orchestration, tone colour is of paramount importance and basically why you would use an orchestra in the first place. A melody played on the oboe can have an entirely different character than it would played by the horns; the piano captures neither. Where this also manifests itself is in harmony. For example, in a piece I am presently working on, it begins with the horns playing a Gm add9, no5 chord at piano dynamics. This has a real warm, ethereal quality that the piano and sustain pedal couldn't capture. Thus, if I had reached for the piano instead of a horns patch in my DAW, I don't think I would've come up with the harmonic language the piece has. Another thing is that: I compose for film. Two films I did this year I had just a few weeks to compose the score before the premieres in a major city. So there were hundreds of people counting on me to be on time. I just don't have time to sketch things out in a piano and then try to translate it to an orchestra. Especially not in film, where the picture itself influences the structure and orchestration; makes way more sense to just go straight for the instruments you have in mind. You can also get some sample libraries these days which are quite playable or at least set up a couple of patches to play in tandem (like staccato + long) and "sketch" that way, with the instrument sounds right at your finger tips. In notation software, you could play your melody on your keyboard, and then just enter it straight away to the violins. Don't like how it is on the violins after all? Copy/Paste it to the flutes in a second. Piano sketches have their uses. Concert composers might still find use for it and beginners will value it, but modern technology has given us better alternatives, I find. It should also be noted that composers of old often didn't really use a "piano" sketch even if they worked at a piano. Following what @Sojar Voglar said, John Williams' sketches were always 3-stave reductions for winds, strings and brass. So even when he was writing at the piano, he was pretty much orchestrating it at the same time. He was always composing with the orchestra in mind.

Hello everyone! I'd be most grateful for any feeback on this piece. Thank you in advance! View-from-the-air.mp3 74PDF.pdf

Thank you! It was a pleasure working with you! I hope to take full advantage of the embouchure conditioning that my chops have been through to get to be able to play your sonata! Here are the files with reverb as a bonus! (and also my preferred version for my own listening pleasure) Sonata per corno 1. Sonata reverb.mp3 Sonata per corno 2. Aria reverb.mp3 Sonata per corno 3. Capriccio reverb.mp3 Sonata per corno 4. Ciaccona reverb.mp3

Nice little waltz. Some pointers: this is actually simply in F minor, which has 4 flats in the key signature. The raised 7th is very standard in minor key music and part of the harmonic minor scale, nothing modal about it, especially not phrygian. All those G sharps and C sharps would be spelled as A flats and D flats as well, and those pedal markings would not work on a real piano because it would just muddy up the sound. Repedalling every measure is pretty safe here. You don't need rehearsal markings; those are for rehearsals with multiple performers, but this is for solo piano. "legato" being on both staves is unnecessary. "Normal" is not a marking that appears in piano literature anywhere; if you want the legato to stop, either remove the legato and slur the passage, or where you have "normal", put "non-legato". I also feel that since the chord progression and motivic content repeats ad nauseam throughout the piece, it doesn't really merit being over 5 minutes long, but that is my opinion. Since it seems you also feel it's too long, here's what I would suggest. Remove a section, or more. I think this could work as a simple Ternary form or Rondo for example. And make the different sections contrast with eachother Listen to this beautiful waltz for solo guitar by Barrios and pay close attention Agustin Barrios Mangore's "Vals Op. 8, No. 3" played by Raphaël Feuillâtre on a 2020 Julia Wenzel it has a very clear structure: an introduction followed by the A section in D minor, which goes twice. Then onto the B section, also in D minor, but notice how he switches the new section up, even when in the same key: completely different rhythms and motifs, different register, different chord progression, etc. This section also goes twice. Then a brief return to the A section, going only once. After that, he switches to D major for a huge contrast in the C section, basing itself on one of the motifs from the B section, and this section is itself in a mini ternary form, before it transitions back to the A section and closes. For your piece, I wouldn't attempt to modulate like this piece does, since you don't quite yet have the skill to do so successfully, so keep it simple in scope. I hope this helps.

Hello! I need to go to sleep, so I will just tell you my first impressions! (I will come back, probably) Very good, thick textures! I like it! Seems very American in style, I love the flute part and the timpani part. The timpani part reminded me of Shostakovich 7th Symphony for no reason. The second theme seems interesting, it definitely feels fun! Igtg tho or my dad's gonna kill me... Bye! -TristanTheTristan (unfinished)

@Wieland Handke Thank you for the very in depth response! I actually did not know about this complimentary rhythm thing but I think it was something I was doing instinctively. For some reason I was actually avoiding it somewhat. I think I was trying to give the music room to breathe or something. And I think I might have focused too much on each line being independent and having a very coherent melody when played just by itself. At first your modifications sounded awkward to me of course I am used to my own version but after a few listens they do make a lot of sense.

I really like how the piece patiently unfolds it's texture and content without trying force it's melody out so strikingly against the accompaniment, rather they compliment one another to create that moodiness, the erraticness sounds natural rather than abrupt... The continous motions of the accompaniment make the pauses in the ending measure and the ending feel well-earned rather than just reached.

Hi all, It's been a while since I posted an orchestra composition. This is the first draft ... it still needs to be reviewed and brought up a finished state. However, it's all here. As I stated I have not titled the work. I am open to all suggestions .... My objective in the composition is to develop the introductory motifs and create a balanced arch from start to the end of the work. As always all feedback it appreciated. Marknewmusx10-24-26.mp3 Marknewmusx10-24-26.pdf

Thank you so much for the warm words! I came across the original melody by chance on You Tube, and immediately fell in love with it. So I decided I had to use it for this project.

What an interesting composition. Writing a solo piece for a single-line instrument is a kind of marker of compositional mastery. There’s nowhere to hide here: not behind harmony, not behind any effects in the texture or counterpoint. Pure melody and form. It turned out to be a captivating piece. And the performance, of course. It’s a pleasure to hear music played on a live instrument by a live performer. It was played very convincingly and delicately. Simply bravo. By the way, I didn’t know that Peter is a horn player. For some reason I thought you were a theorist. Your username pushed me to that conclusion. =)

@PeterthePapercomPoser @Maharani Wow congrats on the collaboration! I like both versions, but the reverb version really adds a layer of lushness to the sound, it's great. :) Seems like a lot of effort went into the recording and practicing, so well done there Peter. The handwritten score is clear and I'm envious of your nice handwriting lol. The language is interesting, what was the thought process behind it? ❤️ Well done you two, it's always great to hear live recordings here, and this was a fine example of what collaboration can achieve

Hi @Aw Ke Shen ! I actually did this before when I was young, as I always press the middle pedal of an upright to practice so everything is muted. I did this to strengthen my fingerings though. Your learning approach as you describe would be mainly aural and theoretical, but there are also some people who learn by auditory or manual method, so it really depends. My recent learning approach would be to play the piece as close as the original tempo with all details. By forcing myself to so many things happening I actually learn faster than just grabbing details first, probably because I’m an N person (intuitive) in MBTI instead of an S person (sensory), so I need to grab the big picture before going into details first. Henry

Hello. I listened to your Nocturne. The piece is very interesting in its musical language, and it is well constructed in terms of form. However, it seems to me that this music belongs to the category of works that look clearer and more understandable on paper than they sound. Both in the accompaniment and in the melodic line you use very wide leaps and cover a very large range. For this reason, without the score it’s not always possible to tell where the accompaniment is and where the main figure is. The pulsation in groups of nine also feels somewhat intrusive. But that is probably more a problem of computer playback. A live pianist would most likely play more softly, and that pulsation wouldn’t draw so much attention. In any case, it’s good, interesting music.

My composition. I would appreciate any feedback.

OK, I saw some profession stuff that you added in the stuff at the end is fine. You cannot do you wanna also maximize maybe your bass a bit. timpani in concert bass drum would work well especially leaving a roomy feel for some stuff, especially some climaxes when I mean by climmax , I’m talking about like some of the stuff that just stands louder than the rest you could add some other things like a concert bass drum or timp or a sizzle cymbal

Thanks Mark, much appreciated. And you're right, I guess that was the general direction I was headed in.

Peter asked me to write a little review, and I'm very happy to. :) For starters, I was ecstatic that Peter agreed to play even one of my movements for solo horn! At the time I was only able to offer a low payment, yet he thought the piece was interesting enough to learn, anyway. Then, after 18 years of not hearing any complete piece of mine performed, I got hungry for more, and when I got an extra paycheck, I gradually asked if Peter was interested in learning more movements I'd written for solo horn. He kept saying yes, and after he agreed to the fourth one, I decided to assemble them into a coherent four-movement sonata. Throughout the process, Peter was patient with my many requests for changes to his engraved score and for re-recording parts of movements that I thought weren't quite perfect yet. He spent many weeks practising for hours almost every day until we both were happy with the completed result, and I couldn't be more pleased with the finished recording. I added a tip to our agreed payment for his dedication to our project. I can highly recommend him to anyone interested in asking him for engraved scores or horn recordings. At some point I hope to be able to hire him for recording another horn solo sonata! :)

A lovely piano miniature in the style of Erik Satie. Mark

Yes, of course, you're right about inspiration. And certainly, a small change can suddenly open up an unsuspected dimension of new possibilities and you need to keep working till you get there, and after you get there... There's this seductive myth about the way Pushkin worked, but we won't get into that ;) About the appoggiaturas, I get it now. I didn't know it was old-fashioned to use grace notes. In fact I started using them very recently instead of triplets. Shows I'm perhaps living somewhat in a bubble and need to exchange more with others who compose - hence my starting to use various forums for the first time a few days ago. :) Thanks again for your comments.

This is so lovely! Congratulations on the performance and the composition. The slow, out of body piano part suits the text well and the spread range of the soprano part should be very satisfying for the singer.

I think simply waiting for inspiration isn’t the best idea. As Tchaikovsky said, inspiration is a guest who doesn’t like to visit the lazy. Of course, there are times when a flash of insight comes. But often you have to grab yourself by the scruff of the neck and drag yourself to work :) I also sometimes go through many different versions of the same theme or the same piece. At times I’m amazed at how much changes from altering just one note or one duration. A theme that once seemed unsuccessful can be transformed so much that you almost consider yourself a genius and simply enjoy the result. So I think one should keep working and working. As for the appoggiaturas, no, the issue isn’t that the notes are too long or too short. It’s just that the notation itself, purely graphically, looks somewhat old-fashioned on the page. That’s how it was usually written in Mozart’s time. Nowadays it’s more common to write regular notes. For example, you could write a reverse dotted rhythm there, or a triplet, depending on exactly how you want it to be played. An appoggiatura gives the performer some freedom, whereas if you write out the notes, they have to play it exactly. But of course, it’s up to the composer. Your notation is by no means bad or wrong. Just unfamiliar. =)

A lovely lush work with interesting harmonies .... reminds me of pieces by Samuel Barber. Mark

Hi Julien, sorry for the late response! I want to thank you for the revision of my work, very appreciated and i will work on this little collection on the future. The idea of the seven pieces is from the idea of the woman's body. I've been inspired from the most common carateristic of it. I have a problem with repetition I know ahhaaha. I'll reply about your doubts: 1) the eight notes are meant to be played with the preferred hand, if you are skilled enough to trill while playing the voice you can do that. 3) not my favourite either. The idea was about a lulluby, so one simple melody with little changes in the armony, but not good as I thought it would become 4) I was in doubt about the repetiition section, now you convinced me to delete or change it entirely 5) I think there's some paralel, but not in my interest 6) the dissonance is very attuned on a real piano, in the MIDI is quite harsh to listen 7) this one piece (the little motif in particular) born from an impro which is recorded on my YT. The fragment remained in my head so long that I wanted to re-use it on this little piece. The single one bar which is blank is made for a cadenza ad lib. or a impro on the theme. I think I have to clarify it. The idea is to remember (like i remembered the fragment, which comes frome the past). I leave the interpretation with the other pieces of the collection to the listener :) Thanks again!

Hello. I’ve watched and listened to your work. It’s a very worthy composition. I like the thematic material, the harmonic language, and the form. It’s a complete and well-proportioned prelude. The only thing I don’t quite understand is why you use this notation with long appoggiaturas. It looks rather old-fashioned, as if it were still the 18th century :) I also have a question about the voice leading: why do you remove notes from the accompaniment when they are doubled by the melody? But these are all minor details. Best of luck, and may inspiration be with you! =)

Beautiful horn sonata, and this sounded exhausting to play lol. Also, the recording with the reverb is excellent. This would be really fun to layer with an orchestral backing.

I am absolutely ecstatic with Peter's recording!! Peter, thank you so much again for your hard work and dedication. I could not be happier with the result, and I feel I've made a new friend as well. ❤️ Feel free to upload your versions with reverb as a bonus! :)

What I would appreciate feedback on: The overall harmonic balance and voice leading. The transition into the Andantino (Trio) section and the return to Tempo primo. Rondo G dur op 1.mp3 Rondo G dur op 1.pdf

I'd like to share this untitled piece I'm writing (I might be finished with it for now but idk). It's like my 5-6th piano piece and is heavily inspired by Chopin's Raindrop Prelude, as I'm learning that piece right now (I tend to find that pieces I write sometimes have an element of a piece I'm learning at the time, like Bach Sonatina/Handel Passicaglia, Chopin Waltz in Am, but of course I haven't shared the pieces that contain these inspirations because this is my second forum post ever). It has no form whatsoever, key signature makes no sense yet, and frankly I just went with whatever I thought sounded good. Feedback is appreciated! raindropinspired.mp3raindropinspired.pdf

Hello, I love Chopin's preludes, they are so great from a compositional perspective. Yours sounds nice. Perhaps there is still more to be written - just a rough sketch for now? More of a matter of subjective taste - I would have personally kept it non - minor a bit longer at measure 14 before going into your next idea. When you change the repeating note at measure 25, it feels a bit abrupt to me. For some reason, the G nat really sticks out. I don't know. A matter of personal taste again. Bar 52 feels very satisfying. I will share a video of someone else who has been inspired by chopin's rain drop prelude. Hayato Sumino - Raindrop Postlude

With the third movement, and I think the fourth movement there is some issues with the viola’s going out of range. Their lowest note is a C you have stuff going down to a B you could probably get that with the cellos.

Overall I really like the Hollow Knight game soundtracks, and the Celeste one as well (specifically "Resurrections"). Probably my favorite one is "Pale Court" from Hollow Knight: Gods and Nightmares (DLC). https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LCYP9L2FfQg Minecraft is also really good.

Great piece! I like a lot the phrasing and the interpretation. Some passages made me think of some pieces of Cécile Chaminade (Automne, for instance). After listening to it twice, I felt there may be a moment towards the central section of the piece where it was going a little too long. However, I agree with @Grant Weep analysis: the piece is emotional and it needs time to develop. Looking at the score in the video, I noticed something that I also experience with many similar videos. I usually read a little ahead of the music, so I often find that the score moves to the next line or page too late for me. I don't know whether there is an optimal solution to this, since the best moment to turn the page depends on how far ahead the reader is following the score. However, I think this may make the experience somewhat a little frustrating for more experienced musicians.

When you said You mean when you first sight read the piece you already try to incorporate as many details as possible all while figuring out the notes and playing as closely to the intended tempo?... that's really challenging haha

One thing I noticed about what I wrote is that I slightly varied the subject in the different statements. The subject ends on a low B which in the first statement is cut off because I wanted to follow it immediately with some sixteenths. The second statement holds that B for a longer duration, and in the third statement it's even longer. Is this an error?

Alex thanks for the suggestions and your take on the themes presented. Mark

As usual I did notice it! Yet, I didn't update it in the present score ☹️. A very bad habit indeed. Thanks, Mark

The material that you gave to the second violin at measure 13 and 14 is out of range and would better fit the viola. I think if you are still continuing working on this piece, it’s something that you could work on just by simply switching the entrance.

Hi Mark. This piece has a programmatic quality that I enjoy. Like some of your other works, it feels quite militaristic due to percussion (especially the drum rolls). I imagine an epic battle; or perhaps a series of skirmishes. Maybe it could benefit from some vibraphone, to fill out the music where the texture is sparse? I went to a vibraphone and clarinet concert last week, where the vibraphonist played a series of glissandi, with one stick rising up the keys, and the other simultaneously descending. Quite an effective technique that I'd never heard before. Anyway, just a suggestion. Alex

Thank you very much Mark, I really appreciate your opinion.

Thanks!

My dear friend, indeed, this collaboration was a dream come true. It was an enormous honour and joy for me. And, as always, I want to thank you for your support and your wonderful words. May you always be well, my dear friend!

This is my piano miniature. In this music, I wanted to capture the image of a doll or a figurine: a cold, lifeless kind of beauty... But is it really lifeless? =)

https://discord.gg/ZNWWpabXwr