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So this is the final draft of the entire 2nd movement of my String Sextet. I can confidently say this is my best movement of music ever written up to date. The movement is divided into three parts: Lamentoso, Fugue a6 and the Return. The first two parts of the movements have been posted before in below links: Lamentoso: Fugue a6: If you want to skip to the newest content I compose, you may skip to 20:16. The musical analysis of the Lamentoso and Fugue have already been done in the link posted above so I won’t repeat it here. Here is the YT link and score of the movement: (Final Draft) String Sextet 2nd mov with last page.pdf Here is the YC post to the first mov of the same Sextet: Here is the structure of the movement: 00:00 Lamentoso The Eden in the 1st mov is great but man, come on and live in the real world. All sorts of tragedies happening and what ground do you have to claim the transcendence? I especially love the outburst in 4:59 and the passage starts from 8:53. 11:47 Fugue a6. This part is totally inspired by Vince’s @Thatguy v2.0 comment on my first movement “to write a dense fugue”, also to further explore the fugato in the 1st mov. Like @Giacomo925 said, this part summarises the sadness of the first 20 minutes of the movement. It always leaves me in awe that my favorite C minor passage, the absolute climax of the whole piece, lies in minute 30 exactly. The fugue aims to end on desperate terms but I won’t allow it. I try to give it a fight by recalling the pentatonic ideal even though in the wrong key of the tritone C major as hinted in the pentatonic section of the fugue, but the power is diminished. I need some purification for the paradise regained. Thx to @Luis Hernándezfor introducing me to tritone substitution in this part. The chant (22:01) begins with self murmuring of viola, occasionally inviting mysticism recalling 7:55 in Lamentoso and sadness of the 1st subject of the fugue. Two violas play together with the texture of a parallel organum. After a sad cry some more primitive power comes in to recall the passion and good of human beings, the theme is from b.27 of 1st mov. It gets agitated and experiences an epiphany in the form of Bartok Pizz. Both the chant and the folk melody is built around the 025 set! And the 025 set is the essence of the pentatonic scale! Furthermore a quartal chord is the further essence of 025 set, and hence the core of the whole pentatonic scale! Discovering this, the fury cannot be stopped. It leaves me in wonder how on earth can I write this thing out. After returning to the tonic key in 27:00, I decided to conceive it as a one off climax with build up. The idea is inspired by my playing of Beethoven’s op.110 when he did the same thing in the last movement as well. There is no “development” but only realisation of Tao in this imperfect world. There are appetizers to the ultra climax, first introducing the two most important themes sparingly, then in 27:16 theme in b.35 of 1st mov which is in fact inspired by my own Clarinet Quintet in C minor, and then an appetizer fugato responding to the lament in b.148 of the Lamentoso which is based on the opening theme. The entrée of Ultra Climax appears in 28:38, first is the first theme in tonic by first violin, viola, and cello, then second theme in C major by second violin, viola and cello. The playing of tritone is to prove Tao‘s omnipotence, also respond to the first mov and the fugue with the F# and C minor relationship. Using all 3 instruments for me is the resonance of Heaven, Earth and Human when they finally sing together the Tao they shared. I think I really feel the Chinese philosopher Tang Chun-i’s Realm of Heavenly Morality here. The modulation to Ab major, responding to b. 294 and 644 of 1st mov, complete what’s left undone there and finally Gb major is in triumph. A pedal point on a tritone is funny for me. The cello overlapping the violin is signifying earth and heaven interaction which is considered auspicious in Chinese classics I-ching. I am always in awe of the power exhibited here and wonder who’s actually the composer of this passage. The next passage in 30:07 is the heterophonic version of the 1st theme, which is where I was inspired miraculously by a Chinese music group. Next is the in extremis passage in 30:57. It’s the immanent version of the 1st theme. I was imagining what my friend’s thinking on his last day of life. The texture is probably inspired by the film music in Kurosawa’s Ikiru when the main character was swinging on the park’s swing to await his death. I quote Bach’s St. John Passion here for my friend’s name, and I find out that the lyrics fit too. I wish him to rest in peace and return to Tao. The final ending is probably inspired by the ending of Chopin’s Fantasie in F minor. I can never believe I would end the whole thing this positive in an absolute way. The whole passage always leaves me in tears. After writing the Lamentoso in May 2024 I had no power and inspiration at all to write anything in the Sextet since I was suffering in my full time job. I started picking up by working on the C# minor Piano Sonata first. After finishing that in Jan 2025 I felt like my negative power was expressed out, leaving the goods for this Sextet. I then went for a walk on 10 Feb 2025 and had a miracle, inspired by a Chinese music group, which turned on my creative power and I fervently completed the entire thing in just 18 days, when I had zero notes written in the past 9 months. It’s such a miracle I could have finished this piece this quick and good. My dedicatee Mr. Johnson Ho had already passed away last year. It's a shame that this piece couldn’t be completed when he’s alive, but I would be forever thankful for his inspiration. Special thanks must have been granted to my great friend Mr. Vince Meyer @Thatguy v2.0 for making this perfect audio and many ideas, and being a great friend, but I will leave it to the final version of the whole Sextet. Also a very special thanks must be given to my ex-boss. Thanks to her mistreatment, I have the pain to reflect on my own, the drive to finish the whole Sextet in a fury and the time to complete it when I was forced to resign for my own mental health. Foremost of course I must thank my dearest mum. But lol, the whole acknowledgement will be left to the post of the final version of the whole Sextet, including the first movement and this movement. This is a very long movement and commentary and I don’t expect anyone to listen and read till the end. But if you do so, here is my deepest gratitude to you. Feel free to comment as well, I would be very thankful to have received them. Thank you!!!!! Henry

(Sorry for the viola clef mistake...) Hello again. After 2-3 months with a considerable mental block I managed to start doing some progress and last night I composed a piece with this newly found creativity. This piece is a reflection of some of the feelings I haven't been unable to express in the past weeks. I wasn't expecting to create it, I just sat down and started playing with some harmonies. But luckily it turned out to be one of my most expressive pieces in my opinion, even if it is just a miniature. I hope you enjoy it!

Very possible at this tempo, but perhaps not any faster. what is not advisable is the random double stops at places like bar 35. You can't expect an immediate large finger position shift up to double stops and expect the sound to come out good. I would advise you to tone down your excess fondness with double stops on cello especially at the higher registers unless you are featuring a super virtuostic cello solo line. Actually the notes in bar 31-42 are pretty uncomfortably hard on the cello as well though supposedly very doable with advanced bowing and fingering (more advanced than what I can do, I am only at g8).

Even though this is a second movement, I feel like it can represent an entire 3 part movement in itself. So I will try to address all 3 parts best I can (for now). Part 1 - The Intro This very neo classical / early romantic style intro is very strong, and quite dramatic. It reminds me of a Tchaikovsky intro but in a somewhat different style (your style!). 1:50 to 2+ is tremendously well done, with lots of forward progression with your harmony. This is a clear example of how to use harmony to your advantage, for the sake of the piece's progression. Sometimes composers get crazy with harmony but the harmony doesn't necessarily serve the right purpose. Tell me something, at 4:15, are you trying to show us your fugue subject from movement 1? I think I hear hints of it... Part 2 - The fugue The key changing in this piece is both sharp at times, and as smooth as butter at other times. And the many different styles that I've heard displays the turbulence of emotions here. The first major mood change after the intro is when you segue into your fugue subject starting out with the pentatonic scale. I feel like you slowly bring us back to movement 1, then BAM, you hit us hard with the motif from the first movement. I had to rewind a few times so that I could understand how you achieved this smooth transition (around the 9-10 minute mark). The fugue itself is a very complex work, and the recapitulation can be used as a study on how to modulate from key to key. BTW, I love this fugue so much, from both your first movement, and especially in this movement! There's just so much content here, that this piece can't be listened to just once! Part 3 - The chant, and metamorphosis (as I call it!) At the 20 minute mark, the last section where your chant begins, it brings me a sense of sorrow, with a hint of peace and finding oneself. And at the 26 minute mark, this is the part of reckoning, or the "return" as you say. This section is like a metamorphosis, transitioning from deep sadness, to a rebirth. It's a grand movement within a movement, but most importantly, it evokes a sense of realization and completion. And Henry, this is what your music is about. It's not just "music". It's a very well crafted and beautiful story. This one is particularly a sad and emotional one. The ending was joyful, but at the same time, I still felt sadness. I know this is a very long work, but I encourage people to listen through the full piece. Maybe others will have different interpretations, but listening to longer works like this will help you learn how to listen to the story, not just to the tones of the music.

Little bittersweet song in E major (I'm not exaggerating) (text in French subtitled)

So calm and serene...

Hi, this is a side piece that I've worked on whilst I work on the revision for the Alula Variations (I love doing reworks on a 30 mins piece's score hahaha....). I chose bassoon and flute because I kinda wanted to write a chamber piece and write for bassoon. I also like the vibe of the OST. So yeah, hope you enjoy!

Hey @Henry Ng Tsz Kiu! I'll review the whole movement as a unit even though I think I already reviewed the beginning of it once - I don't even remember what I said. The beginning is quite foreboding and starts with quite a bleak theme! And there is some very logical and crunchy dissonant chromaticism in it which quite naturally leads to some distant key modulations in a short time. In the beginning, the whole is very contrapuntal and the themes are very lucid and lead the movement towards the logical fugue where the piece becomes hyper-motivic. After that it sort of transcends its own themes/motifs. The Tranquillo in measure 123 kind of foreshadows the later religioso. The Mesto section in measure 148 gives a sense of lightness still tainted by the chromaticism of the lamentoso and its mourning. The fugues subject sounds even darker with the seemingly constant dissonances between the natural and sharp 4th degrees which the subject necessitates. Writing a 6-voice fugue must really have been a mind warping experience. Perhaps you wrote it in a trance much like Wagner claimed to have been in while writing the Prelude to Tristan & Isolde? LoL It's very good and never dull or overbearing in its contrapuntal complexity. There is plenty of space and harmonic variety to keep musical interest. I like how the end of the fugue gradually introduces the relatively happy sounding pentatonic figures. There's also a subtle metric modulation that brings you from the fugue to the Misterioso in measure 439. The Chant - Adagio Religioso section very naturally emerges out of all the previous material like the Tranquillo in measure 123. There is a real sense of piety or worship and spirituality and respect for your friends passing in this part. In measure 565 I perceive the on-beats and off-beats to switch places. For some reason I naturally hear the lower notes as being the strong beat in an oom-pah pattern. The pizzicato glissando from the major 6th degree to the tonic further foreshadow the transcendence you achieve later with the pentatonic figures. Measure 601 almost sounds like the beginning of a Western! LoL .. or should I say "Eastern"? This part is so ebullient and overflowing with positive energy and celebration! The very last section is especially transcendent where the celebration of his life is mixed with a bittersweet reflection. The pizzicato glissando at the end really sounds very Eastern and rounds out the movement quite nicely! Very well done, Henry. I 2nd that this is thus far your biggest masterpiece. Question is, where will you go from here? Thanks for sharing and I'm looking forward to your next piece!

Thanks so much for the feedback! Always looking to improve.

Unless it's tuned idiophones But for just "drums"...ugh. I'm putting the finishing touches on my new album, which is orchestra but has some of the more modern cinematic sensibilities: Some electronic, world and rock music mixed in, and while I know a lot of people find the big "epic" drums and stuff stimulating and fun, I find it just such a slog. It's very hard to resist the urge to copy and paste drum parts. On most of my orchestral pieces, I actually try to avoid using drums save for where absolutely necessary. It's not even a serious orchestration choice, it's just I find composing for percussion so boring and I don't even know why.

@UncleRed99 Thank you so much for your detailed feedback on the dynamic and sound balance, you give some very interesting points I will reflect on! I might do some small experiments related to the relative volume of each degree of a chord. Also I appreciate you sharing your personal experience. 🙂 Nice playing in the solo. 😁 I only played in a band once, but I never rehearsed that much, it must be exhausting oof.

Thank you very much Peter! I'm glad to hear you think I did a good job in this work, it didn't get much views on YouTube. Also yes, a friend of mine pointed out the wagnerian vibes in some moments. 🙂 You are right, thank you for reminding me. I will try to react more to the feedback comments I get. I would like to comment on other people's music too, but I am still struggling with mental illness and I can barely keep my DMs in place.

Your music is always so unique and complicated, a collage of wonderous sounds. I listened without analyzing, just wanted to say I enjoyed the ride you put me on with this. Well done 🙂

Also, the larghetto section at bar 817 is my favorite part of the whole 2 movement piece. I've relistened to it so many times, it's the perfect summation to the entire work to me.

haha! I expect you write a review in a dictionary's length haha! Thx buddy, I can never finish this without your inspiration, ideas and our numerous talks, and I can't thank you enough, but lemme leave this in the full acknowledgement section in the post for the whole Sextet. It's such a huge regard from you. Also, thx for all your effort for making the audio, I know how hard and tedious that is. Thank you for loving the piece. Thank you for kept saying that I can finish it when I kept saying I can't. Thx buddy 🙂

Here's the FINAL final draft of this piece. (Let me know if this format is easier to digest than my normal MO of MP3 + PDF!)

Congrats dude. Hopefully you've found the forum helpful in finishing this one up. I'm excited to hear more of your stuff 🙂

We've talked at length about this, and I've heard it more times than I can count lol. Well done buddy, this is a masterpiece to my ears.

I first encountered this work by Pärt as a teenager through a music teacher. The purist in me for tonal & well balanced music would usually have me running for the hills from this thing; yet I am captivated by it for the mad comedy Pärt produces here. I consider it a kind of trolling of epic proportions and he no doubt had much fun writing it. It is also fascinating to read the score alongside the music to see how the sheer chaos is actually written. At face value it seems much of the chaos is somewhat improvised with a little guidance. It is definitely art; but this kind of art doesn't usually undergo repeat performances!

Such a masterpiece, Henry! I definitely savored the beautiful harmonies in the chant section, and the fugato passages, as I'm a bit of a counterpoint buff. At first I was worried about the coherence of the movement as a whole, but I can tell that you put in a lot of hard work in to develop existing material in a convincing way. I also like the accumulation of historical techniques from organum to fugue to more dissonant (quartal?) harmony, spanning and summing up many centuries of music history. All my compliments, and know that I sincerely admire your work!

Hi everyone! I’m new here — my name is Dima Kravets, and I’m a composer and piano student. I've been involved in music since the age of five, first as a professional pianist and later as a composer (for quite a few years now). Piano has been my lifelong focus, while composition started as a hobby—something I’ve dedicated countless hours to, creating new music from scratch. My main inspirations come from classical, cinematic, and contemporary music, and I strive to compose in all these styles. Until now, my works have been mostly for piano and chamber ensembles, blending elements of classical, romantic, and modern music. I’d love to share a short composition of mine — a romance for piano and mezzo-soprano. It’s based on a poem by the Ukrainian poet Pavlo Tychyna, and I’ve also provided a simple English translation of the lyrics. I’d truly appreciate any feedback, professional advice, or even a short comment. Looking forward to hearing your thoughts — thanks for your time!

Hello Young Composers, I have finished a project of 4 string quartets, with the goal of getting 4 distinct textures and vibes, 2 slow and 2 fast. 1. Is a broad but brisk quartal and quintal harmonic piece. For nearly the whole piece, it avoids thirds and 6ths, and uses many 4ths, 5ths, and 9ths. 2. is the slowest of the four, and uses double stops for most of the piece, creating a thicker texture. 3. is the fastest of the four, with an emphasis on syncopation and skedaddling melodies. 4. is best described as fight between quartal and triatic harmony Hopefully you enjoy the varied of textures I'm offering. As always I am very open to feedback and criticism, because how else will I get better?

Hi @UncleRed99! I love the opening mood, but I feel like the instruments can move in a less homorhythmic fashion, and the strings can move more, for example in slow tremolos or other accompaniments, instead on holding long notes.I love the mood change in 2:4 which gives a softer texture without the strings. I like the modulation to E minor as it makes the music sound more earthly. As you have noted yourself, I do think you don’t present the E minor section long enough. For me, you should stay longer in that key by moving it to E minor’s related keys, or even a small climax on E minor, before getting back to F# minor in the Poco Adagio section. Also, the returning to the adagio section can have some textural change there, most notably for me the long held notes of strings! I like the texture in the Larghetto section, and I think you finally let the strings sing there! For me where you want some winds back, at most they should only be accompaniment, not even countermelodies because they are already featured much in the music, while the strings lack it! Thx for sharing! Henry

It's probably not exactly what you're looking for with "Microtonality" in the strictest sense, but there are some rock songs that are 1/4 step down. This is probably the result of tape speed and not actually intentional, though. As I recall some of Danger Danger and I think Pantera's albums have this going on.

Henry, many many good things in these two movements. I can hear a lot of pain, and remorse but also rebirth and transcendance which is a rather unique emotion to explore. There are so many extended techniques here, but they all serve the narrative of your story. I regret to say that I am not a big fan of fugues, and couldn’t get to reviewing the fugal bits of your work since it was so dense and harder to understand, but it definitely fits the story well. I tend to prefer fugues with greater rhythmic vitality and interest since it gives the textures and lines more clarity. The transition into the giocoso is wonderful, and the climax is so energetic and blissful. The transitional material into the coda is also done well, representing the final transcendance of your character, almost akin to swan lake. I have to say there is a real depth of expression there.

That passage is possible with thumb position on C (D string) G (A string) But it doesn't sound as connected as if I play the top note melody all on the A string. Does the context really demand double stops?

like I said, huge practice and rehearsal skill issue anyway again like I said, I only listened to the piece very fragmented, so i don't have an overall opinion. however the score looks like it gives great pathos like schubert, and complex perhaps like the peak of late romanticism bar 30. the tremolo quaver. I think it feels weird on the bow. just take out the tremolo on this last note of the bar? bar 170. I hate you. jk. moving on... I love the melodies on the cello, I'm sure if it's played irl it will sound very attractive

Just give two versions then, just like Mozart's Symphony no. 40 with and wthout clarinet version.

The dark atmosphere at the beginning is well achieved with the background of the “tremolando”. The change to a much more contrapuntal part from about 2:10 is very opportune, and I emphasize here the transition from one to the other, which is something that we often neglect, but in this case is perceived without abruptness. There are super rich and very different textures, as for example from measure 95. An unexpected and pleasantly new evolution from measure 147, with some very interesting harmonies at 153..... (I had to stop to see what was really going on there!). Nice surprise with some “advanced” techniques like those beats and portamento. The truth is that the passage from one theme to another is very fluid. Good climax up to measure 197. I find the fugue very beautiful. I am always surprised by fugues based on subjects of short duration. It reminds me of those very contrapuntal pieces that I like so much (Metamorphosen by Strauss and Verklärte Nacht by Schönberg). The part from measure 754 is amazing, it sounds like an organ. Congratulations for such a huge and beautiful work.

I listened to the whole thing in a beautiful spring day taking a walk through the city and ending up listening to the newest part sitting on a bench in a park. The setting was lovely and it allowed me to fully appreciate the powerful music. I don't have an articulate review, but only a few impressions. I hope I'll have time to deepen analysis and listening. I did not remember how pulsating with life and intensity the first movement is. There is a moment when the pulsating, breathing vibration crystallizes in the imitative section. Strangely, it is like a oasis of silence and holding of breath, before the pulse comes back, running over everything else. It is joy, but also somewhat sinister, as if it is *too much* joy. At the beginning of the second movement, joy leaves room to tension, breaking, almost cruelty. And then the grosse Fuge begins. Pentatonic melodies disappear, pulsating joy disappears, even the breaking sighs of the initial part of the movement disappear, all swallowed by counterpunctal order. The cosmic clash seems to be between the pulsating, dancing hymn to life (Beethoven 7th...) and the regimented emotions of the fugue: the emotions are there but we look at them as if through the glass of a cabinet. But the glass cracks when pentatonal passages start appearing in the fugue again. In fact, to me this whole composition seems to be a wonderful attempt to join east and west, pentatonic and counterpoint, sonata and trenody, the past and the present, now easing unearthed contradictions, now acknowledging and espousing them. The pulse comes back at the end, closing a circle that invites many listens because has many facets, reflections, sparkles, and dark corners despite the luminous ascending ending. Thank you Henry!

This Intermezzo is intended to be the first of four little piano pieces I intend to finish. I write this as relaxation piece after finishing the very heavy String Sextet which would be published in the near future. For me this piece contains some beauty and I hope to maintain simplicity in all four pieces. Here is the score and YouTube video: (Final) Intermezzo in A.pdf The recording is played by myself and recorded in a rush since it’s completely unplanned to record this one this quick haha. Feel free to comment on this one! Hope you enjoy! Henry

Hey brother, it's actually just your basic Musesounds, but I added a lot of reverb to the instruments. I've also discovered a few compositional techniques to make it sound better. Thanke for checking in.

Awesome work my friend. id love to see this fleshed out into a suite of some sort to touch on the dynamics question, the skill with delegating dynamics can be quite intimidating especially in pieces like this that demand expressiveness and have a very specific set of dynamic needs that may have to be followed strictly by an ensemble. typically what I do is I go to the voices of a given section that need to be heard over the rest of the group, or, need to stick out more than the rest of the group, and depending on the context of the section, I will never put their markings anywhere below mf. Every other voice, which would be low registers (bass, tuba, cont. bass., bass clar. Etc….) would be at a comfortable mp or p, and the 5ths and 3rds (maybe 7ths depending on your chord structure) would be at p or pp, as each degree of the chord is more than likely doubled, tripled, or quadrupled by other instruments and will naturally ring out loud enough to be heard, while also allowing the melodic line to stick out much further, as higher pitches are caught by the human ear much more clearly than lower or mid register pitches would be. however, I say all that without any contextual examples at this current moment. I’m typing this out on my phone during a little bit of my spare time so can’t get *too* in depth about it, but for a more simplistic answer, just start your playback, and allow your own expertise to tell you what instruments/tones/rhythms are the most important in each given section of the composition. For pieces of this mood, you’ll likely find yourself feeling the need to use decresc. And cresc. Markings very very frequently, and that’s okay! If a player were to read it, they’d be more than capable of performing with a ton of hairpins just fine. As a former trumpeter, I actually loved varied dynamics for more legato pieces, especially while I played as first trumpet, and there was a gorgeous, bold, ringing trumpet solo during a slow moving part of a piece where as the soloist, my part was written out to be in the spotlight. 😂 looooved those moments so much. Even had a piece that was for military remembrance that we played at my local all county clinic band concert. Suggested to the director that I felt that the piece almost NEEDED a trumpet solo in the beginning and boy oh boy, he loved that idea and so did the rest of the band. snare drum came in, playing a very simplistic but military-esc rudimentary line, then came to a halt, and in a silent auditorium, I played what almost sounded reminiscent of the “Taps” Bugle call, except it was just the main Melody of the piece heard throughout. I got a video of that somewhere… lol but there was hairpins from start to finish on that solo part we wrote out for me to play. Without any other instruments in that case, p < mf > pp on the soloist part can be heard all the way in the back of the room, with little effort. the players will know how to handle what you write. Dynamics aren’t a set dB level. They’re an “attitude” is what I like to say. Players will naturally adjust their dynamic volume according to the sound within the concert arch. In notation software they aren’t treated that way, but there are ways to manipulate the program to have playback do what you intend regardless of dynamic markings. Just gotta learn your program. EDIT: I found the recording! lol can’t add video media, so I just converted it to mp3. (Peep the little kid in the audience yelling “is that a trumpet?!” Right as soon as I got done playing 😂😂😂) also, not my best effort here, as we had been rehearsing 5 pieces of music non-stop over the course of 2 days, start to finish, just for that performance. Your boy was pretty pooped. ScreenRecording_03-21-2025 22-30-11_1.mp3

First, piano: played Fantasie-Impromptu at 8, can somewhat play chopin etudes, Hammerklavier, Heroic polonaise, and the such. Second, cello: Moved around a lot with long periods of time between having lessons weekly. Can play Moses on G (on A) 24 caprice, Dvorak cello concerto. Third, most of the mallets: in middle school band, then homeschooled so haven't picked back up. Can't do 4 mallets. Fourth, clarinet: picked up because we had some spare woodwinds laying around. no teacher so not sure what level of playing.

Hi @Ivan1791! I think this writing of yours, especially the 2nd Prelude is very Wagnerian. The 2nd Prelude's first phrase reminds of Wagner's first melodic phrase before the harmony comes in in the Prelude to Tristan & Isolde (at least to me). Your playing of the piano and orchestration are both very expressive and fit nicely into the neo-romantic tradition. They are in fact both very dark indeed, with some occasional parting of the clouds to let the sunlight shine through. Thanks for sharing! Also, I'm sure the reviewers of your music, as well as myself would really appreciate it if you gave them a ❤️ or a 🏆 for the reputation points that corroborate our community! I think it fosters a good and communicative little musical society that we have here. Thank you!

My experience with dynamics using Finale is that you have to be very fussy with markings to get a good performance. Musicians know how to work a passage intuitively. P, MP, F might often be more than enough indication.. But with notation, the computer does only EXACTLY what you tell it. Each dynamic makring is tied with a specific, unchanging volume level. I use ppp through ff to get a sound I like. I spend a LOT of time on this. The VST sound set has some impact as well. Baseline volume, and how volume is registered with the samples is also a factor. You would need to make a PERFORMANCE score for HUMANS if you wanted to workshop/ or get a piece performed.

Very moving and touching stuff. I like your process of orchestrating piano works of yours... has that helped reinvigorate your passion? Lovely music Not sure what you mean. Do you mean techniques for different dynamics? Having access to players might help you see your music from a different angle, as they'd probably know techniques that could be used if you described what you were looking for. Simply writing expressivo for a player with their given dynamics would go a long way too, but maybe just not for playback with synthetic sounds.

Hey Ivan @Ivan1791, This sounds so nice. I dare say it's even better than your original piano version of it. The orchestration absolutely enhance the espressive power of the original piece. The fragile flute+oboe combination and an einsam horn like Brahms or Mahler. Just hope the strings can join as well! I love this very much! One thing to note: in the original piano version it ends on a Picardy 3rd. This time is a sheer minor ending. I think it kind of reflects your present condition and I feel sad for both the piece and you. Nonetheless thx for sharing this wonderful orchestral miniature to us! Henry

Hello everyone again, Today I bring forward my first choral piece that I've been proud of *in years*. It has been a very inspired piece written over the course of today (I skipped my Italian Class for this, Mi spiace!). Anyways about this piece. I've been wanting to write a choral piece for a while now, and I had recently felt inspired, so I've been scouring here-and-there for poems. And although I had read dozens of poems that moved me and made me want to write a piece; I struggled to connect the words and music. So I decided to write my own, and I figured the most convincing writing I could do, would be for my partner. So this whole piece is written directly to my love. The main overarching theme is; I could never overstate my affection, because words could never say everything I felt. So I use music to do so. The song begins with very classic American clichés. "you are the apple of my eye. the wonder of my daily life. my shining star" Exaggerated and cheesy language, which is how I talk with my partner. There are slow, fast, loud and quiet "I love yous" because I find myself saying it differently and meaning it the same way all the time. Then we get to the crux of the piece "I love you more than words could ever express. But I'll try". Even though just saying 'i love you' does not say it all, it gets me that much closer, and proclaiming love many times gets me closer to that unreachable goal. And then we loop around and say things again. This piece is in ABACA form and for the C section I decided to not use any words. I hope you enjoy, and please give me feedback to improve this piece, if there is anything (even if you can't figure out what it is) let me know and I'll take your feedback. This would be a good piece for my choir to perform, I just want to make sure I didn't miss anything important.

@JordanRoberts Thanks very much for listening and commenting. I'm getting a lot of feedback that this music sounds authentically Renaissance, and I find that very gratifying! I suppose despite my sometime apostasy in disagreement with some tenets of the Roman Catholic Church, I am at heart still very much a true believer, and as such as devoted as ever. I'm glad it shows, in my religious music anyway.