Leaderboard

I am very happy to share my 27th Piano Sonata, written in binary form. The work is written in an Allegro character and explores contrasts between lively, restless passages and more expressive and introspective moments, with changing harmonic colours and a gradual movement towards a quiet and gentle conclusion. I have dedicated this Sonata to my dear friend Henry, as a small expression of my appreciation and admiration for him, both as a composer and, above all, as a friend. It is a great pleasure for me to dedicate one of my works to someone whose music I appreciate and whose friendship I value deeply. The performance is my own, using the J. Weimes Fortepiano (1808) from Pianoteq 9. I hope you enjoy listening to it, and I would be very happy to hear your thoughts and impressions.

Thanks to all 9 participants who submitted music to the competition - the recipients of the "Alchemist Award"! Summer's Day by @Kvothe On Pastel Skies by @Fruit hunter Plus belle encor votre chère beauté by @MK_Piano Your dear beauty lovelier still by @Musicman_3254 Summer – A Song of Beauty and Melancholy by @Wieland Handke Saxophone Quartet no. 2 - Un clair jour d'été by @Ninja Nolan So on a bright Summer Day by @Matthew M Donc, ce sera par un clair jour d'été by @latebeethoven_addict Donc, ce sera par un clair jour d'été by @JDevorMusic The members have voted!!! And the winners are ... --==<< Decisive Fanfare >>==-- For winning the "Spirit of Verlaine" Award for the best depiction of Verlaine's poem and the most imaginative transformation of the text into music: with 5 votes, Saxophone Quartet no. 2 - Un clair jour d'été by @Ninja Nolan !!! Congratulations!For winning the "Poème d'Amour" Award for the piece that best captured the sensation of love: with 6 votes, Plus belle encor votre chère beauté by @MK_Piano !!! Congratulations! For winning the "Évocation" Award for the piece that best captured the sensation of summer: with 3 votes, Your dear beauty lovelier still by @Musicman_3254 !!! Congratulations! For winning 3rd place overall with 9 points - We have a tie!!! On Pastel Skies by @Fruit hunter and Summer – A Song of Beauty and Melancholy by @Wieland Handke will both receive the following trophy: For winning 2nd place overall with 16 points - Plus belle encor votre chère beauté by @MK_Piano will receive the following trophy: For winning 1st place overall with 17 points - Saxophone Quartet no. 2 - Un clair jour d'été by @Ninja Nolan will receive the following trophy: Congratulations to all the winners!!! We will now move your pieces to the "Competition Hall of Fame" sub-forum! And thanks to all the following participants who also reviewed all the entries! The contest would not have been as much fun and as instructional as it was without you! The following members will receive the "Heavyweight Reviewer" badge for reviewing 100% of the entries (9) submitted to the competition!@Kvothe @Fruit hunter @Henry Ng Tsz Kiu @chopin @Wieland Handke @Thatguy v2.0 @PeterthePapercomPoser @JDevorMusic And the following members will receive the "Welterweight Reviewer" badge for reviewing 66% of the entries (6) submitted to the competition!@MK_Piano And the following members will receive the "Featherweight Reviewer" badge for reviewing 33% of the entries (3) submitted to the competition!@Luis Hernández @TristanTheTristan @MJFOBOE Thank you to all 12 Ardent Reviewers who reviewed the contest entries! Once again - great reviewing turnout! We had more reviewers than composers in the competition! And thanks for me @PeterthePapercomPoser for organizing and managing all the competition polls, announcements, submission thread, badges, results, satisfaction survey and advertising outreach! I will receive the "Community Organizer" badge! To take the "From Nothing, to Something" Satisfaction Survey go here: To listen to all the entries go to the submission thread: To see the Popular Voting Polls go here: To go to the competition announcement go here:

= Short Piece for Cello / Piano / Granular Synthesis = = Background One day, I thought of a cellist and a pianist performing over a backdrop of electronic noise, and this piece was created based on that idea. As the title suggests, the composition features cello, piano, and granular synthesis. The composition process began with creating the granular synthesis textures, followed by adding staccato cello notes and piano. I imagine a space that looks like a compact design. = Note I don't have a specific message I'm trying to convey with this music, but I would be happy if someone found it enjoyable. To be honest, I was reluctant for a while to upload this piece; I felt a bit hesitant about creating something annoying when everyone else is composing beautiful orchestral / chamber or keyboard-based works, haha. Still, I decided to take the plunge and upload it. As for the score, since I don't know how to notate it, I can't upload it now. I’d love to hear your impressions, criticism, and feedback. Again, I hope you find it interesting and enjoy it. = Music / Artwork: Lithl = Finally If you know any pieces that are similar to this piece of mine, please let me know. I'd appreciate it. Thank you for listening, and have a nice day :) Short Piece for Cello : Piano : Granular Synthesis.mp3

I've taken to another exercise from Chapter 8 of Persichetti's "20th Century Harmony" - "Compound and Mirror Harmony". This time I've chosen Exercise 7 - "Move a chamber group through several mirror chords where the reflective harmony is generated by the same tone and by different tones." In this case he is referring to using symmetrically invertible scales just like in Exercise 8 which I already did. In that exercise I built the respective mirror scales on the same tone (C) so in this exercise I sought to build the mirror scales on different tones only. I also created an inverted canon at a 10th and a quarter note between the Oboes and Bassoons. I used the following chart from the book to simplify the exercise for myself (so I used E Mixolydian in the Oboes and C Aeolian in the Bassoons). At one point I switch the Oboes to Ionian and Bassoons to Phrygian, just like in Exercise 8, but this isn't accompanied by key signature changes. Thanks for reading and for listening! I would appreciate any of your suggestions, comments, critiques or observations! Persichetti Exercise 8 - 7.mp3 Persichetti Exercise 8 - 7.pdf

2. If you didn't submit music to the competition, why not?I just wanted to review this time

Hey all, This is the current iteration of the second movement. Eager to hear people's views so far on this... whether it works. The bit I am currently working on is intended to be a fugata, in the spirit of Beethoven's own in his Erocia, second movement (which I love). I am using that as a model. Never done that before and it's certainly a challenge. I haven't finished the wind writing which will have two parts for each instrument except for solo areas (i.e. the beginning). I wouldn’t bother looking for errors as it’s still a work in progress. There is still much to refine. It would just be helpful to just gauge how the ideas come together while i’m immersed in the rabbit hole! 🤣 Symphony in A (Second movement Draft).mp3 Symphony in A (Second movement Draft).pdf

Hello dear fellow composers! The two months of the YCF 2026 Summer competition are over and we have now the results. For me, participating in that competition was (again) a great fun – but also a huge challenge! And I think, I’m not alone with that impression, since – on the one hand – only roughly the half of that members which initially intended to participate have finally posted a submission and – on the other hand – the most submissions arrived during the last two weeks, signifying that almost all participants had to do a hard work to meet the requirements of the contest, to produce „Something“, that was related to Paul Verlaine’s poem, from „Nothing“ (in this regard, the specific task made it difficult to use an existing piece; therefore, I believe that most submissions were composed “from scratch”). I’m very pleased, that I could win the third prize, however the most takeaway from the contest are – in my opinion – the reviews which had an outstanding quality this time. It was the fourth consecutive competition (or event) I participated during the past year, and I think the overall quality of the compositions and of the reviews has been improved significantly in that period. The reviews tend to be longer and consist not only of the impression and taste of the listener/reviewer, but have become full of profound feedback and suggestions, concerning for example questions of engraving or of the playability and/or specific characteristics of certain instruments that a composer must take into account, even if he or she may not be very familiar with the one or the other instrument. With this respect, I would especially thank @MK_Piano, @Omicronrg9 and @Thatguy v2.0 for their reviews. I'm already looking forward to the next competition, though to be honest, I need a few weeks' rest until then. Finally, there is just another little concern I would share: I noticed that some of the participants voted for themselves in the final poll. That behavior ultimately had no impact on the awarding of badges and prices in that sense, that a participant has not earned the respective badge due to he did hesitate and not voted for itself. However, in my opinion, it is not a good practice to vote for oneself, since - if everyone would do so - voting would become merely useless, especially since we have relatively few voters at all, and this time more participants than other members. Therefore, I would suggest to introduce an explicit statement in the rules of upcoming competitions, that participants shall not vote for themselves in the final poll.

@Lithl My dear friend, I truly don’t know how else to thank you. Your appreciation, both for me as a person and for my music, genuinely makes me very happy. I’m so glad that you enjoyed this sonata as well, and it means a great deal to me that you took the time to listen to it and share your thoughts. As for my dear friend @Henry Ng Tsz Kiu , I have had the pleasure of considering him a friend for quite some time now. Even though we are separated by distance, we are in touch almost every day and we often talk about music. Above all, there is a deep mutual respect between us, as well as a genuine love for music. Lately, we have been talking quite a lot about Scarlatti. Henry not only loves Scarlatti, but also listens to and performs his music. Since I also have a deep love for Scarlatti, especially his binary sonatas, this shared passion for his music has brought us even closer. And so, I felt the need to dedicate one of my own binary sonatas to him. I’m truly very happy and touched that I had the opportunity to do so.

Ah, I wish I were Henry... You are a lucky man, @Henry Ng Tsz Kiu, to have such a nice friend who composed music dedicated to you and your musical talent! As for the music itself, I don't even need to say anything because your music always sounds so high-level and lovely. I want to see you play your pieces in the future. Great, thank you for sharing, Vasilis! Best, Lithl.

Hi @MinGry ! Thank you for sharing this piece. I think you’re on the right track, and it’s clear that you’ve been studying composition and working hard to develop your melody and harmony skills. This work shows a lot of thought and care, and I can hear skills that will continue to blossom with practice. I’d like to share a few thoughts that might help you develop this piece and give you some ideas to carry into your next one. My first suggestion is to look at the passages with block chords in the left hand and experiment with more varied accompaniment. You already use some Mozart-style accompaniment, but there are many possibilities beyond that pattern and block chords. Try breaking up the chords, varying the rhythm, or creating flowing, scale-like lines. This could soften some of the heavier chordal passages and give the left hand more personality. It also opens up opportunities for passing tones, neighboring tones, and suspensions. The left hand doesn’t have to simply state the chord of each measure; it can contribute to the character of the music. You could explore all of this while keeping your underlying harmony and right-hand melody intact. That step alone could add quite a bit of oomph to the piece. Another detail to look closely at are the areas where you begin a melody with the fifth of the accompanying chord in the bass. Depending on the context, this can make the music feel less grounded, weaker, than it would with the root in the bass. That doesn’t mean the root always needs to be in the bass. But it’s good to be aware that the fifth in the bass will weaken the strength of any chord. One great place to put the fifth in the bass of the I chord is if the following chord is the V chord. That is a powerful I-V cadence that is used throughout the classical repertoire. My final thought concerns the overall harmonic direction. There’s plenty of appealing melodic material, but at times I feel that the music wanders harmonically, making it harder for the listener to sense where it’s headed. I’d recommend listening to some early Beethoven sonatas (maybe #1 through #15) with this in mind. Your piece doesn’t need to sound like Beethoven, but he offers wonderful examples of how melody, harmony, and form can create a dramatic arc. Tension builds, reaches a peak, and eventually subsides. The listener enjoys the music while also participating in the drama, as if the music is telling a story. Try listening to those sonatas while taking a hike, without looking at the score. Just study the sound first, the vibes. Then pick out some moments that felt especially moving to you, and study how he did it. Explore: how did he use harmony, melody, and accompaniment to construct something dramatic, something with power and direction? See whether you can build tension gradually over several measures in your music, arrive at a climax, linger there long enough to make it meaningful, and then let the tension resolve. In passages that feel a little directionless, that sense of movement toward and away from a goal could give the music more shape. It might also help to set the piece aside for a month and return to it with fresh ears. Listen for moments that feel flat or seem to lose momentum; those could be good places to experiment with accompaniment, harmonic direction, and dramatic pacing. Even if you decide to leave this piece exactly as it is, you’ve still made real progress in your composition journey. You can carry these ideas into your next sonata and keep exploring how a more expressive left hand and a stronger harmonic arc can bring your music to life. These are just my thoughts, and I appreciate the opportunity to listen. I hope you keep composing! Jonathan

Yeah I think this was really interesting. For me I felt like it was really easy to distinguish the two parts, as my ear could effortlessly listen back and forth between them. It didn't feel like oil and water like a lot of bitonal stuff I've heard, but rather the two parts worked much better than what I anticipated. Very cool Peter, I'm interested to hear how all your studies acquiesce into larger works. Maybe something along the lines of blending two themes together at the end of a sonata or something.

Hey Lithl Very cool piece! For some reason your piece reminded me of this: Know the composer? This may help if you want to keep learning about a style with "tape" playback (or whatever avenue you use) mixed with instruments. Your piece is more abstract, but I'm sure they're parallel in some ways. I'm not too familiar with the style, but I'm always curious how more abstract music could be developed further. Thanks for sharing, and don't ever be bashful about posting something against the grain of what's here :)

Hallo Mason, now that the contest is over, I’d like to go through the feedback I’ve received over the next few days, analyze it a bit more thoroughly than I’ve been able to in the last weeks, and respond accordingly wherever I have some clarifications or comments. That „bracketing“ and the connected bar lines between the accordion and piano have already been mentioned by other reviewers (for example, @Kvothe ). Not to be too repetitive, that approach was intentional, since I considered my „special quintet“ as an „orchestra“ rather than a chamber ensemble—which, of course, may seem “strange” or “wrong”. However that consideration has sometimes been recognized by other reviewers as well: To avoid that unusual score order/grouping, perhaps it might indeed be the better decision to notate this piece as a “chamber music work“. However, in that case I have a different „headache“: In my piece, the piano part is not as prominent as usual in a piano quintet. Moreover, I would say, the accordion is somewhat more „the chief“, so should the accordion be placed at the very bottom, with the scores for the other instruments written in a smaller font size? No, of course not—the best compromise would be the traditional order you suggested (trumpet, guitar, cello, accordion, piano), but with all instruments in the same font size. Yes, I should use dynamic markings a bit more sparingly in the future. That exaggeration possibly results from the fact that I’ve been following the rule: “Never a hairpin without a dynamic marking at the beginning and end” (I’ve already discussed this in another thread). However, I think it’s feasible to take this “rule” seriously only when it seems appropriate, rather than applying it to every single note or short phrase. We already had „the pleasure“ of discussing whether „whole-bar rests“ (which are placed in the middle of the bar) should be used or not. And until now, I was convinced that those rests are used only when the entire instrument is silent, and not if only one hand of the piano or accordion, or one voice in a polyphonic score, has a rest for the entire measure. So I looked in the „Bible“ (i.e. the Welltempered Clavier, especially at fugues) to reconfirm my opinion ... ... – but I was proven wrong: Even there, “full-measure rests” are used, i.e., placed in the middle. So, I will now finally go to bury my „whole-note rests“ in 4/4 meter or my „dotted half-note rests“ in 3/4 time, and so on. Thank you very much. Yes, the fugato—and especially the moment when the trumpet played the main subject for the first time (without a mute)—was a lot of fun for me to compose. Unfortunately, however, I faced the “dilemma” of having to set two more stanzas of the poem to music. As a result, I had to shorten the development sections of the fugato and resolve the tension to make way for the more contemplative mood of the “sung lines of the poem.” After the poem ended, I wondered whether I should now let the fugato pick up speed again and develop it fully, perhaps with a climax of strettos and a pedal point. But this approach seemed to me to make the piece a bit too long, so I recapitulated the first section in a more melancholic manner, bringing the „arch of tension“ rather down than to a triumphant finale.

Hello A lovely piece. One of the key lessons I took away from this ESSENTIAL book by Persichetti is that if you use a system – that is, if you are consistent with a musical organisation, whatever that may be – the result depends solely on each individual’s skill and artistry, just as it would if you were composing tonal music. I think it’s a great decision here to have divided the timbres for each mode-scale. As well as the different registers. The fact that each part has been harmonised in thirds and sixths gives it a very familiar smoothness (common in tonal music). Yet these modes lend themselves perfectly to fourth-based harmony.

Very nice fluttering texture in the woodwind section, and I enjoyed your key changes. Looks promising so far!

Hey Peter! In fact I find it really melodious even it’s bitonal. The canonic imitation doesn’t sound mechanical to me, which is good job. In fact I’m going to use some bitonal treatment of your theme in my new work working so stay tuned haha. Henry

Thank you. It's the sound of blowing wind. Each sound was resampled. The train tracks were the bass drum, but I didn't think to make it punchy. Fun note, the wolf howls are the same material of sound as the bell. The wolf howls were made by manipulating the bell sound into a howl.

It's been a while since I've composed anything, so I felt like getting back into doing some Persichetti composition prompts. I am now on Chapter 8 of Persichetti's "20th Century Harmony" which is titled "Compound and Mirror Harmony". The particular prompt for this piano piece was "8. Write an opening section of a two-part piece for the piano employing two symmetrically invertible scales. The mirror writing should be kept strict throughout." So I tried to do just that with this ~1 minute long piano piece. I tried my best to make an actual piece of music rather than an exercise, but let me know how I did! I'd appreciate any of your comments, critiques, suggestions or observations! Thanks for listening! Here's the form of the piece: A - Right Hand - C Mixolydian, Left Hand - C Aeolian B - Right Hand - C Ionian, Left Hand - C Phrygian A Persichetti Exercise 8 - 8.mp3 Persichetti Exercise 8 - 8 Score.pdf

Ok very interesting, because I see and hear 2 key signatures played against each other. But the different key signatures themselves are "in key". I suppose this naturally gives us 2 different harmonies without having to manage accidentals. Interesting concept, and at times this sounded a bit like Ravel. Fun rhythms, and for an exercise this sounds like it could be a nice little standalone piece, maybe a prelude, or some type of introduction to a larger work.

Yes, Lontano, but really all of her albums are great. I was first taken in by her playing on the album Gurdjieff & Tsabropoulos: Chamber music.

Thank you, @Henry Ng Tsz Kiu, for your review :) Gothic scene, that's interesting. I've never thought about it. And your idea about the cello is nice—that's going to be a good one. Actually, I always intend to use extended techniques for string instruments, but I do not know how to play them in the DAW / software realistically. Is having someone play them the only way to get those extended techniques, after all? 😕 Anyway, thanks again, Henry! Best, Lithl.

Great topic, @Grant Weep ! I am sure that @Henry Ng Tsz Kiu will be able to contribute to this topic given as how he always says that he writes his music over long periods of time. My Variations on "Deck the Halls" for Piano and Orchestra I started writing the beginning of and the 1st and Rondo Variation back in the late 2000's and only finished it more recently in about 2023 I think. So about 15 years. And there are other old works that I have access to that I am in the process of finishing and publishing thanks to the fact that I can open all my old project files with Cakewalk Sonar DAW. Thanks for your idea for this topic!

Hello @Martynas123, this prelude is really a pleasant, short piece. Although there is nothing wrong with a „simple piece“, I have some suggestions which could perhaps improve it somewhat further: The time signature. I don’t think that this piece is in 6/4 meter. Even though this time signature matches the number of notes played in a measure, there is no pulse that counts from 1 to 6 (with the exception of the last two bars). There are clearly four beats to be counted in the left hand. Therefore, the prelude should be in 4/4 meter, and the texture of the right hand could be rearranged into four groups of three notes each as triplets. With that done, you could get rid of the dotted quarter notes in the left hand (which look a bit unusual). Otherwise, you could recall the time signature as 12/8 (again with four groups of three notes in the right hand) retaining the dotted quarter notes in the left. And there is another „funny“ possibility that has been used by J.S. Bach in its Prelude 15 of the Welltempered Clavier, Book 1, BWV 860: Different time signatures in the right and left hand (admittedly very unusual but solving the problem): You could use 12/8 in the right hand (four groups of three eights notes) and 4/4 in the left hand. Here is the example from Bach’s prelude (he uses 24/16 in the right hand due to its use of semiquavers). The repetitions and the ending. At the ending (the two last measures), the piece leaves its uniform texture with the „triplets“, slowing down at (yes here) six beats per measure. I would like to have a somewhat „more elaborated“ finale, perhaps with the slow-down to a desceptive cadence, another one or two bars of improvisation with, again, the eights notes pulse, before the piece finally finishs. Typical examples of such an ending can be found in the Prelude 1, BWV 846: or somewhat more complicated in the Prelude 5, BWV 851: And now, finally, regarding the repeats: I generally wouldn’t include the ending—and especially not after an extension such as the one suggested above—in a repetition. Perhaps you could omit the repetition of the second part entirely—though that would result in a shorter piece.

Please fill out the survey to help us organize better competitions in the future! The survey is anonymous so we won't be able to see who voted for what. The poll closes on 10/8/2026. Thanks for voicing your opinion! For the results and winners of the competition go here: For the popular voting polls go here: For the submissions thread go here: For the competition announcement go here:

Hi @Lithl ! By listening to your music I actually think of a Gothic scene: just like @Luis Hernández noted the synthesiser sounds like ominous birds flipping. I actually don’t hear the cello much, maybe you can add more of it? I think an extremely high pitch harmonics or sul ponticello cello or col legno lowest register cello can make the atmosphere sound more scary. Thx for sharing! Henry

hey @Markus Boyd ! Really thank you for your detailed explanation! I appreciate that. I think the “disparity” is only due to our different aesthetics and style. Bach’s Et Resurrexit is perfectly written as it narrates the pain of crucifixion, Dido’s Lament for the abandoned Dido. My movement here is none like theirs, as I want to talk about the confused state under depression or despair. Under a state of despair, in my case, falls into confusion and you almost see nothing bright; no drama there, no contrast of bright/dark or major/minor there, just confusion. Maybe there is some light, some reasonable power from human Logos, which is portrayed a bit in both 2nd subject which is in major key in both exposition and recapitulation here, but it’s only a small portion and will easily be crushed by blind confusion of despair. I don’t think I have ever fallen into depression myself but I have lots of friends fallen into it, and they see no light and reason to pick them up; what seems to a depression patient hopeful may be the one last false hope and the last straw which takes their lives away. I don’t try to set myself unprecedented but I just try to write that particular state of mind. Hope this explanation helps Markus! Henry

This is something I've been wanting to do for a while. The lamento bass is a famous motif based on the simple idea of the descending tetrachord (commonly in d minor). In my realization I build momentum with complexity with which I aim to demonstrate the range of possibilities within this short space. One can keep going with more variations. It is both a beautiful and inexhaustible concept. Prelude for the Soul.mp3 Prelude for the Soul.pdf

Hi @Markus Boyd ! I really love this prelude! The counterpoint is really rich and fluent and the pain real. Maybe an imitative entrance of each voice would make the piece more solemn but to me this one is already really good. Probably because the Dorian is the 1st mode? Just like Bach’s Die Kunst der Fuge maybe because of that too. Thx for sharing! Henry

Hi @Martynas123 , Is this one section of your D major Sonata? I ask because it’s more a G major piece to me. If it’s hard to continue you can for sure modulate to new keys. Easiest would be to modulate to D major by ending the first section in half cadence and then you can begin with new ideas. I actually really like the idea after 0:59, but like @Grant Weep said it gets really weird, to me because it doesn’t match with the style before it. Henry

Hey Peter, This bitonal piece sounds really funny, it sounds like a parody of a march! It's like someone saying "look at how serious I am!" by making himself 200% serious which makes him 500% ridiculous lol Henry

I'm usually into Gustav Holst's music because of The Mystic Trumpeter. It's such a mature and emotional piece that's sadly very neglected. I also quite like Tan Dun, Antonin Dvorak, Ludovico Einauldi, Gustav Mahler, Fela Sowande, and many more

Thank you very much. I also particular like the passage (around 1:34) where the trumpet plays the subject of the fugato for the first time. This is for me the depiction of the summer day – while the final part is a bit more melancholic, - perhaps the evening. If you’re referring to the “thumbnail” of the YouTube video (as well as the first slide in the video and the title page of my score), then yes: After I finish a piece, I usually do some „artwork“ and give each piece its own color scheme as well as a visual interpretation in the form of a photo or painting (and, of cause, the painting here isn’t mine—it’s by Pierre-Auguste Renoir 😆). I’ve found that such a “colorful” annotation to the pieces can be very helpful for remembering them—even when I talk to my family about my music, it’s much easier to refer to a particular piece as “the one with the elephant” or “the purple one with the misty forest” rather than as “Prelude in A minor” or “Prelude in G-sharp minor.”

HI Lithl, Thanks for sharing this! I am not really versed in music using electronic sound, so maybe I'm not the best one to be commenting, but I am interested in all types of music, though and enjoy having new musical experiences. My impressions: I enjoyed this very much. I do hear a coherent soundscape here. The piano seemed to move in and respond to the electronic sounds. I'm not sure I could identify all of the cello's contributions to the conversation but what I did recognize "belonged" if that makes sense. And I agree with Luis' observation about the flock of birds. Though I don't know pieces similar to yours, I do like the way Anja Lechner uses (exploits?) the cello in Memory of a Melody (18:45 or so).

Hi Matthew @mahler2009 Personally, I do both at the same time: I study and compose with traditional harmony while also writing more experimental music, rather than treating one as something I need to master before moving on to the other. Some of my earliest pieces were actually quite weird and almost atonal, before I later explored more conventional tonal writing too. I’ve found that both approaches help me develop in different ways. I don't think there's a particular point when you're suddenly "ready" for non-functional harmony. Traditional harmony gives you useful tools, but experimenting with the sounds that interest you is also part of learning composition. I'd keep developing both in parallel and let them influence each other Also, welcome to the forum!

Hello I’ve had to listen to this track three times in a row – it’s very short, so it’s easy to do. There’s one reason for this: I’m really fascinated by what you’ve done here. I think this sort of music is just as valid as any other. I’d love to know a bit about how you created that ‘granular synthesis’ – whether it’s with software or something else. I sometimes think about using electronic elements in my own work, but I’m not quite sure how to go about it (as I rely 100 per cent on virtual instrument libraries). To me, that synthetic texture really reminds me of ‘flocks of birds’. It really does have several layers of sounds that are like the caws of different species of birds. This reminds me directly of pieces like Vox Balanae (Voice of the Whale) by George Crumb. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sutSUIBp-VY&list=RDsutSUIBp-VY&start_radio=1 As well as looking at the score, which is very, very complex (typical of Crumb), it is fascinating to watch the performance, as there are instructions on how the musicians should appear (masks) and in what position. performance

I say this is an interesting piece, though each movement in my view kind of ended a little abruptly. I just say it's also because the lines kept moving, and there's kind of little room for some of the strings to stop for a break, and let the other strings shine. But I like the contrapuntal texture and the rather mysterious melodies overall. I think the last movement here really has a clearer direction on what you want to go for, and ends most beautifully.

Was kinda looking around for inspirations for slow movements, and this piece is quite astounding. To tell the truth, I actually felt this is closer to Debussy than Chopin, although Chopin's romanticism is quite deeply reflected here (particularly with the more detailed scalic and chromatic ornamentation whenever the main melodies return). Why I felt as such is because of the extensive use of modes, which is a bit more characteristic of impressionist music. And also plenty of hemiolas, although ofc that's also seen in plenty of romantic music.

Hey @Wieland Handke that was really excellent. I found the music intellectually challenging, so I gave it a couple listens. This music has a great flow, but is also mentally stimulating, just like Bach. I didn’t read your introduction first, and while listening I kept thinking “this sounds like a modern Bach chorale”. Glad to find out I heard what you heard! You speak the language of modern harmony, but here you speak it with a baroque accent. It works well. There’s just something about jazzy chords that gels so well with baroque rhythm/voicing. Makes me want to hear more of your work. One idea: it would be fun to hear this with four instruments rather than one. For example, I think this piece could actually be turned into a chorale! Have you ever considered setting this to a poem? I bet a choral rendition of this would slay. There is tons of fun material for 4 singers to play with. Or a string quartet could be nice. Assigning each voice to a separate instrument could really free up those voices, and allow them to shine in a way entirely different than what can be achieved on keyboard. Nothing wrong with a baroque style keyboard work! Even if you decide not to try it with a quartet, it’s still delightful. Nice work!

Thank you guys for all the feedback!

I really enjoyed this. Yes, in the broadest sense I got an immediate Scarlatti vibe, but your unique voice is dominant. I think of binary pieces as more limited, but you developed this nicely. The mood changes were really well done. You moved between keys and motives quickly without it ever sound schizophrenic. It's exuberant music, with a clear drive and direction. I never felt lost even when I didn't know what was coming next. Thanks for sharing.

@Vasilis Michael This is a delight. It sounds like it’s right out of the classical repertoire, though with touches of modern harmony in there. Perfect music to help someone relax. It’s light, graceful, and airy. You have a really nice touch. I like how you pepper in lots of false cadences, when it sounds like it’s about to resolve but instead presents a bit of mystery to the listener. Those moments help keep the drama flowing throughout. Well done!

Love this! Quite an interesting mesh of Baroque and Classical style. What I find rather baroque is the rather contrapuntal texture in this piece, although there are still some clear melodic lines like in Classical music

Thanks i will use it definitely :>

It’s a beautiful trio consisting of Horn, Violin and Piano. I’m sure it’s already been mentioned that for a chamber work like this the proper score order would be Violin, Horn and then Piano at the bottom. Another thing I’m sure has been mentioned is that you should place double bars at key changes and get rid of redundant key changes. The music has a variety of different textures and not all the instruments are playing all the time with plenty of much needed breaks. The horn’s full range is well utilized. As of the writing of this review I am currently playing horn everyday in preparation of recording a solo horn sonata and I can attest to the playability of your horn part. The solo piano Cantabile section at mm. 25 shows off your ability to write a beautiful melody and dress it up through variations in the Violin. The I 6/4 chord at mm. 85 makes one expect a cadenza. Then you have the solo horn come in on the lowest of notes in the whole piece. I wonder if there’s some extra-musical meaning behind this. Thanks for your participation and good luck in the polls! Melodies Themes Motives Harmony Chords Textures Form Development Structure Time Originality Creativity Score Presentation Instrumentation Orchestration Playability Execution of Given Challenge Taste 9 7.75 9 9 7 9 9 8.25 Average Score: 8.50

Your melodies have a very lyrical and song-like quality to them (perhaps because they’re .. sung? LoL) They’re quite beautiful and perhaps they’re the strength of this music. The textures you create are also very delicate (most of the time). There are spots where you’re very indelicate however, such as at rehearsal D. Although this didn’t bother me as much once I turned down the volume a bit upon repeated listening. The melodies channeled the spirit of Verlaine’s poem quite effectively I thought! Your score has some collisions between rests and 16th notes in the harp part. And it’s already been mentioned that some of your huge harp chords are unplayable. I do like the middle section of the piece where the harp solo creates a very tranquil and serene atmosphere. Thanks for your participation and good luck in the polls! Melodies Themes Motives Harmony Chords Textures Form Development Structure Time Originality Creativity Score Presentation Instrumentation Orchestration Playability Execution of Given Challenge Taste 8.6 8.5 8 7.9 6 5 8.5 8 Average Score: 7.56

Your piece is the last I've heard (but not least, just the order I used), and yet you still brought something different from the others. I really appreciate the creativity used with form with this competition. It seems like everyone had such a different take, and splitting the stanzas into an ABA form was a great idea to me. I feel like if I had participated in this competition I would have organized the music in a similar fashion. I enjoyed the tossing around of the LH piano motif to different instruments, and the jovial sense you gave in the composition. A change to the minor mode would have served well as a contrast to me, but the beauty of composing is we all have a different take and direction we feel like the music should go. You give variation in other ways, and I especially love the piano flourishes near the end. Cool ensemble too, the horn was a pleasant change in instrumentation from the other pieces. On a side note, I've listened to basically nothing but Beethoven's late string quartets for the past 4 or 5 months (he's my favorite composer by far). It sounds insane probably, some may even call me a lateBeethovenaddict ( :P ), but I've been obsessed with what I consider to be the greatest music ever composed, always picking up on little details upon every hearing. A profound sadness lingers throughout no.12-16, but also in my opinion a novel and unrepeatable expression we're all lucky Beethoven had the strength to compose in his weakest moments. Good luck with the voting, and thanks for sharing! It was fun to listen to all the different interpretations of the competition, and yours was no exception. Well done :)

Hi @latebeethoven_addict , Wonderful entry to the competition. It was great to listen to your music. Some engraving thoughts: score order: vln, hn, pno very cramped score - put more space between systems and staves not sure why some pno notes are grace note or cue sized lots of rests divided incorrectly (m2 8th+16th should be a dotted 8th rest; m3 two 8th rests should be a quarter rest) double bar lines at section changes and tempo changes (most players also still prefer them at key changes) where it is just pno solo - hide the other two instruments General Instrumentation thoughts: I would think more about articulation/bowing for the piece and add a lot more slurs. putting in these markings would make the violin part more playable A lot of the times the vln/hn are playing together and often in unison. I would play more with counterpoint and harmonize some of the lines. Melodies Themes Motives Harmony Chords Textures Form Development Structure Time Originality Creativity Score Presentation Instrumentation Orchestration Playability Execution of Given Challenge Taste 8 7 8 the ABA form did not seem to serve the piece well 7 6 see comments above 6 see comments above 7 7 Average Score: 7.0

Hi @Musicman_3254 Really beautiful entry to this competition. I loved the music to this piece, a lot of my thoughts are on cleaning up the score and parts so that they are more legible and effective. Some engraving thoughts: make sure the first full system of the score includes all instruments and their full names (even if resting) hide bar rests in the harp part if you are writing cross-staff for the opening, use hairpins instead of the cres. and dim. lines solo marking for instruments is extraneous octaves in the harp (mm15-17) would be better read on two staves as one hand would play each note clefs: none of these instruments should use alto clef cello should only ever be in bass, tenor, and treble clefs baritone should always be in bass clef never use octave clefs for a non octave transposing instrument harp m51 - use an ottava line instead key signature Gb is a lot of flats, it works great for the harp though I might be tempted to leave the harp in Gb and notate the flute/cello/voice in F# major, but unsure if it would be any better put slurs on the grace notes and connect them to their primary note not sure what purpose the marking in the cello part in m59 serves don't let dynamics or other text cut into barlines unless you really need them to (m86 flute) make sure trill lines extend to their last note (mm102-104 oboe) large harp chords - use one arpeggio line across both staves; don't need the up arrow arpeggio line unless you're going in both directions Some playability thoughts: I saw lots of comments above about the playability of the harp part, but I didn't read all of them. None of the harp part is currently technically impossible, but here are my thoughts to make it easier on the player. the Dnat to flat ped change (m20 and m101) is totally fine and doable. There's plenty of time for the player to flip the pedal to natural and back to flat - you might hear a little bit of noise, but it's unlikely. This is also the only pedal change in the piece, so I'm sure they'll manage. the cross staff arpeggios at the beginning are wonderful, adding in doubled notes in mm5-14 is difficult and likely not worth the additional amount of sound that will be created. I would suggest either start up the octave and bring it down an octave for more resonance in m12. on a similar note, any passage which immediately repeats the same note is challenging on the harp, as it required the player to mute the string and then pluck it again my thoughts on the large chords - again technically possible, it's just asking a lot and is quite fast. The player would alternate hands to play across the entire harp, so get rid of two arpeggio lines and put one big one across both staves. The tempo is likely too fast to play all the notes, it will also be too loud at the dynamics you have marked. Save the big arpeggiated chords for one per bar at most and make sure you really want to volume of so many strings sounding at once. A trill on the harp (m86) doesn't always work well. I would switch the pedal so that it's a bisbigl. between G# and Ab. The flute part is very low. I would not have it written to sound lower than the oboe damore. Even the very beginning I would switch the pitches or bring the flute part up the octave. Curious as to why you chose the oboe damore. It's an uncommon instrument and very, very few players have it. The range doesn't call for it either, as it all fits nicely in the range of the traditional oboe. The oboe does not dim. to nothing effectively. m72 and similar places will be difficult The cello range is too demanding of the player. High Gbs and Bbs at the dynamic level you have asked for is impossible. Bring it down one or two octaves. mm53-59 is confusing as well, it's very high and the ppp dim marking makes it seem like you don't want it to be heard Not all of the cello doublestops in mm59-71 are possible. The Gb and Ab dyad is a real stretch. ( I wonder if the entire piece could be transposed up a half step and you could use open strings?) Some text-setting thoughts: Lovely, lovely use of the voice. I also set the poem as an art song and I really love your rendition of it here. I know there are different house styles, but I would only use slurs to show syllable melismata or very long phrases. I love the stress of the first phrase, but make sure that important words are highlighted on the beat Make sure word divider lines (-) are not causing collisions with the text Melodies Themes Motives Harmony Chords Textures Form Development Structure Time Originality Creativity Score Presentation Instrumentation Orchestration Playability Execution of Given Challenge Taste 9 beautiful and memorable melodies 9 effective harmonies and instruments harmonize more often than play in octaves 9 good form which supports the text of the poem 9 loved the musical content 6 see comments above 6 see comments above 9 love the setting of the text 8 great piece! Average Score: 8.125

Hi @Fruit hunter , It was lovely to listen to your music! I think On Pastel Skies would make for quite the fun front ensemble or indoor percussion piece as well as a concert percussion quintet. It definitely succeeded in your goal and transported me to your Florida summer evening. I enjoyed the details you brought into the score. Wonderful usage of mallet changes, vibraphone pedaling, stickings, etc. You can tell that you are comfortable writing for percussion and that all the parts are able to be performed, even if some of the transitions are tight. Overall I liked the sectional use of form with reoccurring elements. I think you could have expanded the unpitched percussion sections more and explored that sound world for longer. Or even add sections where you more more thoroughly combined pitched and unpitched sounds. (I know the time limit was only 7 minutes - I did the same thing in my piece and pushed the duration to the buzzer.) Some engraving notes (I'm being quite picky for this score): I would appreciate an instrumentation list/page after the title page, so I know what equipment is needed for each player there's a lot of white space on some pages and a lot of cramped staves on others make sure the instrument abbreviations are marked Mar. 1, Mar. 2 (they are at first but not after you switch instruments) double barlines at meter and tempo changes check that your rests are simplified correctly, a lot of two eighth rests that should be a quarter rest sometimes extra clefs are left in after changing instruments I know this is controversial, but I'm not sold that all the staccato markings need to be placed on the glock and vibes part. I personally don't mark percussion as staccato unless I want the player to dampen the note. If you want vibes really short you can always mark them as non Ped Melodies Themes Motives Harmony Chords Textures Form Development Structure Time Originality Creativity Score Presentation Instrumentation Orchestration Playability Execution of Given Challenge Taste 7 wonderful atmosphere, not a lot of sections which felt melodic - not that that's a bad thing 7 a lot of octave doubling and not a lot of fully fleshed out harmony at times 8 enjoyed, but see comments above 8 interesting and successful use of the theme 8 see above comments 10 lovely blend of mallets - see comments above 9 relaxing summer vibes 8 some of the chromatic scales and octave doublings were a little too marching band-esque for me, but still greatly enjoyed! Average Score: 8.125

Melodies Themes Motives Harmony Chords Textures Form Development Structure Time Originality Creativity Score Presentation Instrumentation Orchestration Playability Execution of Given Challenge Taste 7.75 10 7 10 10 8.5 7.5 8 Avg: 8.59 Very clear motif throughout, and the whole tone harmony makes this sound more like a fantasy. What's interesting is that I think you mix the harmony with bits of pentatonic. Thus, we have lots of tension and release throughout which helps keep you on your toes. At times I felt like this piece turns into a thriller, and this has a lot to do with your chosen harmony. The piece therefore gives us a mixed bag of emotions. Sometimes I feel like we are in a fantasy world perhaps in a forest. Then there are peaceful sections which could be the summer afternoon setting. The pentatonic sections remind me of beautiful vast fields or feelings of zen. Then we have the viola sections which could be a chase scene. Finally, your harp runs sometimes creates a mood of terror. Nevertheless, this is a very fun and interesting piece, and a good lesson on how harmony can really transform moods from one to another!