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Hi there! It's been a while, mostly because of internet issues. Hopefully everyone around here has been well :) I never share much about these, I figure I'll start trying to be better about that. Because of said internet issues, I started focusing on writing by hand, and it's been great. As I translated back and forth from paper to Sibelius, I felt my voice was more intimate and clear, without the possibilities of what a computer can do. Especially for dynamics, just reading the score without playback has been instrumental in getting better at envisioning dynamics. Maybe that sounds dumb, but it's been a plus in my new writing habits. I've actually more or less finished all of these (there are 24 in total), I've just been touching up scores. I'll probably give a few weeks in between each post, but the goal is regular posting. These preludes aren't preludes to fugues or any other planned pieces, but rather preludes to a future voice I'm always amending and crafting. I also think a prelude should be somewhat experimental, and with each one I've strived to have some interesting nugget to explore compositionally that I haven't before. With this one, No. 17, I wanted an abstract rhythm to be dominant, for the tonal center to be constantly moving, and a palindrome-like form as a structure. This is one of the strangest of the bunch, and as always, and advice or comments are welcome! I hope you enjoy 😁 Prelude 17.mp3 Prelude 17 - Full Score.pdf

Opposed to orchestral percussion, percussion ensembles usually get alot more room, which allows them to position instruments where its easy to transfer. Also mallet bags assist with this. Truthfully the rule about giving alot of time for percussionists is only if you do not know what their set-up will look like. However if you can calmly and easily switch in a quick time, then there is no issue.

Apart from you there's always one guy who can never get "Better than Thatguy" badge: @Thatguy v2.0 himself lol!

Hi @GMoneywroteasong ! I think you should just keep the meter displayed as 13/8 but change how the 8th notes are beamed/grouped in your piece accordingly in each bar. I think this also allows you to have different instruments group the 8ths notes differently specific to what they are doing. I once wrote a piece that was in 5/4 but with many instruments playing in two groups of 5/8, each half of the bar being grouped again differently depending on the specific situation as 2+3/8 or as 3+2/8. The only problem I see is that of such a piece being conducted. In my case, the conductor would still conduct the piece in 5/4 as that was the displayed time signature. But the individual instruments would be encouraged to count the piece in 5/8 if their part was displayed that particular way. In your case you could display your rhythms like so: The notes are clearly grouped, and even if not using 8th notes can still be grouped according to the beat lengths you described, regardless of what kind of particular rhythm they might be playing. Hope this helps!

What is Neoclassicism? I get the impression that many of us have the wrong idea about what Neoclassicism is. I often come across comments in posts such as: ‘Ah, this is in a Neoclassical style’, or even the composer themselves might say that their work is Neoclassical. But writing a piece that is reminiscent of Mozart, to take him as an example, is not the same as creating something Neoclassical. It is simply imitating, with varying degrees of success, the Classical style. Neoclassicism has a specific origin, a particular period (roughly 1920–1950) with its own historical background. And most importantly: it has its own defining characteristics. Without that, we are not creating Neoclassicism, but merely imitating the style of the 18th century. There are a great many composers who, at some stage in their lives, composed neoclassical works. To name a few off the top of my head: Ravel, Stravinsky, Prokofiev, Poulenc, Bartók, Hindemith, Falla, Copland, Milhaud, Honegger, Chávez. And there are marvellous works by all of them – symphonies, operas, piano pieces, and so on... If you’re interested, we can discuss these characteristics and works. Best regards.

Becoz there ain't no fairy tales in modern world now lolol 😝 Also it reminds you drinking more milk lolol

Hello @MinGry, I really enjoyed your piece, and I love the amount of thought you put into its design! It even gives me some inspiration for my next sonatina! I’ll focus on the first movement right now, since it’s the most important, and I think it also shows the most room for improvement. Score formatting: The movements should be formatted into separate flows. When a hairpin follows a dynamic marking, the two should typically be on the same level. Also it’s easier for performers to read when they are between the two staves. Most of the time these guidelines are followed, but there were a few points that could be slightly cleaner (for example, ms. 22, 32-33, 43). The triple-forte in m.66 is probably excessive in a sonata—fortissimo will suffice! Compositional elements: I must admit, my first general impression of the piece was that I couldn’t tell if I was hearing neoclassicism, or bad counterpoint. I settled on the latter by the end of the movement, and more so by the end of the second movement — though I think you could set the scene earlier so the listener doesn’t have to guess. You could be a little bolder in your dissonances in this part, using a few more sonorities that can’t be reduced to triads or incomplete triads. The main figure for the transition (m.9) gave me a little bit of trouble, for two reasons. First, it contains a lot of internal rhythmic contrast, more than I’d expect in a transitional theme. Second, I didn’t hear how it connected either to the primary or secondary themes — it just sounds a bit out of place. I then observed that it could be derived from the figure in bars 6-7: But I think the link could be made stronger, and more audible, by slightly modifying the figure’s metrical position. One possible solution for m.9: I would also personally omit bar 11, as I don’t think it’s really necessary. My favorite part of the movement was the secondary theme, and I also liked how it was introduced first in the bass! Moving onto the mini-development, I wasn’t initially convinced by the figure in bars 24-25, though I find it creative how it connects to the coda, and to the accompaniment of the secondary theme. To give it more interest, I’d suggest consistently omitting the first eighth note when it occurs in the right hand, as you did in bars 24-25. It also leads more naturally to its target note that way. Overall, really good work! I have much less to say about the other two movements, because I think they’re pretty strong.

just what the title says also pls give rating out of 10 string quratet 1.mp3

Hello everyone! I composed today a really short waltz theme. I am practicing the "Merry-Go-Round" waltz from Joe Hisaishi at the piano and decided to use the initial harmony and melodic voice leading for composing a theme as an exercise (I used it only as an harmonic template and did not try to imitate the "Ghibli" sound). The first 7 measures use the exact same accompaniment and melodic voice leading. I tried experimenting a little bit with harmony, particularly in m.12~14 and m.28~30. I think the motive in m.2 might need to be notated with a trill (since I think it needs to sound more rubato and less rhythmic , but the trill in MuseScore sounds too bad so I notated like this). Hope you like it and any feedback is welcome! Thank you!

Hi all, My entry for the "From Nothing, to Something" Summer 2026 Composition Competition is a short mixed quintet called "Your dear beauty lovelier still". This was definitely the most challenging piece I have made: making something from nothing was by far the hardest thing I have done so far here. I couldn't find anything that would represent summer apart from giving this song the lyrics of the poem this competition is based on (Donc, ce sera par un clair jour d'été). Btw, since Musescore doesn't have any soundfonts that can sing lyrics, you won't be able to hear the lyrics in the audio. Here is the pdf I hope you enjoy 😁 your-dear-beauty-lovelier-still-musicbro456.custom_score.mp3

Hey guys! A few weeks ago a person in my discord server challenged me to compose a fugue over hot cross buns, so here it is, it's pretty much self-explanatory but i did this as a joke, so the counterpoint might be quite bad, enjoy! LOB 109 Fuga sopra l'aria di Hot Cross Buns.mp3

Thank you so much for the award Peter, and Luis for nominating me. I'm very honoured! 😃

Can you nominate colleagues here? I’d love to see @Alex Weidmann recognised as ‘Outstanding Orchestrator’

Hello everyone, I've been trying to look out for depictions of mental illness in music. I asked ChatGPT and the response was a bit underwhelming. There is always speculation and sometimes confirmed facts about composers with mental illness, which is interesting to consider, but not precisely what I am trying to find. Does anyone have any recommendations for this sort of stuff? Context: I am trying (and have already written) solo piano pieces trying to capture the essence of various mental illnesses. Genre doesn't really matter. I found some more popular pop-like music that moreso deals with people's lived experience of mental illness. I mean that's cool too, sort of getting warmer. But mostly looking for music attempting describing the illness through the music (not necessarily through the lyrics), if that makes sense. Things like depression/bipolar/ADHD/anxiety/schizophrenia/addictions etc. Hopefully someone can recommend something, thanks in advance :)

Hi Alex I’m here after having listened to Part 3 first. Sorry, I missed it, but anyway, it was well worth coming to listen. Congratulations on this piece. It’s beautiful. The delicacy with which you’ve handled this is tremendous. The work with the woodwinds in general, and especially in the first movement, is spectacular. I find it all very well balanced. I love the detailed score as well. I’ll be keeping an eye out for the other parts of this work you’re working on. I also really enjoy exploring and discovering these somewhat forgotten composers. Best regards.

Hi Alex, First of all, I’d like to say that I wasn’t familiar with this piece. Nor, I must confess, with this composer, although his name rang a bell. So I went on YouTube to listen to it and look at the score, and I absolutely loved it. This third movement in particular is so delicate… And it’s one of the trickiest parts to orchestrate. I really liked your orchestral arrangement and, to be honest, I’m not going to comment on anything in particular as I’m not in a position to assess it in such depth. I like the way the woodwinds unfold in bars 24, 25… the oboe mingling with the flutes, and so on… I just have one thing I’d like to learn. When the vibraphone comes in – which is a lovely element – how does it produce such big chords? I imagine it’s two mallets per hand… Best regards.

Thanks for explaining. I suggest you keep it simple for the time being. Focus on smaller scale and short pieces with two part harmony only. Perhaps a waltz or minuet which provide a clear and simple structure to adhere to. Listen extensively to music you like to build up a creative vocabulary. Learn the art of voice leading: that is, rather than viewing harmony as static, consider the linear relationship between the notes that you write. Transitions should be smooth and each part independent where possible. Share those small pieces on this forum for targeted feedback. The added advantage of smaller scale works for intensive feedback is that the reviewer is not overwhelmed by the amount of material to analyze. I welcome you to tag me in such future posts and i will try to offer some in depth feedback.

Thanks for the comments! Yes, it’s largely homophonic as I kept it simple for my workflow and to get it submitted for YCF. However, after being reached out to by a composer based in North Dakota, he wanted to work together on this piece of music. He’s a composer with over 30 years of experience and during our call, he gave me a lot of practical advice for this work and what would happen if it were played live. Thus, I’m currently undergoing revisions for this work to address the ensemble aspect and to remove the dependencies between the piano and strings.

Hello everyone! I’m happy to be posting my first piece on this forum. It’s a short and unpretentious waltz for piano in A major. After a couple years of much reading and sketching, but without a single completed work, I decided to revive one of my old ideas, with the encouragement of my best friend. It took me a little over a week to complete, during a vacation in Paris, and it’s very satisfying to be able to put a double bar on the end! I’m dedicating it to my friend, who plays the piano herself, and now lives on the other side of the world. It’s in a very tonal and functional idiom, and I had no intention of making the piece stylistically distinctive, though I think a few elements of my personal style definitely found their way in, such as a certain motivic organicism, and penchant for harmonic variety. Any feedback is greatly appreciated! (Sorry for the bad recording—I figured it was still better than the MIDI output, especially since I don’t know how to configure dynamics playback in Dorico yet). Home recording - Waltz A major .mp3 01 - Full score - Waltz in A major.pdf

Aw! well, your feedback regarding any other aspects of my work is just as valuable as feedback regarding Brass as a whole. I am always open to any/all perspectives of what I submit here for review, and have always made honest attempts to consider the responses I receive while writing / editing my scores. I am not a professional composer, by any means, and I don't consider my work to be of top-notch quality, however, I am always looking to improve, so any feedback that you are able to give is much appreciated and valued! I am also glad that you were able to enjoy my work, as, after-all, that is the point, isn't it? To respond to the Major/Minor comments, No, I didn't choose to utilize the minor sonority very much in this score, since, as I explain in the description of the score above, It's meant to have a sense of reverence and patriotism, so I tended to focus more on creating that atmosphere, which tends to lean more towards the Major Sonority, rather than the minor one. Although, I made attempts to utilize the minor sonority in select areas where it might be the most impactful.

I listened twice, and you managed to put a smile on my face. You evidently know your stuff for it is very well crafted. I have no constructive feedback with regards to your writing. Keep up the good work. Looking forward to the next upload. ;)

Good evening! I listened to the whole piece. I love it! Unfortunately I am not really in a position to offer any constructive feedback about the brass writing, for I am least experienced with brass. In addition, the transpositions make it difficult to judge the voice leading at face value. More broadly, however, your use of the major and minor modes does come to mind. Pardon me if I am mistaken in my impression that you don't really utilize the minor mode much; nor do you appear to explore different tonalities, remaining very much in the same key signature (with exception to changes at certain new sections). Whether that is a weakness, though, I am not sure; as I was still very much engaged with the work. I will be sure to follow your profile to keep an eye on your new posts ;)

Anytime! To an extent you're right about the baroque idiom creeping through in my example. But do recognize that the classical idiom is based on the same principles. You cannot really escape the 'rules' when applying traditional approaches to harmony. In addition, I did not intend to influence the direction of your work, but illustrate how one might otherwise approach the initial compositional process. Credit to you, though, for approaching composition in a free spirited way. I do understand your reasons. But don't feel intimidated by the 'rules'; they are only there to guide best practice. If you need help with anything please feel free to message me.

@Markus Boyd Hey! I really appreciate your time and effort, especially since you took the time to actually rewrite parts of the piece. That's really valuable to see! I just wanted to clarify that my main focus with this sonatina is Classical motivic integrity and structure. I feel like some of your suggestions approach the piece from a stricter Baroque counterpoint perspective, whereas I'm aiming for a somewhat different stylistic direction. That said, I really appreciate seeing how you reworked the material, and I'll definitely think about some of the things you pointed out. It's just that I don't think I'd want to take the piece entirely in that contrapuntal direction. I actually used to be very obsessed with counterpoint, but I found that it made me way more burned out from writing music. So nowadays I try to use it as a tool but break a lot of its rules when I want the motivic integrity to be the more important role. Thanks again for taking the time to review it!

Thank you! Like i've said i'm not a theoryst or anything similar to a composer. What I do is from hearing a lot of music. The choise of the First inversion is to mantain a non perfect start. The other chords seems also not to finish themself. I don't know if you understand. But the objective was to make the start like an "ambient" music. The melody itself is quite hidden in is length (there all semiquaver or longer note). This is also the first time i try to compose in a sonata form (probably i've missed something), but the real piece is in the development, with primary and secondary melody going togheter. Also the recapitulation is more "classic" with more voicing also for introducing the third movement (which i havent started to compose) Hope i satisfaied your question :)

Hello! it seems like you're trying to write in a classical style, perhaps inspired by Clementi's sonatina's? The opening movement starts a bit like an invention and as such there are opportunities to contrast the treble and bass parts. To illustrate those opportunities, I have reworked some of your ideas (first and second movement). I have altered your leading in certain places that demanded it (to facilitate better two part harmony) and the motivic development to improve coherenceI hope this helps you. My advice: Focus on the outer parts first and listen. Remember the three types of motion: parallel, oblique and contrary Prioritize opportunities for contrary motion, otherwise consider parallel thirds or sixths, Oblique motion can be useful for pedal points (and suspensions if your experience allows). Avoid parallel motion if octaves or 5ths apart. If you do this, you are most probably missing an alternative and better solution. With regards to the development of your ideas You have the right idea with mirroring the left and right hand. But compare my solution in the first two bars of the first movement. How does it differ? Feel free to ask me any questions. I am here to help with anything :) MinGry's Sonatina.mp3 MinGry's Sonatina.pdf

Ah, I thought I changed the title on this post, only to realize I did so on my profile, not the thread. The title has been updated and as of now, I’m indecisive to share or not. Short answer is TBD

Interesting. Reminds me of Sigur Rós and a little Radiohead 🤷 Nice ideas and instrumentation, although the tuning sounds very off. Was that intentional?

Hey Henry! This is actually a very clever piece! I loved the wit infused in the instrumental dialogues. My only question: was it intended for the movement to be predominantly - even entirely - in the minor mode? You see, I am largely familiar with music that contains a balance between the minor and major modes, which I understand as integral to narrative. Effective narratives in music tends to connect with human experience of this world, which generally centre on conflict and resolution - much like plot in literature. Switching between the major and minor modes is quite often integral to the movement between those two states; and the more skilled a composer, the more compelling the story telling. So, stepping back from the music itself (which I repeat is excellently done), what is the story you are telling?

First time properly hearing your music, Mark! Have to say you captured my interest with this delightful work. I feel the structure falls into place very well. I did feel the ending could have been more interesting but overall it works. Importantly, it feels French! Looking at your writing in more detail, it seems to largely be homophonic, right? Is this unique to this work? Very well done, Mark.

Hey Tristan, Apologies for the late reply to your request for comments. I listened to the majority of it and evidently there is a lot to unpack. I see @MK_Piano has already done a great job with the technicalities and orchestration, and even made some voice leading suggestions where needed. I don't feel I can or should add anything further to that. I am, however, interested in your inspiration for such a mammoth of a project - what were your influences and aspirations? And how do you feel it fits together? My won impression is that, stylistically, it seems a quite erratic. With all due respect, the part writing and orchestration seems a little immature and makes me wonder whether you are ready for writing such a large scale work. That said, your harmonic progressions, in several places, sound influenced by the Viennese and proto-romantic schools. I am well acquainted with Mozart's piano concerto's, for example, and I heard some resemblances.

1. It is good to use triad make full if possible. 2. Note that continuously from start to end for phrase, make characteristique for rhythm and line. Every VOCI(Deutschen) is good to be independant and irregular or having variaty. Don't use same rhythm too continuously in same VOCI. It makes sounds very poor.

Couldn't resist giving it a go I have taken your outer parts only, which I suggest be your focus at first before attempting 4 part harmony. My suggestion is not perfect by any means, but be instructive on how you might better approach voice leading in the outer parts. Composers of past tended to write the outer parts first before adding the inner ones. This makes sense, because the outer parts will form the skeleton that you will be working with. If you have nailed the outer parts, in that it sounds interesting and coherent, then the rest should follow suit. Inversely, you will be working with a shaky foundation... Example.mp3 Example.pdf

I'd like to listen your work in real instrument. Very Very good stuff and architecture what I've never thought.

Without going into detail, there are a few things to consider: Consecutives: If your intention is to maintain independence between the parts (which seems to be the case) then you should note the parallel octaves. I saw several between the outer and inner parts. My pointing this out is less to say your part writing is ‘wrong’ than there are missed opportunities to enrich the voice leading/harmony, especially when two voices move in the same direction to the same note without apparent justification. In on instance where there are parallels, for example (bar 7) the A7 chord initially lacks the third which is not great. Your choice of harmony, combined with melodic writing could be improved. Bar 8, for example, which contains only the tonic chord then proceeds to another tonic chord on the first beat of bar 9. I would personally look for opportunities for contrary motion where the upper voice is ascending. For example, with the ascent to the D in the first violin, perhaps the bass could descend to a B flat instead leading to a VI chord. I haven’t checked to see if my suggestion works, but try to think in that way. Allow your melodic writing to flow naturally while considering the range of voice leading opportunities (that is, the movement of the other parts) your writing permits.

Hello, It's a nice waltz. It's always great to hear live performances of original works! It's perhaps a bit short...leaves me wanting a bit more :) Thanks for sharing!

@CrystalCanon Thanks for the extensive review! As far as the formatting goes, could you expand on what you mean by separate flows? I definitely agree with the triple-forte and the alignment part, that's just laziness on my side when editing, and it definitely shouldn't make it through to the final draft! The reason I sometimes wrote the hairpin above or below the staff was to make it clearer that it only applies to one stave. I'm not sure if that's actually a good idea in practice though haha. In retrospect, it's funny how composition works! Now that you pointed it out, I can see how bar 11 is so obviously out of place. I actually had it connected to everything originally, but during some voice leading edits I thought it was a bit too difficult to play for a piece like this, so I simplified it to the point where it doesn't really make sense anymore haha. It's always fun seeing people find all these different ways that the material is connected to each other. I never really thought about making that connection more obvious, but your comment actually sparked something in my brain. I really appreciate that feedback!

@CrystalCanon I completely agree that neoclassicism is a continuation (following a hiatus of more than a century). Of course, these composers looked to everything that came before, in response to what they considered “chaos” in the 20th century. But what prompted me to start this thread is the fact that many people automatically label music as neoclassical simply because it sounds like 18th-century music even though it was composed today. And that’s not the case. Neoclassicism has its own (new) characteristics. It uses dissonance—sometimes very subtle, other times blatantly so—along with polytonality. It employs surprise through rhythms and/or accents that become irregular and ever-changing. It shuns the idealized beauty of Classicism and seeks instead a sense of detachment and intellectual order (many composers omit violins for this reason). Here’s a very clear example:

Thanks for sharing @Alex Weidmann! I’m not qualified to comment on the orchestration, but I really love Koechlin’s colorful sense of harmony and sonority. It reminds me of Mompou in some ways, though less static. I’ll have to dig deeper into his work…

A lovely pleasant piece of music. Remember woodwind players need to Breathe! Why the Oboe D'amore? Not many players own one. Why not substitute English Horn? I also think in this composition the tone would be more fitting. Mark

Schizophrenia is a terrible illness, but of course many people recover and do very well and function very well. I hope your health is good. I am actually writing a piano piece about Schizophrenia at the moment, which is about 90% completed. I will try to share it on this website when it's done. Your Andante sounds really good :) Mental illness is absolutely a difficult topic, so my hope is that by using music, there are some things that can be communicated that words cannot.

Hi I listen to the original piano work; although your orchestration is full of color and is well thought out and quite enjoyable. The orchestra version from my mind when compared to the piano is not as ethereal/light or distinct as the original piano version in feel. I guess orchestrating from piano is not easy at all. Mark

Once again very nice sounding work ....

I am not familiar with examples in any genre of music that deals specifically with this subject - and it's sort of a difficult topic too. I myself have mental illness and wrote my Andante for Strings while I was developing Schizophrenia.

Hello, Sometimes the problem with writing so much music is that it takes so long to listen to it all. I have been listening to the your pieces gradually in the last few weeks while at work to try to take it all in. I think others have made more specific comments, I'll just say a few things about overall impressions. Maybe there are more thoughts after...but I think when you've created something like this - it sort of takes on a life of it's own. I mean from the most fundamental level, I find your music interesting to listen to and I enjoyed listening to it multiple times. So in that regard, from a subjective perspective, I am a fan. I dig your style. The opening notes from your first prelude sort of says: This is Classical music, but the chords are gonna be a little spicy at times. Which is great. Listening to your music feels familiar enough for me, but also exciting enough through the nice harmonies and ideas you got going on. It's clear that you have put a lot of thought into it all. The pacing works great. I'm thinking that the 10 pieces need to be played in this order. So the second thought is...can you actually play these compositions yourself? It gets very virtuosic at points. I would absolutely love to hear a recorded version of yourself playing it. I think there is only so much that comes through in these simulated recordings. The third thought is that you clear have a style that shows through. Prelude 5 goes a bit off on a tangent stylistically from my ears, but I mean I think I hear a distinct "SergeOfArniVillage" style if that makes sense. My favorite is probably Prelude 7. The right hand accompaniment that you do throughout is so nice. Really tickles the right places in my brain, if that makes sense. While you have the "loud" songs and the "soft" songs. I think I prefer the more quite and contemplative ones. I also enjoyed Prelude 9 very much. Probably my second favorite. I'm a big fan of adding descriptive titles to your pieces. I totally get if that's not your thing, but it would be so amazing to hear your own thoughts on what inspired you and what you were sort of going for when writing these pieces.

Hello @Luis Hernández, I’m glad this topic was brought up for discussion! It may be useful to distinguish a few senses in which the term can be understood. First, neoclassicism can be understood in an inclusive sense—as the employment of stylistic traits of classicism within a new or later context. In this sense, works composed before the 1920s could be considered "neoclassical", such as Saint-Saëns’s wonderful Septet in E-flat major (1880) or Grieg’s Holberg Suite (1884), as well as works being written today. In this context, "neoclassicism" is used in a similar way to descriptors like "neo-romanticism" or "post-impressionism" (both of which, arguably, can be understood in a more limited way as well). There is, of course, a difference between this broad assimilation of classical elements and the seeming "distortion" of them that we often observe in Stravinsky or Hindemith. Perhaps it’s in this latter sense that you speak of "Neoclassicism" as a specific historical style and era. Yet Stravinsky and Hindemith didn’t view what they were doing as "distorting" classicism, but rather as continuing it—perhaps as a reaction against the saturation and monumentality of much German Romanticism. Stravinsky himself, the composer most closely associated with this movement, famously stated: "Neoclassicism? A label that means nothing whatever." In fact, almost all of the composers tied to Neoclassicism wanted nothing to do with the term. So while I think it’s a bit pointless to fret over the "correct" use of labels in art, I feel justified in using the term in its more inclusive sense. For me, it’s a helpful tool to describe music that is influenced by the Western art music of the 16th–18th centuries, approached from a modern perspective with varying levels of reverence for classical norms. I don’t think those who use the term in a narrower sense are necessarily more "correct" (though I do take issue with using the descriptor for mainstream 'peaceful piano' music—but that’s another story best left for another time!). Some works I love that I could be considered neoclassical, albeit in different ways:

@PeterthePapercomPoser That’s true, you’ve highlighted some of the interesting aspects of the style. This symphony is marvellous and very subtle. We could give other, much more ‘intense’ examples. If we don’t pay close attention, this sounds like ‘Mozart’, doesn’t it? But, for example, coming from D major, in bar 11, there’s a sudden (unprepared) modulation to C major. That wouldn’t happen in the Classical period. Another example is those tremendous leaps in the first violins a little further on.

Perhaps my favorite "Neoclassical" work is Prokofiev's 1st Symphony - labeled as "Classical". With it's Gavotte instead of a Minuet, it clearly derives it's stylistic and formal ideas from the Baroque period but in a way that is more tongue-in-cheek. A characteristic of this symphony is its unusual harmonic progressions that don't appear anywhere in the Classical period - namely, what has been dubbed as "shifted tonality" with liberal use of planing which introduces forbidden parallelism into the harmony. This kind of approach to harmony would usually not be allowed in the Classical period, but in Neoclassicism is more copious. The inclusion of the Gavotte instead of a Minuet, opens up a whole world of possibility in including all kinds of different Baroque dances in the Symphony and harkens back to the Baroque Dance Suite itself as being one of the originators of the development of the Symphony.

You're absolutely correct actually, I used the Modern Italian form of the term as opposed to the older, archaic spelling often used in character markings. Thank you for the pointer. The tempo markings I normally used a while back, especially in 6/8 time signature, are often problematic due note value being referenced as a dotted quarter note, ergo implying a binary subdivision where in practice the character of the piece transmits a more ternary character, probably more suited to a 3/4 time signature with a regular quarter note tempo marking. I shall take this into account for future compositions to which such criteria may apply. Thank you kindly for your review. Considering you mentioned the theme of the fugue as innovative, I will take the liberty to share with you a fugue by fellow forum member @mossy84 , whose subject was derived from this very one (https://www.youngcomposers.com/t45451/fugue-using-a-subject-from-fugax-contrapunctus), as well as another one of my previous fugues with a rising chromatic subject, considering its similarity with this fugue's main countersubject (https://www.youngcomposers.com/t45086/fugue-in-g-sharp-minor-no17). Hope you enjoy! -Fugax Contrapunctus

Prelude This is a nice piece. I like it! It has a surprisingly 'full' feel to it. I like how you have used dotted rhythm in the piece to create a setious yet playful emotion. I really like these 123-123 feels. Great! I am pretty sure that it is 'leggiero' not 'leggero' though. Fugue Interesting. The theme is innovative. I don't understand the tempo marking. This is otherwise a lovely piece, and the Picardy Third ending was so good. Good Job! -TristanTheTristan