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Hello fellow composers! I wanted to share a short piece I wrote called Coastal Wind. With this piece, I was trying to evoke an open shoreline with gentle motion, changing light, and a calm but restless sense of wind over water. The instrumentation is small orchestra: string section, double woodwinds, and horns. The piece is in a simple A–B–A form. The A section, in A-flat major, features a woodwind duet melody over cello arpeggios. The B section shifts to B major and moves the melody into a darker, lower register with cellos, basses, bassoons, and low horns, while the arpeggiated motion moves into the woodwinds and violin harmonics create a soft background shimmer. The opening material then returns, and the piece ends quietly as the cello arpeggios gradually fade away. I tried to keep the harmony and form fairly clear, and focus more on creating a distinct atmosphere than building a large dramatic arc. I wanted the piece to have motion and energy, but still feel calm, lyrical, and restrained. I’d really appreciate outside ears on the composition, orchestration, mockup realism, balance, phrasing, use of register, or simply whether the coastal/wind-like atmosphere comes across. Thanks in advance! Coastal Wind Score - CONCERT SCORE Ver1.pdf

Lithl, I think about this all the time. In some ways, I think that pure music has been mostly "solved". As an avid chess player, it's like seeing Magnus Carsen play chess. He often just doesn't even bother with the best opening theory (which is once again...pretty much solved) but rather uses his innate abilities to play slightly weaker lines and grind the advantage out. But yeah, in pure musical terms...even if something is solved, I think there is plenty of room for innovation and individual expression. I think perhaps it was Schoenberg that said something like, "plenty of good music in C major remains to be written?" But yeah, I hear you man. Personally, I feel like it's hard to tell apart really scrafty music and music that sounds like scraggy if that makes sense. I sometimes feel I like need a PhD in music or some formal training to appreciate some of the music that sounds like scraggy. On the other hand, as you have stated, I sometimes feel because of the low barrier to entry to write and share music, there is a lot of really scrafty music out there that people should probably just keep to themselves. To your point about pushing buttons and getting novel sounds, I disagree about how you view this somewhat. Obviously as musicians, our greatest asset is our ears. And even if we are not directly making the sounds and even able to perhaps replicate the sounds on our own...music will always be music. At least that's what gives me hope as a composer. If it sounds cool and good, then it was worth it all along. Just my 2 cents, thanks for articulating some feelings about composition and starting a discussion.

Analysis!!! Title+Bars 1-15 So, firstly, the title is just 'Fugue but you lost'. Where is the composer name? Also, I recommend (personal preference) saying something like Fugue on the theme of 'Insert something'. Writing 'Fugue but You Lost' kind of makes it seem unprofessional. (You have told us the reason behind it.) I like how you wrote Allegro (♩= 120). It gives an approximation of practice tempo (♩= 96) if this were to be performed. You never know. The beginning phrase (Eb Ab G Ab) makes it feel like Ab major a bit. I like how it is disguised. The whole opening phrase (bars 1-4) is is completely playable and musically intresting. Good job. Trouble starts at Bar 5, where you expect the performer to be Rachmaninov. Or Liszt. Or an alien. one of these three. Please do keep in mind that normal humans cannot reach such like the compound minor 6th in the first beat of the 6th bar. If instead you meant to split up in the two hands, however, then please delete or hide the rests. Do mind the parallel movements in the section. In Bar 11, a third voice is introduced effectively. We have heard the theme in two voices before. but now, it is also in the third. I would like point that the rests on Bar 11 Beat 2 feel completely unnecessary, and should just be a minim. (starting on the first beat). Bars 16-25 Bar 16, we have this nice ending to the ascension of a single hand. I do not believe that a rest is important here, as the notation should best kept simple and human-legible. By Bar 20, we already have semiquavers. Nice use of rhythm to add texture, although I don't really like Bar 23, with all of those staccato notes in the bass, although I love how you reused the main theme in the bassline of Bar 24. Bars 26-44 (Page 2) In Bar 26, you continue the development beginning at Bar 24. I really like this bar, and also the two bars right after. I don't really like the triplet in the bass of Bar 28. It feels unneccasary, and perhaps, a single G would do better. The following might sound better on a real instrument, so I will leave it as it is. It is a unique idea. Bar 31, that upper mordent could change to a lower mordent and the lower mordent in Bar 32 can change to an upper mordent. It feels more 'optmistic'... I don't know... Something tells me that is better. I also love how you came back to the theme in Bar 32. *passage from bar 33 to bar 36. Not too interesting.* Bar 37 introduces one of my favourite matierials in the whole fugue. You have used repeated notes to it's best extent at the best time you can in this fugue. Tremendous. This continues until Bar 41. Bar 41 feels too chunky. Bars 45-54 The passage from Bar 42 to Bar 46 is not bad, but Bar 47 is GOLD. That hesitation at the end of the bar feels like you are hanging on the side of a cliff. You reannounce the main material (I lost the game) in Bar 49-50 explicitly, but notice your great use of it in other places too, such as the bottom voice in 51, the top voice in 52, the second half of 53's top voice and the full bar of 53's middle voice. You also sneaked in even more in Bar 54, with that inverted material in the voice, and at the end of the bar you top voice, if you take out the bottom voice, only quarter note values found, you get Ab, F, Eb, F, which is also the inverted material! Absolutely ingenious section! Bars 55-67 (Page 3) Ok. Transition metals are Scandium Yttrium Lutetium Lawrencium Titanium Zirconium Hafnium Rutherfordium Vanadium Niobium Tantalum Dubnium Chromium Molybdenum Tungsten Seaborgium Manganese Technetium Rhenium Bohrium Iron Ruthenium Osmium Hassium Cobalt Rhodium Iridium Meitnerium Nickel Palladium Platinum Darmstadtium Copper Silver Gold Zinc Cadmium Mercury ... I did all of that as a joke... So anyways, you transition into a lot of different keys, I won't keep up. This goes from bar 59. I don't know what happened in bar 60. I guess I missed Sheet Music War 1 (SMWI). Seriously. Why are there 2 treble clefs? do you require such notation? Can't you just use a Tenor Treble Clef thingy? Also, there is something weird happening from Bar 61-63, but it sound good and seem playable to me so ok then. Bars 68-72 The rest is just a coda, which is good, but you could improve it by extending the note length of the final chord. Overall, it is a nice, cool, piece that has some potential! Congrats! -TristanTheTristan

Hello @Martynas123, I enjoyed your scherzo—it shows good compositional instincts and creativity! Here are my comments: Score legibility: The first thing I noticed is that your piece is not in G major at all (as implied by the key signature), but D major. Bars 25-39 should have the G major key signature, on the other hand. Additionally, the Ab in bars 34-38 should be changed to G#, is its the third of an E major chord. This is a bit more far-reaching—but I’m convinced that your piece is in 4/4 rather than 3/4, excluding the middle section from m. 25-39. I took the liberty of re-notating the first few bars in that way: The left hand in bars 40-49 should be notated in treble clef for consistency. I would have you consider revising the pedal markings, as some of them conflict with chord changes as well as staccato articulations. I would actually omit them entirely — they’re not really necessary in this piece. I liked your use of staccato markings! You might consider adding slurs as well on some of the figures you’ve left unmarked. Hairpins are also good to bridge some of the abrupt dynamic changes and lead to climax points. Some of your minims had staccato markings, which shouldn’t be the case. I don’t think the middle section needs to be marked “Minuet”. Since this is a scherzo, you could mark it as “Trio” instead. Compositional decisions: The form itself is well thought through! I see an A section (m. 1-24), a contrasting B section with transition (25-39), and a recap of the A section with short coda (40-62). The contrast of different tonalities is good too. I would omit the one-bar moderato introduction—it doesn’t really connect to the rest of the piece, and the dotted crotchets are unnecessarily complex to read. Since the A and A’ sections have a lot of repetition inside them, I would the omit the repeat bars in those parts. Otherwise the repetition gets a bit tiring. I would suggest revisiting the middle section—the harmony feels a bit incomplete, starting on a second inversion tonic triad and ending on an unaccompanied tonic note. That’s my main feedback on the piece. Great work overall! I’m curious—what’s been your compositional training so far? Have you studied any harmony/counterpoint/form, or are you mostly self-taught?

Hello @latebeethoven_addict ! This fugue has a nice idea. The theme is very good. Analysis!!! Title+Bars 1-15 So, firstly, the title is just 'Fugue but you lost'. Where is the composer name? Also, I recommend (personal preference) saying something like Fugue on the theme of 'Insert something'. Writing 'Fugue but You Lost' kind of makes it seem unprofessional. I like how you wrote Allegro (♩= 120). It gives an approximation of practice tempo (♩= 96) if this were to be performed. You never know. The beginning phrase (Eb Ab G Ab) makes it feel like Ab major a bit. I like how it is disguised. The whole opening phrase (bars 1-4) is is completely playable and musically intresting. Good job. Trouble starts at Bar 5, where you expect the performer to be Rachmaninov. Or Liszt. Or an alien. one of these three. Please do keep in mind that normal humans cannot reach such like the compound minor 6th in the first beat of the 6th bar. If instead you meant to split up in the two hands, however, then please delete or hide the rests. Do mind the parallel movements in the section. In Bar 11, a third voice is introduced effectively. We have heard the theme in two voices before. but now, it is also in the third. I would like point that the rests on Bar 11 Beat 2 feel completely unnecessary, and should just be a minim. (starting on the first beat). Bar 16, we have this nice ending to the ascension of a single hand. I do not believe that a rest is important here, as the notation should best kept simple and human-legible. By Bar 20, we already have semiquavers. Nice use of rhythm to add texture, although I don't really like Bar 23, with all of those staccato notes in the bass, although I love how you reused the main theme in the bassline of Bar 24. (Only doing this amount so far. Still in work.)

@MK_Piano has provided some very creative ideas for the possible badges for the "From Nothing, to Something" Summer 2026 Competition! Check them out: "L'alchimiste Award"- for the most imaginative transformation of the text into music. "Dans l’Esprit de Verlaine Award" - for the piece that best captured the spirit of Verlaines poem. "The Poème d'Amour Award" - reserved for the piece voted to have best captured the sensation of love. "The Évocation Award" - reserved for the piece voted to have best captured the sensation of summer. Of course, don't forget that there will be 1st, 2nd and 3rd place awards as well. And all the participants will receive a participant award while all the reviewers will receive an ardent reviewer badge in one of three tiers. Don't forget that the competition ends September 24th! We only have a month left! Of course - let us know what other badges we could award to the winners of this competition! We're going for French names of the badges/awards to accord with the French poem that the competition is based on.

Thank you for sharing this video @Luis Hernández! I completely agree with the sentiments expressed in it. Exactly — I think one thing that the twentieth century taught us composers is that not all innovations have the same generative potential, for opening new directions. You cannot create anything meaningful by simply negating what came before, or appropriating it with irony, approaches that reduce history to a museum of dead artifacts. Developing a personal voice requires building upon models, which can be quite diverse and individual in character especially in today’s globalized society. To be a truly contemporary composer, (i.e., con-tempo, “with the time”) you need one foot firmly in the past, and one foot ahead in the future. To quote on of my favorite writers on aesthetics, Jacques Maritain: It is indeed true that there is no necessary progress in art, that tradition and discipline are the true nurses of originality; and it is likewise true that the feverish acceleration which modern individualism, with its mania for revolution in mediocrity, imposes on the succession of art forms, abortive schools, and puerile fashions, is the symptom of wide-spread intellectual and social poverty. And yet the fact remains that art has a fundamental need of novelty: like nature, it goes in seasons. And Baudelaire, himself considered one of poetry’s greatest innovators: It is clear that systems of rhetoric and prosodies are not forms of tyranny arbitrarily devised, but a collection of rules required by the very organization of the spiritual being: never have prosodies and systems of rhetoric prevented originality from manifesting itself distinctly. The opposite would be far more true, that they have been a help to the blossoming forth of originality.

I wanted to share this reflection entitled ‘ORIGINALITY IN ART’ (the trap of wanting to be original). It is by Agustín Calabrese, a great composer and teacher. The video is in Spanish (he’s from Argentine), but I’ve transcribed almost all of it and run it through a translation tool. I think it offers a lot of insight on this subject. We must not worry about being original. At the very least, we must not consciously seek originality. Being the first to do something is not, a priori, a virtue. Claiming to be at the cutting edge today, or even believing that this is possible, makes no sense whatsoever. For the past few decades, we artists have had a global view of the entire history of art. That was not always the case. Bach was discovered and rediscovered several times, first by Mozart and half a century later by Mendelssohn. It is impossible to take things to an extreme that has not been explored before... [...] ‘Adolescent’ avant-garde impulses lead nowhere and fizzle out of their own accord; they are like a snake eating its own tail, and one cannot build in that direction. True innovations are rooted in tradition and build upon it. Innovation as something that breaks with a previous tradition, disparages it and treats earlier practices with irony is an anomaly of the twentieth century. In a healthy culture, styles evolve and transform progressively over a long period of time. Eighteenth-century positivism and the Enlightenment have led to the arts being evaluated using a method appropriate to the sciences. As if art were required to progress indefinitely. This doesn’t mean we have to repeat things that have already been done, but the only way to be original is to be true to ourselves. We shouldn’t write music that we think is politically correct or that people expect of us. Every person is a unique blend of tastes, influences, stories… If we let it flow without worrying about belonging to a particular movement, we will inevitably create something new.

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.

I'm back after around two years. Been composing, but just inactive over here. About two weeks ago, my friend challenged me to write a piece on a theme of 1434 (letters in I lost the game). So... well, I tried. The counterpoint sure isn't good, but hope for some good feedback. Fugue but You Lost.mp3 Fugue but You Lost.pdf

I suppose @TristanTheTristan was speaking of the parallel fifths in bar 7. Also I think there is a hidden octave around there as well.

Hey everyone! Happy to share my finished piece - Metamorphosis! I'd love to hear any and all feedback 😁 -Metamorphosis-.mp3 Metamorphosis - (Score).pdf

I much enjoyed your piece, particularly the lush harmonies and the build up to the full orchestral segment that is very tranquil indeed. Coincidently I had reviewed on this forum, last week, a work by Bach in which he depicts the 'winds' in one of his cantata's; I discuss how he approached this. His portrayal was not of a tranquil wind but violent, turbulent & unpredictable. So when I listened your work I could not help but consider the differences in approach. If your intention here was for purely atmospheric music (that is, background music to fit a scene without anything in particular to say) then this works very well. However if you intended to embed a narrative of sorts, there would need to be a story with some instability thrown that needs resolution (you could transition to a minor key and while not necessarily a need to venture into storm territory, perhaps a little uncertainty in the direction of the wind). Alternatively - and if indeed purely atmospheric - you could add more color to the environment of the scene, with depictions of wildlife at the scene: you could give primacy to certain instruments to depict certain life forms (birds, crabs, sharks in the water 😅) as a tool for characterization. Your work is great as it is now. This is just my humble attempt at offering some constructive criticism. One other thing I will add: I am a big fan of the atmospheric music of Jeremy Soule in the Elder Scrolls video game series. I studied some of this techniques recently and learned some interesting things: The third of triads is often omitted for its effect of emptiness to the ear. While sacrosanct in functional harmony, it can be very effective in depicting scenes with vast open spaces (imagine you as a character in a role playing game wondering the wilderness). The omission also helps the music remain in the background. His use of tonal clusters: outer parts may have a distinctive voice, but in-between he makes use of tonal clusters, with a broad range in pitch, that are essentially a mush of tonalities that most often don't make harmonic sense. But the tonal 'mush' in itself emerges as a lurid & mysterious. It makes a perfect accompaniment when, in the game, one looks to stars and celestial objects in the night sky. I will post an example of this here for your reference. Hope you find it interesting. The effect of these tonal clusters in the strings is one of the sun's glare, it seems.

Lovely melody and textures. Particularly the vocal line. I’m not entirely convinced by the final section; the high notes sound too loud. My main comment is about the harp – oh, the harp! There’s no indication whatsoever of initial pedal positions or changes. This isn’t mandatory, though personally, one should have it checked. There are things you simply can’t do, such as this: On the other hand, the harp part is notated by placing each note on the nearest of the two staves. But the correct way to do it, I believe, is to write on the upper stave what the upper hand plays and on the lower stave what the lower hand plays, bearing in mind that the groups (in passages that aren’t slow) consist of four notes per hand. Huge arpeggiated chords are also impossible to play if they’re fast. If it’s an effect where each note of the arpeggio follows the next slowly, then yes. But at that speed, it’s impossible. Each hand can cover a maximum of a tenth and four notes per hand. The chords must be simplified to that (or use two harps?). There are also some very questionable chords: The harp is a complicated instrument and you can’t think of it as if it were a piano. Saludos.

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 ....

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.

A revamped and corrected version of a previously published prelude and fugue transposed from F-sharp minor to E minor, originally comprised of two separately uploaded works joined together as neatly as possible. YouTube video link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zMss1kFsid8 Prelude and Fugue in E minor.mp3 Prelude and Fugue in E minor.pdf

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

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! The reason i don't post the scores is that my counterpoint is actually quite bad. So there would be tons and tons of errors people would notice and i prefer not to give it as i'm still working on it. Oh and by the way this piece is not 100% original, the main melody of the 1st part is from a rittornello in Claudio Monteverdi's opera "Il ritorno d'Ulisse in patria". Of course i did not use it note by note but i changed it a bit.

Thanks for the feedback! The reason why it's blocky it's because i'm using the galliard rythm very strictly, wich is: quarter note, quarter note, quarter note, dotted quarter note, eight note, quarter note (In my time signature 3/1 i use breves instead of quarternotes). And actually a lot of galliards from that time (Specially Italians!) had a very homophonic approach, but i do agree i could have added a bit more motion. About the cornettos, yes! They can play that fast! In fact, for quite some time, about 100 or 150 years, cornettos were considered the most virtoso of instruments, so much so many famous musicians of that time considered "Virtuosos" were Cornettists, they can play much much faster than what i used here by the way. By the way the cornettos don't have ornaments in the notation, i only added them for exporting, because the diminutions are supposed to be improvised by the player.

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

Thanks for the review, and you've been asking if I know these harmony/counterpoint/form. I know like 1:1 counterpoint and am learning 2:1 on YouTube, so I think I know a little.

Make a badge for him at this point man he deserves it

Nice relaxing piece: reminds me of Vaughan Williams. I could definitely hear the ebb and flow of the ocean waves. I just have one small notational point: from Bar 28, I don't think it's correct to have those full bar rests in the harp. I would replace them with dotted crotchet rests. Would also insert dotted crotchet rests into the upper staff for the same reason (rather than having blank spaces). I'd also be inclined to use cross-staff phrasing slurs across each full bar.

A fantastic piece that I really liked. And a very detailed score.

Oh ok. To show a third voice, perhaps change the clef in the bass, and don't get it to the upper stave. Then you can have two voices down there. I believe all parallel voicings are not ideal in a fugue, but it is good if it's with intention. Thank you! Ok. Oh then that's fine.

youreastallasplanetree.mp3 you are as tall as a plane tree I fall asleep sitting up and you catch me I could bury you up to your nose in pear soda cause Origen’s praying for us you are as tall as a plane tree when we’re Lake Superiors away you loom over me that shadow you cast over the shrovetide mass makes leo quake and strip his dandy vestments sometimes as small as a birdseed when i'm a pigeon and you feed me star anise but I’ve seen you freeze before in the falconry store so it must be the phantoms I keep I am as poor as a penny I walk up to your room and you take me I know marx didn’t die for me to cream and cry but you know just when I am needing when you're raptured up to armenia and I’m burning down make sure Origen’s praying for me in one tiny bed we could fall asleep but you get red when you can’t see into me but we ate Sherpa pie where the daisies did die so it must be the phantoms I keep we stewed Presidents’ eyes where we told our first lies so we drank from the fairies you’d steeped and we burned Baptists’ blood when we played in the mud so it must be the phantoms I keep cause you’re as tall as a plane tree when you eat chickpea thali in a glorified body see that Oregon’s waiting for me cause you’re as tall as a plane tree make sure Origen’s praying for me cause it must be the phantoms I keep make sure Origen’s praying for me cause you’re as tall as a plane tree make sure Origen’s praying for me cause you’re as tall as a plane tree

Hello everyone, my name is Vinícius Madeira; I am a 7-string guitarist and composer. I’d like to share one of my compositions with you called "Água no Sertão" (Water in the Backlands). I wrote this piece based on the lives of people in Brazil's rural communities—specifically the old cattle herders who rejoice when the rain finally arrives amidst a drought.

Hi @Lithl , thanks for the feedback, it make me happy, the rain has arrived here some days haha, have a nice day! Musical Regards, Vinícius Madeira

Hi @Vinícius Madeira! This is such a nice piece! I really liked it! It should be fun to play. I really liked the mellow atmosphere, harmonics, development, and melody. I intended to write about the parts I like best, but the piece is so wonderfully cohesive—with every element coming together beautifully—that I can't single out any specific section, haha. And You seem to be a very skilled guitarist. I hope it rains in Brazil, but not too much, and that you have lovely weather. Really nice piece! Thank you for sharing! Best, Lithl.

Lovely, lovely work. Speaking from the perspective of someone who saw this work in its earlier stages, your orchestration of the original piano sketch is absolutely wonderful. The strings have given such life to the piece. The melody is beautiful and very nicely phrased and the harmonies are 👌🏾🔥. I think the contrast between the piano and strings is nicely balanced (especially at spots like m.38, m.51 - it's like the instrument has a chance to be highlighted in a way that is well placed) The pizz at m.59 😩 so good The piece has good form too. The developmental material in the middle is a nice contrast to the main theme. Wonderful work - I always enjoy listening to your work.

Hi again @gmm ! I listened to this first following along with the score, and then, while writing this review. And I am firmly convinced that the piece is actually meant to be in 3/4. I constantly hear three quarters per bar throughout the piece and am hard pressed to find a single bar where a 6/8 meter would be justified. That aside, I really love the middle section where the bass melody takes the focus of the piece while the arpeggios move to the high voices. Ab major and B major work really well as contrasting keys. Perhaps because B major is the relative major of G# minor, the parallel minor of Ab major. Very clever macrotonal scheme there. The piece exudes peace and tranquility. Wonderful job and thanks for sharing!

Hello @L.S Barros, Your music is lovely and fascinating in its assimilation of early music styles! I think you'd get more reviews of your work if you posted the scores along with the audio. It's much more difficult to review by ear.

OK, it’s a question of condensation. In other words, reducing the score as much as possible whilst still making it playable. In this case, the editor (Dorico) does this automatically, although you can change it if you wish.

Hello A brilliant piece I really like the idea of taking the melody from the hymn, as if it were a sort of modern ‘cantus firmus’ upon which to build the whole piece. On the one hand, it has reminded me of those composers who included almost – or not quite so almost – literal quotations from hymns and other sources (Charles Ives, for example). Although where I see the greatest influence – surely unintentional – is with Brahms, and I’ll tell you why (from my point of view). Because Brahms was an absolute master when it came to introducing melodies into the inner voices on the piano. And that’s what I see here, and it’s the richness of this piece.

Hello @Grant Weep, thank you four your kind comments. I wouldn't take it too patriotic – or perhaps not patriotic at all, since patriotism tends to focus on a specific country (usually one’s own). I rather would like to see both pieces, the fugue and the prelude, as a dedication to all people who suffer from war and repression in whatever country they live or, let’s say, as a „prayer“ for freedom, peace and humanity. No, I’m from Berlin, Germany but that is – one the one hand – much closer to Ukraine as, for example, the United States or Canada, and indeed we had for about two years Ukrainian people (I do not like the word „refugee“ very much) in the house where I live in, before they fortunately could find an own apartment. On the other hand, I spent my childhood and early youth in East Germany and East Berlin—that is, behind the “Iron Curtain.” And that is why I feel such deep gratitude for the freedom I have been able to enjoy since the fall of the Berlin Wall—and in fact, I was standing on that crowded bridge on that historic night of November 9, 1989. Much time has passed since then, and collective memory seems to be slowly fading, but for me, this historic event is all the more precious because no other people have had the chance to gain freedom since then, and I often wonder why the “terrible” Germans, of all people, were given this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. But now I'd like to set aside the political and historical considerations – otherwise it would get somewhat off-topic - and return to the music: Indeed, there was an amount of effort with the score – particularly in preparing the „ossia“ staves so that they wouldn’t detract too much from the overall impression. But moreover, I struggled somewhat with the 3/8 meter, which itself is beautiful and thriving, but always has the inherent danger from constantly listening as „hum-ta-taa, hum-ta-taa, hum-ta-taa“. There are a number of recordings of, for example, the opening choir and the choir „Herrscher des Himmels“ from Bach’s Christmas Oratorio, which suffer from that problem to be as rhythmically monotonous, regardless of the tempo. So, to mitigate this impression, I introduced some „micro-arpeggios“ and „micro-tempo changes“ to get the chords sounding a bit airier. The moment at 2:47 you mentioned is (possibly) the fourth citation of the fugue subject in the soprano (mm. 86). And although the Schubert Impromptu is quite different – due to its faster runs – the moment is indeed somewhat similar, since it changes the mood from „darker“ to „brighter“ (by the way, when looking in the score (mm. 11-12), I don’t see an E but a threefold repeated F flat …).

This is a massive improvement from your other versions of this theme. Honestly, I can't believe this is the same piece you've been working on, it's the same theme, but an utter transformation. Apparently this also works very well as a string quintet! Your themes are beautiful and memorable, and the harmonization is gorgeous. I can seriously sit down and listen to this a few times in order to learn from your work. This version just goes to show how good structure and a good recording can completely transform the same melody (something I've been trying to tell you for awhile). Your key changing is also really well done. Honestly I feel like you made a massive leap from the previous version(s) to this version. Whatever happened, something must have clicked!

Hi to all 😀 This work is loosely connected to my last post "Chills". As I wrote the piano version of that piece, it brought to mind the style of Charles Koechlin. So it seemed fitting to make an orchestration of one of his lovely piano miniatures. I wonder how many of you have never heard of him? (I hadn't until recently!) I've posted two versions below: 14 has a different woodwind arrangement of the opening passage, and a percussive hit added in Bar 8. I wonder which you think is best? As usual it's a rough score, intended for midi only. I haven't got round to adding slurs, and the 1st Violin passages would probably make more sense if I split them across 2nd Violins and Violas. The original piano piece can be found in the You Tube link below. Koechlin - Roses Au Soleil De Midi #14.mp3Koechlin - Roses Au Soleil De Midi #11.mp3 Koechlin - Roses Au Soleil De Midi #14.pdf Koechlin - Roses Au Soleil De Midi #12.pdf

Like the classical style (period). Neo-classicalism returns the stylistics methods of the 18th century. We can use Stavinsky as great example. His earlier works were not composed in modern idioms, but reflective of how Beethoven wrote. Symphony of the Psalms is much like chorale symphony by Beethoven. I would include his ballet "the firebird" in the same way Russian ballets are written in the 19th century. It is his "Rite of spring" that is more dissonant and not "classical". When it comes to form, think sonata form and pieces that Bach wrote.

'Sacred Song3' With nail-pierced hands He embraces us, With a crown of thorns He makes us His friends; The glory of the Father and the mystery of His love He has fully revealed to us, leaving nothing hidden. We who were sinners, we who were bound by sin— He has made us His children and given us everything without reserve. He bestows on us honor and dignity, and fills us with life and grace...

We already have "The Évocation Award" - reserved for the piece voted to have best captured the sensation of summer. Whatever means the composer uses towards achieving that summery feel is up to them - instrumentation, orchestration, harmony, textures, melody, etc. Hence, I think an award just for "summery instrumentation" is redundant.

I wrote this piece a while ago, I'm not quite sure why I haven't posted it yet, as I believe it is my best choral work so far. This is a dark piece in the latin liturgy, and I wanted to use it to imitate some late-renaissance styles, without really adhering the the rules strictly. I aimed towards a Gesualdo like harmonic progression, and in doing so I broke ALOT of renaissance writing rules. But the texture is interesting nonetheless. Let me know what you think! Also I added two files, one is a Cantai Recreation, which has some annoying imperfections, but actually attempts to simulate voices. I can't fix just about any of the issues, but I only got a month trial so I'm not gonna complain too much. Aestimatus sum cum Descendentibus in lacum. Factus sum sicut homo sine adjutorio, Inter mortuos liber. Posuerunt me in lacu inferiori, In tenebrosis et in umbra mortis. Factus sum sicut homo sine adjutorio, Inter mortuos liber. Translation: I am counted among those Who descend to the depths. I became like a man without help, Released among the dead. They have laid me in the lowest pit, In darkness and in the shadow of death. I became like a man without help, Released among the dead. Aestimatus.mp3 Aestimatus.pdf Aestimatus.mp3

Hi What a fantastic piece. First of all, I’d like to say that the instrumental version works really well on its own. Although the version with Cantai is brilliant. I’m familiar with this virtual instrument and it’s still a bit of a headache, but the idea is brilliant. The sense of horizontality is absolute, and believe me, not many people write like this these days. There are moments that remind me of what I know of Gesualdo, such as the one in bar 39, ‘umbra mortis’ – oh, what biting, coinciding harmonies. Best regards.

Most summery instrumentation. Translate 'the feel' to french.

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.