Leaderboard

[INFO DUMP] Hello! It's been a few days, but I feel I also want to put my two cents. I am a professional Pianist and have been for a few years going so far as getting my Masters Degree, and hopefully soon a doctorate in this field. I can understand Peter's approach with a few caveats in my opinion. I want to share my views as a pianist versus a composer: When I read the title "Sonatine," I immediately think of the Ravel's piece of the same title. I have yet to do an harmonic and structural analysis of your work, and on the first listen, it is very much classical in style versus the impressionistic tone of Ravel. Simply an observation on this point. In terms of playing, what will stop anybody from playing this is the raw notation. It is my opinion that some decisions with the music came purely for playback purposes versus how it should be notated. After playing... probably at least 300+ pieces in my life (i've lost count...), you find there are standard notations for tremolos, trills, runs, embellishing passages, etc. MVT 1: Measure (mm) 25: What is the left hand? I am confused if it is meant to be a triplet or quarter note on 1 with two eighth notes. However, that doesn't fit the beats in the bar... Same at mm. 34. mm.45, why are the trills suddenly tiny? Are they meant to be played exactly, or are they only a suggestion? mm.64 is a little weird in the right hand with such quick thumb hops. It would be better to alternate constantly than hitting the thumb twice. It's asking for tension. mm.125, the left hand is still confusing and a little more so than before. MVT 2: Pianist's do not always need pedal markings to know when to pedal. Since you notated the pedal for the same rate, you can write it for the first few bars and at.. bar 5 for example, write "Ped. Simile". This tells us that you want the pedal to be the same the entire time. It also de-clutters the score and makes it easy on our eyes. To the clutter point, there are too many systems on one page sometimes. It makes it overwhelming for our eyes. You can shorten the systems to 4 measures as a way to help or limit the mvt to 5 staves per page. It will make it really nice to see on the page. mm.11 is confusing in this movement as the left hand notation is broken and feels misplaced. MVT 3: mm.59... we... can't do piano-fortes on a single note... A piano cannot crescendo on a single note once it's been struck. So.. is it piano, or forte? mm.74, I think it is better to write it as a 6-tuplet versus two triplets. Same at mm.90 mm.98-129. Be careful here, you keep the rhythmic pattern the same, but the interval sizes change all the time. This means the hand is constantly changing size and expanding and contracting. It will make it hard to play well, fast and consistent. It would be more comfortable if you kept the same intervals for longer. mm.146 onward: please just use the regular arpeggio sign. The one with the arrow is redundant and just means the same thing. It is uncommon notation for standard piano repertoire. mm.234: most likely, it will be played a little slower for clarity when done live. mm.386, yeah.... unlikely to be played that fast. Even with normal arpeggio fingerings, It will be played slower. mm.396-397 will be played as a glissando. Better to write that in too for clarity. Overall, it is very difficult and more importantly very uncomfortable for the hands. Specifically, you start the movements in a fine capacity, yet, it gets really hard to play near the ends of MVT 1 & 3. Please do not let this comment discourage you and I only wish to shed light into how a pianist would tackle this. It has potential to be programmed into a recital, and if you were to sit down and work out the kinks, I think the product will be swell.

Since this is in essence a revised version of my earlier Enharmonic Perpetual Canon No. 3, whose single contrapuntal flaw replicated across all voices required a modification of an octave leap which ultimately ended up necessitating a transposition of the whole canon a perfect fourth higher, I decided to change the title of the entire series thus far to "Pantonal Perpetual Canons", as the previous title didn't quite serve as an accurate descriptor of the technicalities within the compositional process that gave rise to these pieces. Due to the necessary integral transposition of this work, however, the coda's newly resulting ending key (F-sharp/G-flat major), the only key along with its relative D-sharp/E-flat minor that displays an equal number of accidentals when enharmonized, far too many inconsistencies relating to the enharmonization of melodic intervals can be found in this version. Normally I would have managed to transcribe the melodic theme across all its internal transpositions in a way capable of satisfying apparent melodic continuity throughout the notation process, but due to the ambivalent quality of this key when it comes to enharmonization, not even the coda could be perfectly transcribed without far too many double accidentals. As such, as much as it irks me to see it like this, I have had no choice but to leave the currently notated version of this canon as is. The choral lyrics of this canon (once again, in Latin) translate as follows: "Change is inevitable in all things. Everything flows in the balance of those who are tempestive." As for the coda, its own lyrics further drive the meaning of these aphorisms to greater clarity and realization. YouTube video link:

Hello @Luis Hernández! Having just listened to your orchestration in comparison to the original piano work, I must say that the brass orchestration perfectly matches the character of the “Hunting Song.” The piano version is also beautiful, but it doesn't convey the image of a forest where hunters play before or after the hunt as strongly—perhaps this was also because the recording I heard was at a much faster tempo, which would have been uncomfortable for horns, trumpets, and trombones. In the semiquaver runs, the french horns sound somewhat to „soft“ what might not be the case in a live recording (while the trumpets retain their typical brass timbre), but despite such nitpicks concerning the realism of the software reproduction, the entire piece sounds well balanced and there is nothing „rattling“ (that’s what I call it whenever there is something that had to be improved according to the listening impression). A beautiful, authentic orchestration of a classical piece that captivates with its very own character!

It's been a long time! I used to frequent this forum in my 20s, now I'm 42 years old, living abroad, haven't really written any music in the last decade, but I never fully gave up on writing music. It's time to fix my writer's block. I'm setting up this topic as a challenge to myself. Writing music in my 20s was something that came very slowly and painfully as I am a massive perfectionist and not terribly disciplined. So this plan is designed to cure me of that. - Only writing fragments for now. No aiming for completed pieces. - Focusing on practicing use of musical elements I like, experimentation over destination. - Loosely tracking my time in order to force something out the door, rather than get stuck on revisions. - Long term learning goal is to build the skills to write hybrid electronic/orchestral music for games. If anyone wants to take on this challenge with me, feel free, and you are welcome to post things here. For my part, the pacing is starting at one small post per week. As I feel able, I may increase that. Music will be hosted on flat.io and eventually Soundcloud, and linked here by Sunday evening USA-Eastern time, which is Monday morning my time. Feedback is welcomed, but I will be trying to take feedback lightly and focus on quantity of music creation, on volume, rather than refining the quality. First entry: https://flat.io/score/69930d12f4b7f4206442ca2c-sus-slash?sharingKey=4f68cd0e43730c91e48416b8978810ab0c63680a3161fb07fbfcbc75e85c135b02a6f15102ff10978621f147508f16a2ade8791783c86664bb7ed9f0e3b671f9 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=14lZ2g_oCxI For this eight-bar melody, I chose the musical element described in the above youtube video - suspended chords above a slash bass note, essentially sparsely voiced tall chords. I wasn't following any particular progression principles, just whatever sounded good, but trying to follow the structure of the chords described in the video. Couldn't quite nail down the last chord, sorry it's unsatisfying, but according to the rules we are moving on!

Hi luderart, I am approaching your music as a performer. If I were sitting at the piano and you handed me this, these are the questions and suggestions I would have: 1) The first thing that stands out to me is the metronome marking. You indicate the quarter note receives the beat at 140 beats per minute. Yet, your starting time signature is 6/8. You need to indicate what the dotted quarter note receives. 2) The writing is pianistic; I can play this and it fits in my hands well. However, adding fingerings, articulations, and music shapes would prove your technical intentions. Example A demonstrates a finger alternation technique. Chopin's Grand Waltz Brillante, Op. 18, is a good example of this technique. Example B tells me to use the same finger on the repeated notes. 3) Measure 14 is slightly confusing because of the way it's presented to me. The time signature is now 9/8 and I have a dotted quarter note on beat 6, not 7. You also have a staccato marking on the dotted quarter note. Did you want it to be short? Example A depicts the music as you've written it, but with a display in accordance with the meter of 9/8. Example B depicts the note on beat 6 as short. I hope my approach finds some consideration with you, Patrick

Hello @Fugax Contrapunctus! I really enjoyed listening to your revised canon, as it sounds very harmonious and has a constant flow that could perhaps go on forever, musically underscoring the lyrics. As reading your introduction, I see how much effort you’ve invested to make the piece what it ultimately is, and that you have dealt with the challenges to finally find a satisfactory enharmonic notation that is both harmonically correct and easy to read, so I have not gone into detail about your score. Surprisingly, although the rhythmic texture consists of only a few motifs that are repeated dozens, if not hundreds, of times as they move through the voices and instruments, it is not boring, but illuminates the theme from so many different angles until it reaches the coda, which initially introduces more tension and finally resolves. In this context, I am reminded of Bach's D major fugue from WTC2, BWV 874, which also repeats its short fugue subject extensively. Now for some thoughts that should be understood not as criticism but as questions I am asking myself: Your canons, especially this one, are magnificent examples of how contrapuntal imitation techniques can be brought to absolute perfection. However, I am not sure whether a cycle of, say, six or twelve such canons would be presentable in a live performance for an audience other than a highly educated one. For such a purpose, I could imagine that the canons should alternate with “less demanding” pieces, such as fugues, chorales, etc. (That could also be the reason why The Art of Fugue contains only two canons, as far as I remember ...)

@interlect I appreciate the comments! I must admit I am a little confused. The work acts a means to capture differents scenes about the ocean. In order, they read as follows: 1. The Shore | Waves Crashing 2. Sailing over the Waves 3. Swimming | Seeing the sea life 4. Getting lost 5. Seeing a whale 6. Travelling to the shore | Sailing 7. Returning to the shore 8. End The competition also has a minimum length requirement and there is not enough time for me to completely overhaul the piece for the chance of creating something so original it will wow older professional musicians. This has already taken 3 months of work over the last year in on and off periods and is meant to be a little programmatic so it can fit other concert cycles. I think it is both a piece fun to play as an ensemble and fun for the audience as there are a lot of things that one can imagine when listening and not have it feel stagnant. My reservations are with the execution as I feel the flutes, harp or certain instruments will get lost in the texture(s).

Hello Luis Very Impressed by your Presentation, i presume this is a "Cover" of Mendelssohn. Which means if you can re-create such a Complex piece, then creating your own "Original Composition" will be No Problem at all. Regarding the Production quality, im amazed how Crystal-Clear the treble Range is, i hope to match that pristine sound hopefully one day. In the Meantime i shall be looking out for an Original-Composition from you soon, as i know you can do it, and do it really well.

A+ for presentation, something I lack around here. I love how detailed your score was, and that you posted multiple versions to appease any taste in reading along. I preferred the color coding, as I'll admit I got lost in the thick of dissonance trying to find synergy with the theme, but your score made it very clear and more enjoyable for me. I was really intrigued by the chromaticism and dissonance. It sounded too harsh at times, but the more I listened I got used to the language and texture and it flowed really well for me. Forgive my ignorance, but I've never really been into fugues. I don't know/forget all the intricacies involved, but your ledger of HOW you wrote it was very helpful and dare I say educational for me. The amount of effort you put into detailing your music was enlightening as well as lovely to hear. Thanks for posting this, as well as being involved in the forum! I can't speak for everyone, but the music I post here is barely heard by the people around me, and a community that is aligned with my passion AND that I get to help grow has a special place in my heart. It's people like you that help keep YC alive 🙂 Cheers friend, well done

This is an orchestration exercise, and my solution.

Hello @Luis Hernández, I’m sorry, but today I’m writing only silly comments …. For the first moment I thought it were a piano exercise how to play a crescendo on a long, tied note and how to perform a tremolo just on a single note … 🤣 But no, its seriously! And your solution is a great example what can be done with orchestration if the underlying piece of music (or sketch) is well crafted! Thus it shows, that one should first compose the piece for piano (for example) or for a small ensemble before going to the full orchestration. (Unfortunately there was no score and reading from the video was a bit uncomfortable, since relatively small ...) Very enjoyed.

Hello @muchen_, usually I try to point out first the positive things before giving slightly critical remarks. But the first impression of your chorus was „there is something wrong with it“. But now, after thinking a while about it, I hope my comment will be positive, too – while surely a bit silly. The first impression of the recording was: „much too fast!“ (what doesn’t matter as long as it’s a sketch only). On the other hand, I see your well done counterpuntual approach – even with figured bass. But reading the more „romantic“ lyrics from Goethe, I have the next mismatch in my imagination. With the lyrics I’m reminded on the famous painting „Goethe in the Roman Campagna“ which expresses the connection with nature (and perhaps with nymphs …). While thinking on baroque, I see men and women wearing wigs. And that either in the context of religious seriosity (Bach) or being part of a somewhat decadent party (sometimes Handel) 😃 What can we now do with the piece? As you intend to create a piece in rondo-form, I could imagine that you could express those „clashes“ I described above in an intentional manner, achieving a piece which does not take itself too seriously, but should be well crafted: So you could, for example • not only „transpose“ or develop the A’ section in the dominant key, but introduce more far scales, such as lydian (augmented) and (Spanish) phrygian, creating an interesting and more contemporary harmony. There are just famous examples here in the forum, such as from @PeterthePapercomPoser’s Persichetti exercises. • refrain from the counterpuntual approach in the B and C sections to make them it really „romantic“ (or even „jazzy“???) I don’t know if anything from that what I wrote today was helpful, but hope that you’ll enjoy working on you chorus further.

Hello @MK_Piano, I'm afraid my comments are nice, but perhaps not very helpful in terms of the desired feedback on the ensemble execution etc. Regarding the review of @interlect, I would not be as critical proposing to throw away the first half waiting for the „action“. Let me put it in my own words: there is no lack of „originality“ in the sense that something unexpected has to happen in order to capture the audience and the judges or that the piece is „boring“ in the first half. I think, you have done an excellent job to express the scenes about the ocean musically, and with your program notes in mind, I can imagine exactly which scene your music is actually „painting“. (And even without the knowledge about the meaning of the eight scenes, my imagination while listening would be very similar.) But the objection that the jurors could quickly lose their attention cannot be dismissed out of hand. I think that is an inherent „issue“ or „danger“ (whatever one likes to call it) of „programmatic music“, which is perfect in telling stories and depicting visual scenes or emotions. However - and that is my personal taste or preference as a composer which usually uses contrapuntual technique - there is no standalone musical theme which is exposed prominently at the beginning of the piece and than developed throughout the piece creating the required recognition effect (as opposed to, for example, Beethoven's 5th Symphony, to give an extreme example). In your first scene „The Shore, Waves Crashing“ you have musically painted that shore and the waves (for about 25 seconds) with timpani and base instruments. So perhaps it would be enough time to introduce a melody in these bars that is already present and developed further later in the piece? One could imagine a person sitting on the shore playing the melody on the guitar (or something like that)? A short sentence about the score, more for my curiosity: I noticed that there are in all of your scores HUGE meter signatures. Is there a specific reason for this (e.g. it is common for conductors to enter such time signatures for better readability?). While everything else is very small in a score for such a large orchestra, does this really help? Finally, my best wishes and luck in the competition! Wieland

MP3 Play / pause Prelude in C# minor 0:13 2:13 volume > next menu Prelude in C# minor > next PDF Prelude in C# minor I don't think you should extend it. It is a prelude. Anyways, nice prelude, with innovative ideas.

Sonatine 649 Bars, 10 Minutes and 23 Seconds By TristanTheTristanTheTristanTheTristanTheTristanTheTristanTheTristanTheTristanTheTristanTheTristanTheTristanTheTristanTheTristanTheTristanTheTristanTheTristanTheTristanTheTristanTheTristanTheTristanTheTristanTheTristanTheTristanTheTristanTheTristanTheTristanTheTristanTheTristanTheTristanTheTristanTheTristanTheTristanTheTristanTheTristanTheTristanTheTristanTheTristanTheTristanTheTristanTheTristanTheTristanTheTristanTheTristanTheTristanTheTristanTheTristanTheTristanTheTristanTheTristanTheTristanTheTristanTheTristanTheTristanTheTristanTheTristanTheTristanTheTristanTheTristanTheTristanTheTristanTheTristanTheTristanTheTristanTheTristanTheTristanTheTristanTheTristanTheTristanTheTristanTheTristanTheTristanTheTristanTheTristanTheTristanTheTristanTheTristanTheTristanTheTristanTheTristanTheTristanTheTristanTheTristanTheTristanTheTristanTheTristanTheTristanTheTristanTheTristanTheTristanTheTristanTheTristanTheTristanTheTristanTheTristanTheTristanTheTristanTheTristanTheTristanTheTristanTheTristanTheTristanTheTristanTheTristanTheTristanTheTristanTheTristanTheTristanTheTristanTheTristanTheTristanTheTristanTheTristanTheTristanTheTristanTheTristanTheTristanTheTristanTheTristanTheTristanTheTristanTheTristanTheTristanTheTristanTheTristanTheTristanTheTristanTheTristanTheTristanTheTristanTheTristanTheTristanTheTristanTheTristanTheTristanTheTristanTheTristanTheTristanTheTristanTheTristanTheTristanTheTristanTheTristanTheTristanTheTristanTheTristanTheTristanTheTristanTheTristanTheTristanTheTristanTheTristanTheTristanTheTristanTheTristanTheTristanTheTristanTheTristanTheTristanTheTristanTheTristanTheTristanTheTristanTheTristanTheTristanTheTristanTheTristanTheTristanTheTristanTheTristanTheTristanTheTristanTheTristanTheTristanTheTristanTheTristanTheTristanTheTristanTheTristanTheTristanTheTristanTheTristanTheTristanTheTristanTheTristanTheTristanTheTristanTheTristanTheTristanTheTristanTheTristanTheTristanTheTristanTheTristanTheTristanTheTristanTheTristanTheTristanTheTristanTheTristanTheTristanTheTristanTheTristanTheTristanTheTristanTheTristanTheTristanTheTristanTheTristanTheTristanTheTristanTheTristanTheTristanTheTristanTheTristanTheTristanTheTristanTheTristanTheTristanTheTristanTheTristanTheTristanTheTristanTheTristanTheTristanTheTristanTheTristanTheTristanTheTristanTheTristanTheTristanTheTristanTheTristanTheTristanTheTristanTheTristanTheTristanTheTristanTheTristanTheTristanTheTristanTheTristanTheTristanTheTristanTheTristanTheTristanTheTristanTheTristanTheTristanTheTristanTheTristanTheTristanTheTristanTheTristanTheTristanTheTristanTheTristanTheTristanTheTristanTheTristanTheTristanTheTristanTheTristanTheTristanTheTristanTheTristanTheTristanTheTristanTheTristanTheTristanTheTristanTheTristanTheTristanTheTristanTheTristanTheTristanTheTristanTheTristanTheTristanTheTristanTheTristanTheTristanTheTristanTheTristanTheTristanTheTristanTheTristanTheTristanTheTristanTheTristanTheTristanTheTristanTheTristanTheTristanTheTristanTheTristanTheTristanTheTristanTheTristanTheTristanTheTristanTheTristanTheTristanTheTristanTheTristanTheTristanTheTristanTheTristanTheTristanTheTristanTheTristanTheTristanTheTristanTheTristanTheTristanTheTristanTheTristanTheTristanTheTristanTheTristanTheTristanTheTristanTheTristanTheTristanTheTristanTheTristanTheTristanTheTristanTheTristanTheTristanTheTristanTheTristanTheTristanTheTristanTheTristanTheTristanTheTristanTheTristanTheTristanTheTristanTheTristanTheTristanTheTristanTheTristan... (Continued Infinitely) https://musescore.com/user/96214813/scores/31853885 Yes! I self-taught myself to export stuff! (Not here, Tristan...) A cheerful Sonatine in D Major. Written, to guide composers' into the Sonata Form and how a classical era sonata looks like, although, nevertheless to say, as my works always are, it is also technically demanding. I would say, around Henle 7, maybe? 3 Movements, Fast-Slow-Fast (Ternary-type) Allegro, Sonata Form, D Dur, 173 Bars, 3 Minutes 23 Seconds Largo, Ternary Form (Ternary Form in a Ternary form?), G Dur, 71 Bars, 2 Minutes and 54 Seconds Allegro, Rondo, D Dur, E Dur, D Dur, with a Coda, 405 bars, 5 Minutes, 6 seconds Thanks for listening! (If you did...) Sonatine.mid (Just realized, no repeats are played in Midi...) Sonatine.mid

I've listened to it now at least 3 or 4 times because I like it a lot! I like the dynamic 'pause and go' flow throughout and full use of piano range. While it sounds difficult I would think any decent pianist could play it. Nice piano sound. What piano sound was it made with?

Hello @luderart! Thank you for sharing such a piece at a time when the earth is being ravaged by wars with frightening frequency! Two weeks ago - on the tragic fourth anniversary of the Russian invasion to Ukraine -, I posted my fugue („Dona nobis pacem“) which is dedicated to the victims of that particular war, and now we are faced with another war in Iran and elsewhere in the middle east! Even if your piece – or your three pieces or sentences – are rather short, they are good reminders not to despair, but to hope and pray for peace and for overcoming the evil.

Hello @MJFOBOE! Yes „playful and sentimental“ interaction is a good description of the mood of the piece. It immediately reminded me at Prokofiev’s „Peter and the wolf“ where the different characters have also been represented by different instrument - prominently including Oboe, Clarinet and Bassoon, too. Although this comparison may not be entirely accurate, as the title refers to two people and we have three instruments in the trio, I agree with @Fruit hunter that the piece has some educational qualities, either as an introduction to the woodwind instruments - for example for children as an audience -, or as a piece that can be performed by students.

After I while withouth posting anything, I decided to share these two lieder that I wrote for my Harmony lessons. I tried using a chromatic language and I really like the results (although my teacher always finds errors in everything), what do you think?

Hello, I really liked it. I don't find it “difficult” to listen to at all. You just have to open your ears and let yourself be carried away. I'm not usually very fond of such high-pitched instruments as soloists, but here I think everything sounds fantastic. Movement III is very lyrical. So is V. That gives a lot of balance to the more frenetic rhythm of other parts.

Apologies, I thought that this type of thing, where there is no intervention, would be better suited to other subforums...

Apologies, it's just that I'm very “meticulous” and I like to leave the scores as “clean” as I can. One thing I learned about orchestration is that the bass, apart from being essential for setting the harmony and rhythm at times, is what the human ear perceives the least, since our ears are tuned to mid-range frequencies and also reacts immediately to high frequencies. Therefore, especially when the orchestra becomes denser, it is advisable to reinforce the bass. The usual practice is to double the double basses with cellos, in unison or an octave. The double bass can play only the strong notes in pizzicato and the cellos can play sustained notes. You can also add the bassoon to your ensemble, whose low range is more comfortable. The timpani can also reinforce the bass at times. And then there are other instruments that are not in this style: the tuba, par excellence. And others such as the contrabassoon, bass trombone, etc.

Enjoyed this charming piano work, which is bright and lively. I like the sudden changes like borrowed chords and a quick major to minor, then back. Has a touch of humor, as scherzo's can often have.

I enjoyed it and just listened and followed the score. I also wrote a stream impression piece called The Brook. It uses arpeggios which I think works nice for something like flowing water.

Thank you for your review and valuable feedback. It is great to receive feedback from a performer's perspective. Regarding the metronome marking, I have had that criticism by another pianist concerning another piano piece. I will make sure to be more careful in the future. I will also keep all your other feedback in mind in future pieces.

Quite a charming work ... echo's of "Schumann's Scenes from Childhood". Mark

https://flat.io/score/69ac2e0ec3fb848b0b1ba22e-rainbow-motif?sharingKey=c41a8a0ae1afde60e4d714077a6c63bf9c03d1373a7f7d3f7897743a5aa00cb69e393452925b590a859c557105db3d587e5a8dd6ced3488277ad205afa53e256 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E0Ux3ULOuAU Writing a triumphant 8-bar intro in the style of Rainbow Road themes. Tried to vary up the melody and bass rhythms so it doesn't come off as Legally Distinct Rainbow Road. I really like how the descending notes in measure 4 shift to a bit of minor, underlining the return to tonic in measure 5. And the left hand jumps worked out better than I expected. Dunno how much I am a fan of that last flourish on the trumpet, but... on we go!

How did this go unnoticed? It's a really good piece, in a style that, to my mind, is like neoclassical. The writing is very refined. The recurring motifs give it a lot of coherence.

Hello, I think it's a huge undertaking. In particular, it's very well structured and the themes develop and evolve smoothly and beautifully. To me, it sounds like late classical or early romantic music. The solo violin part isn't particularly complicated (virtuoso). There are some things that strike me as rather strange. For example, the tessitura where the timpani appears is excessively high, although it seems to sound where it should (so I gather it is a question of notation). Sometimes the horn acts as a “bass” in a very (too much, I think) deep tessitura... when you have other instruments available. The indication Qleg (quasi legato?) appears in many places where it makes no sense (with separate notes and staccato). There is a tendency (logical at certain stages of one's training in orchestration) to use strings predominantly. In moments with orchestral weight, I think the bass (double bass) needs to be doubled, as it is what the ear hears least. On the other hand, when parts are played where sections are separated (wind or strings), the counterpoints can be heard very well. Good work.

This sounds awesome! Just curious, was this made using Sound slice?

The Concert Choir of Northwest Missouri State kindly included this piece in their fall 2025 concert program. Thanks to the singers for all their hard work! You can hear them here:

ROCKY (1976) Theme Cover A Classic Film ROCKY (1976) Theme Cover.mp3

Hello @PeterthePapercomPoser! This piece is cool and absolutely weird! I’m totally confused when I try to listen where the lydian fourth is! It clearly appears in each bar on the first beat (to be read as F#, but transposed as E). However, it sounds not lydian but seems to be somewhat a leading tone to the following G (sounding F). And more interestingly, the long E in bar 3 (sounding as D) has for me the typical lydian character. This must be due to the accompaniment by the phrygian harmony of the strings. The chord [F - Cb – Bb – E] (which is very dissonant) resolves to Bb minor totally absorbing the lydian character of the E! Whereas the Bb major chord [F - Bb - D] in bar 3, second beat brings the expected brightness! This impression is very similar to the combination of the Lydian Augmented and the Spanish Phrygian scales by @Gwendolyn Przyjazna in her Iridescence (progressive rock instrumental), where the (augmented) lydian scale appears to be much „darker“ than traditionally expected and the (spanish) phrygian scale sounds much more „brighter“. So all in all it is a harmonically interesting piece and a brilliant example what can be done using those scales (and not being stuck with only major and minor).

Hey y’all! I’m nathan and here’s a bit about me for u guys to have more insight for my organ piece to u. I’m a 14 year old composer living in Philly in PYOMI and I’ve had the pleasure of working with some dear composers and finding out more about the organ through organists and the AGO conference in NYC. I hope you’ll stick around to listen to my piece, as I love sharing with everyone. Hope everything goes well for uuuu 😉 https://drive.google.com/file/d/1r7_C0-58hUB1GVor1YU8SKCfQVdWnclL/view?usp=drivesdk

Just playing around 🙂 Glad there's interest in the badges, I forget about them 😄

yeah, but once you confer with the pianist you'll be able to make necessary edits if need be. It does seem pretty difficult, but I'm curious how it turns out 🙂

Sylva Train Runnin' | Official Motion Picture Score from A Fire Within Hello! Over the last calendar year, I have been creating my first short-film called A Fire Within. When completed, the film will follow the tragedy between two friends: Sam and Andy. The story focus on the theme of betrayal as being cordial does not stop greed or jealousy from bubbling within someone. This score is paired with a travel sequence in the film and is my 4th attempt at writing for Big Band Swing. I am very happy with the result and simply wanted to share it! The style was meant to replicate late 40s/ early 50s swing to match the era in which the story takes place. I sampled a little of Miller's "Chattanooga Choo Choo" to help tie into the railroad theme with the main structure being based in verse-chorus with multiple repeats and a key change. If you would like to know more about the score, go to the "About" section on page 4! ________________ Program Note: A Fire Within is an original story written by Mason Kistler detailing betrayal between two friends. Featuring an original soundtrack, soundscape, voice cast and more, this story established itself as the first short-film made solely in the video game Railroader, which was released in December, 2023. Join the orchestra as they bring you in towards this cinematic universe and involve yourself in their soundscape. All aboard as the saxophones open the throttle and the ensemble leaves the station! [DO NOT REPLICATE]

I'm on a trip lol

Hello @Alex Weidmann! Nice mysterious Prelude! I'm surprised that @Henry Ng Tsz Kiu hasn't reviewed it yet since it's in his favorite key! 🤣 I have a few technical nit-picks: I've recently changed the way I write for piano through Musescore Studio 4 which I think might benefit you to hear about. If you favor the Musesounds Piano as I now have come to prefer, then in order to have more control over balance between the most important melody notes and less important background chords/figurations, you could actually load up two (or more) separate pianos and change the way they're displayed in the Layout section of the program (by deleting the bass clef portion of the right hand piano and deleting the treble clef portion of the left hand one). Then, not only will you be able to change the balance between the hands in the mixer, but you'll be able to give separate dynamics to each hand - an amount of control which you would lack with just one grand-staff track. Although you'd have to put in pedal marks for both tracks, and hide them in the top track. As well as hiding dynamics that are redundant. But I think bringing out the most important notes in each chord and passage will greatly improve at least my impression of the work. Another thing is the tempo. I noticed that you're trying to create a sense of novelty through the use of unusual rhythms and meters. I think it could be even more effective if you included an ebb and flow to the tempo by simulating a sort of constant rubato with choice accel.'s and rit.'s here and there. I can refer you to examples in my own catalog if you'd like, where such rubato gives a very satisfying result (at least in my opinion) and cases where the piece would suffer greatly from the mechanicality of the rendition if not for the rubato. Some places to consider including an accel. and rit.: bar 30 accel. into 31 I think would be a nice paired with that crescendo you already have. Other than that, nice job! I also question the interruption of the expected 4/4 flow of the beginning melody with the 9/8 measure - I think that's unnecessary. Thanks for sharing!

Hello again @MK_Piano! This is a cool big band piece meant to imitate a train! I wonder if you've ever heard of the Copenhagen Steam Railway Galop? It is another wonderful example of a piece meant to imitate the sound of a train getting started and chugging along. It's a very musically inspirational topic to write music to. And supposedly, Prokofiev loved to write music on train rides. I think there are some obvious flaws in your piece so please forgive me for pointing them out! LoL The piece is very simple and once it gets started, doesn't know what to do with itself. You employ the use of the common up a step modulation to try and infuse the music with some freshness and excitement towards the end of the piece. I've been guilty of using that kind of modulation myself as well. But the piece is basically the same 28 measure phrases repeated over and over. That's my only critique. It would have been nice to hear some kind of development or maybe variations? Thanks for sharing!

Made this account just so I could upload this and remind y'all never to end in minor : ) Also accidental Shostakovich in bar 3.

You are back Jason! Henry

So, I've been binge watching a lot on music history and the development of compositional styles from pretonal to modern day. I came across these interesting lectures by Leonard Bernstein -yes, the great conductor and composer from the latter half of the 20th century. To add some context of my interest in this stuff.... these lectures were done in 1973 -just 7 years before my birth! So, they are still quite current within the musical discussion. To sum it up: most composers see a dichotomy of crisis within the 20th century that has continued into the 21st century. As Bernstein states within these lectures, this led to a split in aesthetics with Stravinsky on one side and Schoenberg on the other. We see this split today (despite Stravinsky's later adoption of serial technique late in his life). Bernstein also, rightly, predicts an 'age of eclecticism' in music. His prediction -which does appear to have come true- isn't coupled with any discussion of whether it is a positive or negative addition to our high art form. Here's the link! Let the discussion begin!

A symbolist piece, recently finished, now time to see if it needs a few touch ups. Modern but not atonal. I'm trying to put a suite together of similar styled pieces. This would likely be one of the middle movements. If you have time to spare please give it a hearing and make any comments or suggestions you like - always gratefully received - including to the score. There's one discrepancy between score and audio: I originally wrote a part for bass flute but transferred it in the score to the bass clarinet.

Interesting. This piece definitely has his pointilistiv, minimal tendencies. Your user of gestures is also reminiscent of him.

Very interesting musical ideas here. I like the energy behind your writing. That said, I'm noticing some issues here and there. First, some of your double stops on violin (and the viola in the orchestral rendition you posted) are nearly impossible to play. 4th movement, measure 13 for instance. Third position (III) would make this somewhat doable -but there'd definitely be a high risk of intonation issues due to the awkwardness of the fingering needed here. The double stops mm 11 and 12 also are difficult due to the fact you have the violinst in 5th position. Cpincidentally, the bowing here would make the accent on the first beat of bar 11 impossible. If you want that all bowed, then I'd recommend you crescendo that passage to bring out that first double stop. Measure 31, the double stop here doesn't quite make sense -it's doable, but I'm wondering if that's a wrong note. Bowing at measure 47 is going to make the accent on bar 48 nearly impossible... particularly with the held trill afterwards. I'd look at redoing this passage. Keep in mind with your slurs that string players -while they can adjust the speed of the bow while applying pressure to sustain dynamics- only have so much bow available to use!

This is my second fantasy for Orchestra. I'm going to give a bit more -just due to the fact I'm planning on sending this to a local orchestra. My inspiration for using the fantasy form comes from Mozart's fantasies for piano. I loved the way Mozart took the improvisatory technique and used it compositionally -where each section is based off material from the previous section. I tried looking for Britten's Phantasie on Youtube -but sadly, couldn't find a good one with score to analyze prior to writing this (but I heard his work did the same thing?) Anyways, I also wanted to go off the idea of a 'dream-like' opening as I did in my first fantasy (which I'm reorchestrating and recomposing sections of). This one opens and ends in a similar fashion. However, I've applied more of what I've learned orchestrating and have more extensive brass parts and a timpani part written out. That said, I'm probably going to redo the ending of this one to make it more final. I'm probably going to compose more of these types of orchestral works. I really enjoyed writing this and love the result of it. Hope you all enjoy!

I'm glad you enjoyed it -despite you're deep love of my string quartet <3! I really took the idea of the fantasie from the set of them composed by Mozart. In those, he does a similar thing -he gravitates from one idea to the next. They are really free form in that regard -and this follows suit. I really tried finding more modern usage of the form for study -but came short. At any rate, I'll delve deeper here into the construction of the piece. Tonality: I really did a slight of hand here. The tonality is loosely based on the Phrygian Mode -but, I say loosely as I alter the mode within each section (first by flattening the first note, then the fourth, then the fifth). This is why the section at measures 121 -144 sounds remote from the implied tonal center of E. It's probably also why the ending doesn't sound complete to me. I established E as the tonal center right at the outset with the suspended chords in the strings -with woodwind punctuation to offset the fact the passage isn't functional at all. The chords were designed diatonically with stacked thirds -but the progression created was meant to create a state of stasis. That said, the remainder of the work features a myriad of tertian, quartal, and quintal harmonies -sometimes superimposed on top of each other. I also use secundal harmony and 'cluster' chords (but spaced out over the ranges of the instruments to lessen the dissonant impact of the chords}. This type of spatial placement is modern. The lack of functional harmony is also why there aren't any 'formal' cadences. Instead, I had to rely on gestural cadences which are clear -but the rendering via midi doesn't quite do these justice as live musicians would do. Motivic Development and Unity: In keeping with the form of a fantasy, the material here is pretty much reduced. The material for each segment comes from an idea I found interesting in the preceding section -all of which is tied into the material found in the 1st violin from measures 35 - 40. Again, the modal alterations that I made throughout the sections impacts the segments from the motivic units I used per section. The material is then treated in an improvisatory manner -which is why it's bounced around and manipulated but moves quickly from one idea to the next (much as if you were improvising on your instrument). Atonal vs. Tonal: This is really the nuts and bolts of the entire query you had -so I'll give it a go. I've been doing a lot of thought of where I want my music to go and what contributions I want to make to our art as a composer. I've been listening to a lot of orchestral music of late and I happened to notice that a lot of the modern orchestral works either are huge sound masses that explore textural changes at the expense of melodic or motivic development. Works that use thematic material don't seem to really do much imaginative with it -not as some of the great modernist composers of the 20th century did (Bartok, Ligeti, Stravinsky, etc.) I started this piece with the idea of doing a 'sound mass' sort of American Landscape type work BUT... I got to thinking.... do we really need another? I mean, most of these type of works are usually a few listens and then you're done with them sort of pieces. They rely solely on the orchestration and coloration provided by a symphony orchestra -and very little else. I decided I had to do something different. My response was to go the opposite direction and look at the works of the greats of the 20th century and see what I could use within my own musical language. From Stravinsky, I took the ostinato usage from his works in the 1910s. To me, this was an interesting way to establish a sense of tonality -where tonality wasn't exactly functional in nature. From Ligeti, I looked at his use of brevity found within his Bagatelles for Wind Quartet. The whimsical nature of these works with his scaled back use of chromaticism and dissonance were quite breath taking. Yet, they are modern in their own right. From Bartok, his use of implied tonality. I think he excelled far greater than Stravinsky in that department as he utilized similar juxtapositions. Overall, I feel this work definitely builds on what was laid in my string quartet. While the string quartet definitely is more dissonant due to the contrapuntal interplay of the passages, it too has an implied tonality to it. It also uses a myriad of harmonic styles within each movement similar to this -along with the lack of 'formal' cadences. Hopefully, this in depth look at my inner thoughts on this piece is useful. Thanks again for listening and glad you enjoyed it!

Hey So, I've thought a while as to what to say to you, and well, I think that the more honest I am, the more you could benefit from the words. Just know, I think you're a fantastic composer, and your string piece I basically gushed over won me over to your style. I like the patterns I see in your music, especially with you establishing some sort of theme, and then having static rhythms truck along under a secondary thought. I don't know if this matters, but when I first listened, I intently followed along with the score. But after a few times through, I just let the music play while staring at a non-moving discord server, and it seemed to help with my thoughts about your music. Firstly, I love how you really toy around with motifs. Not only did you develop an idea and then explore it's evolution throughout the piece, but you toss it around equally to the other instrument colors available to you. You're great at this, and I think your exploration into your current modern language has helped you tremendously with it. My only qualm is that your material never really "went" anywhere, at least to me. You would develop these great sections, only to be transitioned into something else. Maybe that's the whole point of the fantasia style you were going for, but I just never felt proper cadences or anything like that. I'm probably just a noob, not really fully grasping the grand scope of this piece, but that's just how it felt to a layman like me. Honestly, that was my only real gripe with this one, musically at least. You do such a great job utilizing every sound at your disposal, but I just felt like it was directionless at times. Again, maybe I didn't fully understand the full picture, and maybe it's written plainly in the notes you laid out for us, but aurally I didn't comprehend it to your fullest intent. Sometimes, right when I felt like it was going somewhere I could understand, we had another transition to another idea. Sure, that idea probably came from some logical nucleus, but I missed the seed as it grew. I dunno, just my impression. Aside from that, I love the orchestration. I really like how you took a more modern approach to the ensemble, favoring colors and timbre over dynamics in lots of stuff versus bits of stuff. I would have maybe like to see a bit more variation in what the instruments are capable of as far as techniques, but eh, it's fine as is. I'm curious about the nature of the language you favor in your writing. This seems a little more conservative, I'm just wondering what makes you decide whether something should be tonal and what should stretch our ears more regarding consonance? Is there a rhyme or reason to it or is it just where inspiration is taking you at the moment? Overall, I love the orchestral side of your writing, and I'm eager to hear where you take this avenue next. You're someone I look out for whenever something new is posted, and it's only natural that not everything you write speaks to me in the same way your latest string quartet did. It's not that it isn't well crafted, it assuredly is, but just wasn't my favorite from your repertoire. Keep writing and posting my friend, your output is only as admirable as your quality of work. Well done!

Honestly, I don't think the number of composers has really increased over the past few decades. There were certainly a LOT of composers who we never heard of -or at least didn't find a place in the continued performance repertoire. In terms of music from the medieval period.... we know music was well spread amongst the full throngs of society as we also have traces of this fact in our own folk music histories. One exceptional example is the troubadour and trovatores of southern europe. There's an extensive tradition of pub drinking songs in England as well. That said, I like your view at the end. Very heart felt!