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@Colenbacher Hello I understand your question very well. And I also understand that the answers aren't exactly what you're looking for. Although I agree with them as well. I believe that rather than learning harmony from the Romantic period, what matters is learning the compositional techniques that the composers of this period introduced and used (not just in terms of harmony). It’s absolutely true that to understand this, you need to start by knowing what happened in earlier periods, at least from the Baroque through the Style Galant and Classicism. Because many Romantic techniques are reinventions (“recycled”) of all those earlier styles. I don’t think you’ll find specific sections on Romantic harmony in general treatises and books. I’ve had that curiosity, and interest as well. But I studied the Baroque and the Galant period quite extensively, above all. I even started much earlier with the cantus firmus. And that historical and chronological perspective has helped me immensely in understanding even contemporary music. With this, you’ll see that everything is a continuum; even periods that broke quite sharply with what came before (Impressionism, dodecaphonism) are the result of an evolution. So, just as I did with other periods, I sought out the sources myself and compiled a lot of information on this topic on my blog. First, I provided a general overview, which I’ve transcribed here, and then I analyzed techniques such as augmented chords and modulation, secondary subdominants, dominant chains, chromatic thirds, (traditional) linear techniques, irregular resolutions, and so on. Not to mention that Romanticism is a vast genre and that each composer, moreover, has their own peculiarities. Brahms has nothing in common with Chopin. And let’s not even get started on late Romanticism. Some words from my blog: CHARACTERISTICS OF THE ROMANTIC PERIOD *New forms: symphonic poem, song cycle, music drama, *Study of the folk-heritage in music and imitation of folk-like melodic simplicity, *Predilection for exotic effects through employment of foreign national coloring or the folkloristic heritage (Chopin, Tchaikovsky, the Russians) [Chopin's more than 50 mazurkas represent one of the earliest examples of overt nationalistic sentiments in music], *Break-up of stylistic unity but more individualism, *Higher interest in melody and color rather than harmony and form, longer melodies *Higher dissonances and a freer employment of them, * More use of dynamics and articulations, * Rubato, *A more innovative treatment of chromatic harmony, *Extensive use of diminished seventh chords, *Modulation to distant tonalities, *Use of relations by thirds, *Greater interest in modal techniques (flat seventh [common to many modes], flat second [Phrygian], augmented fourth [Lydian]), *Assimilation of older elements, especially the revival of polyphony and Baroque forms under the influence of JS Bach [Mendelssohn, Brahms], *Thematicism plays a more important role in a sonata movement than tonality, *Thematic metamorphosis: A programmatic approach to composition often associated thematic material with a character or idea. Changing circumstances or emotional states were represented by the transformation of the thematic material (as in Faust Symphony or Symphony Fantastique), *Cell development technique in nationalist music, (music cell = small and melodioc design that can be isolated) *Use of a cyclic device: Material from one movement recurs in another (a technique related to thematic metamorphosis, idee fixe and leitmotive) (Serenade for Strings by Tchaikovsky; Mendelssohn's Eb string quartet; Beethoven's Symphony No.9), *Manipulation of sonata form, including mosaic and additive structures. More organic treatment of the form, *Postludes in the Lieder (especially by Schumann), *Unity on a large scale: merging of separate movements into a single span (Liszt's Sonata in B minor), larger instrumentations, *Finishing a minor mode piece in major (from darkness to light): Egmont overture, Symphony No.5 & 9 , Piano Sonatas Opp.90 & 111, and the second act of Fidelio by Beethoven; Schumann's Fourth Symphony; Franck's Symphony in D minor; Brahms' s First Symphony. *Intense energy and passion, dramatic opera,

There is one other option I forgot to mention, which would be lighter on the business/personality requirements. Library music composition. What that is, is that you compose for a company who licenses music out to television and advertising. So you write an album of music, they get the distribution rights and you get the writer's share for royalties. Some of these companies, like Atom Music Audio, Warner-Chappell etc. provide a lot of music to things like commercials, trailers, TV spots for shows, reality TV, etc. Competition is fierce and there are never any guarantees that your music will get placed in anything, however, a number of composers do make a decent living after years of building up a collection of albums and licensed tracks. How this works depends on whether you're writing for a European company or American one. In America, companies like Warner-Chappell will pay you an upfront amount of money for the album. This is very often 10s of thousands of dollars. HOWEVER, the trade off is that these companies do not offer you any amount of the license fee when some company licenses a track. You do, however get your writer's share of royalties when it airs. So pros: Upfront money can be enough to live on. You still get royalties until the day you die as long as your music is airing somewhere in the world. Cons: Licensing fees, especially if a track is for a big movie trailer or something, can be worth anywhere from tens of thousands to even millions of dollars in the very best cases. You don't get a dime from that. Plus, a few types of placements don't count as a "public performance" and don't have to pay any royalties, such as movie trailers that don't air on TV. European companies offer a different deal and my understanding is this deal is legally-mandated in many countries. Usually, there is no upfront money, but it is the case that you not only get your writer's share from royalties, but also 50% of licensing fees. So if you had a track that they licensed out for a lot of money, half that is yours. This means that you can potentially make more money if you release albums with a European library, BUT as they tend to have little to no financial skin in the game, they don't really have any incentive on their end to aggressively pitch your music. So this could be another option for you if you just want to focus on composing and not have to worry really about networking and deadlines. However, you have to be able to deliver professional quality, broadcast-ready mockups or recordings, and the tradeoff there is that you have little control over your own career; it's a roll of the dice. With enough albums you could make good money or nothing at all, but it is less involved than being a dedicated film composer and doesn't really involve much risk.

Well, I am a composer, professionally for films. Used to do games the better part of 20 years ago, now I am currently working on films that will be doing festival tours in North America this year before going to streaming and such. Some of my current projects have actors from TV series like "Billy The Kid", "The Last of Us", and more as well as Emmy-winning special effects teams who have worked on films like "Sonic The Hedgehog" and "Child's Play". The reason I preface with that is to say: I don't have the career of John Williams (yet), but I'm not entirely a nobody either, so I am probably qualified enough to give you some honest advice and feedback. I could write you an entire essay, but I will try to keep this as short as possible: Firstly, if you want to be a professional concert composer, then no matter how good you are, that is extremely rare in today's world and to be honest: It kind of always has been. Historically, most works were commissioned by the church, aristocracy, etc. for some reason or another. So, if you were aspiring to simply write music for live performance or albums of orchestral music and make a living on that...I'm sorry to say the odds are astronomically small. Some will suggest you compose for video games, but speaking from experience only a handful of composers have that entire industry locked down. Getting a job that pays ANYTHING in video games is hard to come, the games take years to develop now, everything is a buyout deal, cancellations of entire projects are normal, and this all translates into relatively low annual income even on "AAA" games. Where the real money is in being a composer today, and for the last 40 or so years, is in television and film. Especially long-tail income in the form of royalties and licensing fees that accumulate over decades. Now, to the meat of your question: My brutally-honest answer based on the piece you have shared is "No". If you wanted to compose for films, especially if you have no DAW or MIDI mockup skills, I'm sorry to say it would not cut the mustard for even lower-level indie shorts. Very few musicians to be honest have what it takes to be a film composer, even a middling one. There is a massive list of skills, that take decades to build up, just regarding music and its production before one could confidently score a film. I can honestly say that even 8 years ago, I don't think I would've made much of a film composer, and I had already been writing music for bands or games for years by that point. Not only must you be able to write memorable themes, which this piece does not demonstrate, but you must have a thorough knowledge of orchestration, mixing, MIDI mockups and recording; advanced composition theory that involves: counterpoint, various unusual scales and harmonic progressions that are not typically found in popular music (or even a lot of older orchestral music for that matter), experience with synthesizers, creating realistic mockups, structure that works with a clear emotional arc, writing effective short pieces, writing effective long-form pieces, etc. And this is before we even get into: You have to understand how all these musical devices can relate to linear story-telling and emotion. You have to understand "film" at least as much as you understand "music". There's "composing music" and then there is "composing music that tells a story". You also must be able to be an effective business man. You have to get out there and make friends with directors, producers and editors. Attend festivals and build genuine working relationships with people and be very easy to work with. 99% of composers stumble big time on this one. And one of the hardest things of all is that you have to be extremely-reliable. On a film, and god knows on a TV show, you do not have time for things like writer's block. You need to know theory, composition, orchestration etc. like the back of your hand to be able to write on average 2 minutes of finished music per day to get the job done on time. Not being on time on a film or TV show would be absolutely catastrophic for that studio and I'm not joking when I say that being late would ruin your entire career and cost people potentially millions of dollars. Now bear in mind, on a film you might have just two or three months to write the score. On a TV show a matter of days or weeks per episode. You must be absolutely certain you could deliver on that. The composer is often the very last major person involved with a film aside from the sound mixer and maybe colorist. It is generally the case that the score has been recorded and finished just weeks before a film hits theaters. It is for all of the aforementioned reasons that age 44 is considered "young" to be working as a professional composer in film and tv. Studios and directors are placing an enormous amount of trust on the composer. So most film composers started composing at very young ages, and spent decades in music, honing their craft, making connections and essentially "proving" themselves before anyone trusts them enough to score a film and pay them good money to do it. John Williams, the most successful and iconic film composer (and probably just composer of the 20th century tbh) was already just about 50 years old when he did Jaws and Star Wars. So unfortunately, in the most profitable avenues that I am aware of for being a composer, I don't think you presently have the skills, musically, yet. That is of course fixable, but what you must ask yourself is if everything else that goes with it is something you can do and your personality is a good fit for. Another thing is, I'm not sure how old you are right now, but age is also a factor. Deciding you want to become a professional composer in your 20s is more practical than starting in your mid 30s, for example. Hope this has been of some help. Good luck.

Hi @Musicman_3254 ! First, one thing for the scoring: as this competition signifies It would not be appropriate to use divisi for the strings, unless it's for a string orchestra. The soundtrack and the scoring suggests that this piece is for a string orchestra rather than a string quintet, which could have been resulted in disqualification. The octaves sign aren sometimes not realized in the recording, and you should write the notes out instead of using the sign anyways, like those in the beginning section. But put that scoring aside, I quite enjoy your music here! I like how you achieve some varieties with a simple unchanging melody by changing the instrument to play the melody, the register, the thickness/thinness of accompaniment, I especially like the moment when you invite motions of semiquavers in b.50 which really makes the music more exciting. Use of tremolos are great too to enhance the drama. Maybe one suggestion is that you can vary more with keys and mood. The piece is in C minor with the same melody throughout the whole piece which is fine for me, but it will be more interesting if you can somewhat modulate to other keys. For example even with the original melody you could have a Eb major chord supporting it and make the mood change. Thx for sharing! Henry

Thank you all very much for taking the time to respond so thoughtfully. I was not fully aware that, as a professional concert composer, it is extremely difficult to sustain a full-time composing career with only mediocre skills. Considering my strong preference for stability, I also came to realize that game music is not a field that suits me well. I would like to be honest about myself: I am not particularly strong at understanding films subjectively or independently, without discussion or exchange of ideas with others. I also have very pronounced weaknesses as a businessman. In particular, the likelihood that I could personally meet directors, producers, and editors, build relationships with them, attend film festivals, and form genuine collaborative partnerships is almost nonexistent. In addition, my knowledge of orchestration is extremely limited, especially when it comes to balance-related issues. On top of that, I had not fully anticipated that the time given to write an entire film score could be as short as two or three months. When I reflect on these points, it seems clear to me that all of the accompanying factors—the lifestyle, personality requirements, and workload—are fundamentally misaligned with my own disposition. I am currently in my thirties, and I realistically believe that there is very little room for me to meaningfully overcome these weaknesses at this stage. Your response has been extremely helpful in guiding my decision, and I am sincerely grateful for your honesty and insight. Thank you very much.

Thank you, it's very simple. You need to have the MusicXML file and send it in. The panning and reverb are automaticaly set in by the software. However it's a bit of pain to get it to work the way you want, and sometimes (most of the times) it doesn't perform the lyrics the way they are supposed to.

I don't know how this app works, but it sounds pretty good. And the panning is good too. The atmosphere of the piece is very well done.

Hi my Jonathon @ComposaBoi ! I am so happy and overjoyed to know that you love my piece and even STUDY it!! How come I deserve this kind of respect and attention towards my little music pieces! Thank you so much!!! Yup I did chop some bars there since I find the original version a bit long for the transition and modulation, but I think it really is personal taste haha! I absolutely enjoy how honest you are. Believe me, I am the one who dislike my pieces most since I always finds tons of errors and ways to improve my pieces, and can seldom really enjoy my pieces in their own way, knowing that it could have been better. I check both version of the score and don't find the dissonance (augmented chord) removed. Can you specify which chord? I can explain on that: I feel like the original version with the dominant pedal in clarinet a bit too flat, so I remove the first G in the clarinet, replace it with pizz., and then change the second G to an Ab to make it sound like "is it really that peaceful?" by making it a bit more suspenseful, and hence the counterattack of the dominant preparation and retransition can sound more fiercing and dramatic. Yup it's just for fighting the playback, as with the actual grace notes the playback will cancel the whole slur and make all notes non-legato, so I compromise and write with that strange notation. But with a published score I will definitely have the actual grace notes back. And the inconsistency is due to my careless proofreading lol. Thx! Yeah I do pay a lot of attention in the breathing of the clarinet. And as always, all pieces can be better and mine is definitely no exception. Thank you very much! I guess this piece is different than the Sextet: this one is more about subjective suffering and despair, and the resolve of it towards the end, while the Sextet's suffering is less personal as it's more objective and worldly. You are right, I deliberately ruin what I create in the first movement. It's interesting to know that in the first 14 minutes of the movement (two-thirds), the tonic C minor only lingers for 2 minutes, so basically in the first two-thirds the music is under a subconscious influece of tragedy without knowing it, to my understanding. The positive things like beauty and serenity are all ruined without knowing why, until after minute 14 when all is suffering and the despair arisen to the level of conscious. The surprising return of the second theme in its original key is a last struggle, which is brutually defeated to achieve a more tragic effect, hopefully. The structure more or less is influenced by the film Mulholland Drive I guess. And obviously I am no Mahler. Haha I will still cut things out in movement 2, but I will retain all of the passage in mov 4 and will even add passages in mov 3! Stay tuned! Henry

Hi @BipolarComposer ! I really really enjoy the serene atmosphere portrayed by traditionally pastoral double reed instruments. The combination of them with harp definitely enhances the pastoral mood. The sparse spacing, rests and register really gives peace and thoughtfulness to the piece. One strange throught: I imagine the piece would be even more serene by having the bassoon played a Chinese Dong Xiao and oboe by an alto flute, as there are many lower register for the oboe which would sound unnecessarily strong with a low register oboe. Another thought is that, even I enjoy the serene mood very well, maybe you can invite some contrast in between, For example like @Kvothe suggests, you may write some passages with harp playing wider and stronger chords. Also to my observation, the bassoon never really plays its strong lower register which would make some more powerful passages. With more contrast the serene mood will sound more treasured to me. Thx for sharing! Henry

Hi @Fruit hunter ! I thoroughly enjoy this entry! To me it perfectly captures a childhood memory and a landscape through a child's lens. The variety of the percussion instruments, the "wild" and apparent "lost" flow really enhances the cute and naive nature of a childhood. After all we all have been children and didn't we pick up what we have at the moment to play with each time? The lack of clear structure to me is not a detriment, but excactly why this music gives rise to our own childhood impression. I love your use of the three keyboard instruments as the main carrier of the melodic narrative, and use other instruments as "sound effect" which reflects the situation you were facing at that time. For example I imagined the out of nowhere rhythms as "naughtiness and curiosity", and clearly ocean drums are portraying raining or seaside scene, The confusing of modes (Phyrgian/Locrian vs minor) in the b.52 passage is very funny to me, and clearly the gongs signify what we bad boys did (tricks lol). And the end is clearly reflections when your mum shouted "oh we need to go home now!" (SAD) What I would suggest is maybe there are more linking passages between each episodes. Also, I would like the piece to be longer a bit because I really enjoy it. Thx for sharing! Henry

Hi @L.S Barros ! I think the part writing here is solid and I like your more antique mood with the constant picardy 3rd ending of each phrase and the use of Sackbut, as well as using a Dorian key signature for a minor key work. I think the piece does capture well a hunt in a broad mountain area. Thx for sharing. Henry

Fair enough. But Henry did mention "It's a work in four movements". But the way he has time stamped it on the video does indeed suggest it's a single movement. I guess where I was coming from initially regarding the time is that we share music on here mainly for feedback, right? The longer a work, the more onerous that becomes and so that feedback may become more general and less targeted to actual technique. The most detailed feedback I have given people on here relates to relatively simple music composed by beginners. None of this is relevant to Henry's music, here; I am just offering my reflections.

Minuet in C for String Quartet.mp3Minuet in C for String Quartet.pdfHi all, A professional string quartet is visiting my home island and are wonderfully taking compositions from local artists to perform. It is such a rare opportunity for me, as someone who has never had my work performed in public. For this I adapted several pieces I have composed over the years for string quartet and to which I have made extensive revisions. Overall I am pleased with the music. One interesting thing I have been doing recently is utilizing AI to provide perspectives around the rule based system on which tonal music rests. I recognize that some of my understanding around certain rules could benefit from more flexibility and AI can really challenge my thinking. Although where it is terrible is in actual advice on voice leading in practice. For example, if you give it a passage to harmonize - even with a well crafted prompt with necessary context - it will often fail. I hope you all find the pieces enjoyable and please feel free to provide any comments as usual. A bit of baroque Fun!.mp3Staccatisimo.mp3A bit of baroque Fun!.pdfStaccatisimo.pdf

thanks very much! It is actually the museScore4 strings soundest (standard one with the premium package). One must pay the annual subscription to access, of course. But is otherwise extremely good value considering the whole package.

Hello The truth is, it’s very difficult to answer your question based on just one piece. And I wouldn’t attempt to do so anyway, as I’m not a professional qualified to judge something like that. What I can tell you is a bit about this piece. I’m used to listening to 20th-century music because I generally like it a lot. I don’t think this is atonal. It bears a certain resemblance to some works with dense counterpoint and a post-Romantic style, such as Richard Strauss’s Metamorphosen, differences aside, of course. I quite like the way it sounds. I also had a look at the piano version you have on YouTube. Although it seems more like a ‘working’ version than a realistic one, because there are things I think are impractical. The sextet version gives me the impression that it sounds a bit too ‘flat’. Although there’s a profusion of written dynamics, you don’t really perceive any great contrasts; perhaps that’s down to the sounds you used. The fact that the texture is very homogeneous throughout also contributes to this. A piece of this sort always seems to be striving for a grand climax.

Hello These two pieces sound fantastic. I really like the contrapuntal style of the first one. It’s also a pleasure to see that the scores are so well-crafted, both in terms of their appearance and the dynamics and accents. Also, the sound library looks brilliant – may I ask which one it is?

Btw, this IS only one movement, and 21 minutes is a perfectly acceptable length for a romantic-style sonata form movement. Not everyone has the attention span of an ipad kid.

Hey Henry! I remember when you originally posted this piece on this site, and at first, I couldn't get past the awful instrument sounds, but I knew there was something great hidden behind those ugly sounds. So, what I did was I opened the score and I opened musescore 3 and I copied it by hand (only got through movement 3). Doing this, as well as listening to the older versions and reading their descriptions, really helped me to understand the structure of the piece, and its philosophical journey. And the piece is really masterfully conceived, especially structurally. Now there were issues with it, in particular, being a tonal piece, it had some counterpoint issues, and the instrument parts weren't written the most idiomatically either, but these issues you addressed in this revision. And this revision has its improvements, but... I fear it comes from an idea that the original was somehow lacking or "not good enough." I'm going to be honest; I still very much prefer the original version. I listened to the revision a few times now, and some of it just kind of disappoints me. I felt like the modulation into the second theme being shortened wasn't a necessary change and now feels abrupt to me. I thought the dissonance at m. 344 was really interesting without feeling out of place, and that was removed. What really disappointed me was the change you made to the retransition; why remove the dominant pedal for the beginning of the retransition and what is with that awkward clarinet note on 384? IMO it completely ruins the great momentum it had before. I'm also pretty confused why you notated many of the grace notes like this? Was it to fight the playback? It just really looks weird, and you're not consistent with it either, as you sometimes DO use actual grace notes. That being said, there are definitely some things I like. For example, adding pizzicato accompaniment to the cello solo in the exposition's transition was a good move, and I LOVE the additional chromatic lines at the end of the second theme. It's also good that you kept breath in mind for the clarinet and bowing for the strings this time. And overall, the counterpoint was improved (think it could still be better though U.U). I really do love this piece of yours, more than your sextet even, and I think you should be happier with it overall. Some composers here have criticized this movement for having too many ideas, being too long, etc. but I really think that they're just approaching this piece wrong. The piece is a philosophical journey, from point A to point B, and all the steps that you take are necessary for it to be as effective as it is. This movement in particular is tragic--it introduces several ideas and breaks them down. The second theme is derailed, the beautiful climax in the middle is derailed, and the surprising return of the second theme is derailed and corrupted. It's really effective, and really powerful and moving. You're like Mahler but for chamber music lol. I hope you appreciate my praise lol. And understand my issues with the revision may just be my own bias from having studied and loved this piece for so long. Seeing as the middle 2 movements, while also AWESOME, were imo the least polished, I look forward to seeing how you revise those :)

Of course, I didn’t mean it quite that literally 😅 Form and knowledge of music theory are obviously important, I just meant to say that the form I incorporate into my compositions isn’t always immediately apparent 🙂

Hello, thank you for listening, I really appreciate it! I view music as something living and fluid, much like flowing water. Even when the structure is crafted beneath the surface, I prefer the form to avoid feeling obvious or rigid upon first listen. My approach, therefore, focuses less on strict harmonic formulas and more on movement, texture, color, and the natural evolution of musical ideas. While traditional harmony and voice leading remain important to me, I treat them organically and flexibly rather than as strict academic exercises.

Thanks. What is your theoretical approach to composition? Do you think in chords, voice leading, traditional harmony etc?

With respect, your reply reads like something generated by AI. And I really wouldn't be surprised if the music was in fact AI generated. It asks a good question, though: "Is it objectively correct that the piece is problematic because it sounds like a continuous mass of dense, abrasive chords without a clear melody?" I did not suggest that my position was objective. I made it clear that I was coming from a perspective influenced by personal taste and training. The atonal and textual messiness without clear direction or distinct character in this work is unlikely to become more than an intellectual curiosity that only you can only possibly understand. This is not objectively problematic, but when you consider the taste of your audience, it can become so if it does not align with broader aesthetic taste. A composer that does not need to care about that is surely privileged but not of much value to the experience of others. And this inadvertently circles back to your question: "[are] my composition skills are strong enough to work professionally as a composer for instrumental music". In the professional landscape, you will need to compose in accordance with other people's vision.

Very interesting stuff! I don't often hear people having a crack at renaissance music. I'd be interested to hear where you learned this art. I liked it a lot!

Nice ideas Henry! Nicely lyrical. I do find your voice leading strategies at times in need of work, particularly in the bass. But I recognize that your conceptual approach may ultimately differ from mine. I would suggest that for such long works, that you post each movement separately. It could improve your engagement with the piece overall, as most people I don't expect to watch beyond 5 minutes.

Upon further reflection the staff have decided not to allow subsequent entries from the same composer in the competition. This is because it would give the said composer a higher chance of winning a badge/award. In the Christmas Music Event which was not a competition, this was allowed because there were no "winners" (either that or everyone was a winner LoL).

I think OP wants to learn about the harmonic tendencies and practices of Romantic composers rather than chromatic harmony more generally, which covers a lot of styles, hence the choice of "Romantic" over "Chromatic". As for learning this style of Harmony, I highly recommend analysing works from the period (as others have suggested) or (if you're lazy like me) watching YouTube videos analysing works from the period.

Last year, I decided to try my hand at writing an opera. I have just one more scene left to finish, along with the overture and an Act 2 interlude. It’s written more in the style of Debussy or late Wagner, so there are no choruses, duets, trios, or arias (though there is a “folk song” at the beginning of Act 1, Scene 4, sung in character by the female lead). My vocal emulations aren’t very good, and it can be a little confusing to distinguish between multiple tenors, sopranos, and baritones. However, I was listening to just the orchestration and decided to bounce those tracks out without the vocals, essentially, opera without the words. I’ve started scoring it (I hate scoring), and the first scene is already done. Once I get the whole thing scored, I’ll add the vocals, since that will make it easier to follow which character is singing. I’ve included a short summary of the scenes. The story is a variation on the biblical tale of David and Bathsheba. If you have a moment to listen, I know that without the score you might not be able to give detailed comments, but I’d appreciate any impressions you have of the music. Another Man’s Cage Setting: Salem, West Virginia, circa 1910. Act 1: Scene 1 – Train Station Nathan and his son David arrive at the train station in the small West Virginia coal‑mining town of Salem. It’s immediately apparent they are not close, as they argue, Nathan accusing David of being a playboy who only cares about having a good time, while David fires back that he learned not to care from his father after his mother died when he was young. Their argument is interrupted by the mayor, a band, and a small group of residents who have come to welcome them. Nathan has recently purchased the town’s coal mine and has come to inspect it. David is shocked when his father announces that David will be staying to run the mine. After the crowd leaves, Nathan informs David that he will either run the mine and do a good job or be financially cut off. Nathan reboards the train and leaves town, while David is left behind. Act 1: Scene 2 – The Creekside Later that day, a group of women wash clothes in the creek and talk about their husbands. Among them is Elizabeth Hutton, the wife of the mine foreman. After the other women leave, Elizabeth stays behind and is startled when David appears, he has been watching from the trees. David is immediately struck by her beauty, but Elizabeth is not charmed. When David remarks that she reminds him of himself, “trapped in a cage,” Elizabeth quickly leaves. David watches her go, remarking that she is the only thing of value in the town. Act 1: Scene 3 – The Creekside The next morning, Uriah Hutton, the mine foreman, gathers several miners and their wives to host a reception for the new boss. Uriah grows irritated as David is considerably late, and the others joke about why that might be. When David finally arrives and meets everyone, tension rises as Uriah introduces his wife and David remarks that they have already met. After David gives a short speech and leaves, Uriah mutters that David isn’t here to work, only to please his father. Act 1: Scene 4 – The Hutton House A few days later, Elizabeth sings a folk song about a mountain girl who dreams of going to the big city, a dream Elizabeth shares. A knock interrupts her. It’s David. After telling him that Uriah is at the mine, Elizabeth learns David has come to see her. He makes an impassioned declaration of love, but Elizabeth insists he would only bed her and leave her to face the scandal alone. David continues trying to woo her, but Elizabeth orders him to leave. As he walks away, she stands in the doorway watching him go. Act 2: Scene 1 – The Mine, East Tunnel A few months have passed, and David and Elizabeth have begun an affair. Some miners gossip about it and how oblivious Uriah seems. When Uriah approaches and asks what they’re discussing, no one will tell him, though he clearly suspects something. Alone, Uriah admits he has noticed David’s attraction to Elizabeth but cannot believe she would betray him. He informs the men they will soon be working in the West Tunnel, which needs repairs, and vows he will not give up his wife to David. Act 2: Scene 2 – The Royce House David and Elizabeth lie in bed after being intimate. When David asks what’s troubling her, Elizabeth reveals she is pregnant. She knows their affair cannot be hidden now, no one will believe that after years of marriage to Uriah, she is only now with child. David insists that nothing will stop them from being together. Act 2: Scene 3 – The Mine, West Tunnel As the men inspect the West Tunnel, Uriah notes that the beams need replacing, but David is impatient and wants progress. Suddenly, one of the miners hears something, and before they can react, the tunnel collapses. When the dust settles, David and Uriah are cut off from the others, who tell them to stay put while they dig them out. David presses Uriah about Elizabeth, and accusations fly. As one of the beams begins to give way, David realizes the only way to be with Elizabeth is to eliminate Uriah. He pushes Uriah beneath the falling rocks, which crush him just as the miners break through the rubble. They are shocked to find Uriah dead under the collapsed beam, while David lies and claims that Uriah saved his life by pushing him out of the way. Another Man's Cage - Act 1- Scene 1.mp3 Another Man's Cage - Act 1- Scene 2.mp3 Another Man's Cage - Act 1- Scene 3.mp3 Another Man's Cage - Act 1- Scene 4.mp3 Another Man's Cage - Act 2- Scene 1.mp3 Another Man's Cage - Act 2- Scene 2 .mp3 Another Man's Cage - Act 2- Scene 3.mp3

I've been playing violin/viola for over 20 years now and I still find it hard to describe harmonics, lol. There's like a whole physics lecture behind them and most of it goes over my head Basically, there are two kinds of string harmonics: natural and artificial. In short, natural harmonics occur when the player lightly touches a point on the string to produce the harmonic tone. These are a little confusing to notate since what one might see on the page isn't necessarily the pitch heard. I In the example above, it's basically telling the player to lightly touch the note where the player would normally play the E on the open G string. This will produce the B harmonic (as notated in the parenthesis). Some composers might just notate the diamond note on the E, and not have the G...players will know what to do. . Artificial harmonics are a little easier to notate. In the example above, you're telling the player to press the string (in this case the G string...the IV means G string...but the B notated is only possible on the G string so it's redundant) with the 1st finger (the index finger), and then lightly touch with their pinky finger a fourth above (if the player presses hard with their pinky finger, the note produced will be an E). The resulting pitch will be a B, but a harmonic that sounds 2 octaves higher than notated. These perfect 4th harmonics are pretty much standard in orchestral repertoire and will always produce the lower regular note 2 octaves higher than notated. Obviously, you can't do these harmonics on open strings, there always has to be a stopped note. Both examples above will produce the same B harmonic. The natural harmonic might be easier for players to play/find. Hopefully that made sense!

Listen more, analyze more, find some good harmony books on it! Henry

Having read the program notes page, I think you capture the atmosphere of some of the themes (ie. betrayal, turbulence) you mentioned. It would be interesting to hear the rest of the soundtrack to see how the themes/motifs you have here develop. Though, I gotta be honest...film scores lately have a very generic sound to them and this (for me anyways) falls in that category. Some things musical things from the score I noticed: The way these harmonics are notated is confusing. I'm saying that as a string player. Some 2nd violinists might think you want an open E string, which I'm pretty sure you don't want. If these are actual sounding pitches, the 1st violinist would have an easier time understanding these notations (one is a natural harmonic, the other is an artificial....don't really have a preference): The 2nd violin note (if that is the sounding pitch) is impossible to play as a harmonic on a violin. As I said, players would probably play an open E string. The viola one looks alright, it'll be a natural harmonic on the G string. Saw this in the score a couple of times. Wondering if you could move the pp before the barline to avoid those awkward looking measures with rests. Overall, there seems to be over-reliance on doublings between instrument groups. E to the end is the prime example. I think most of the wind/brass instruments can drop out at 47 for a quieter ending. Also that section felt a little...static? Could use some more rhythmic drive (maybe bring back the bass guitar/cello figure from the beginning?) or just some counterpoint.

@therealAJGS has submitted the following quartet!

Hello, Little fugue i wrote today in the north german baroque style. First musical output in years. Simple in harmony, joyful and melodic in theme and counterpoint. Scored for four voices, work well enough with organ or strings. Fuga in g.mp3 Fuga in G.pdf

Hey everyone, It's been a while. Here's my submission to the Spring competition; overall while composing this I did a lot on like, 5 different days, because I kept forgetting about it and then working on It! the instruments I chose are: Guitar, Piano, Violin, and Cello. I tried to make it (sort of?) Interesting with my Instrument choice which of I forgot to put the 5th one. Its a little short, but It'll do. I mostly did this for fun and have no intent on winning. oh, and also I misspelled the MP3 file. Great. spring competiton.mp3

Hi! Long time for not posting anything! I'm revising my old Clarinet Quintet and learning orchestration in the process. Here's something I'm working on. Clarinet Quintet in C minor is a work I finished 4 years ago in 2022 which I accidentally began my revision of it in April 2026. It's a work in four movements and in it I want to share my feeling towards despair, dream and hope. The piece is dedicated to my friend Ms. Merina Fung. Speical Thanks to @Thatguy v2.0 for making the audio for me. Here is the youtube video of the movement: Here is the structure of the 1st movement: 00:00 1st subject, Exposition. Introduce the "despair" motive (0134), in some sort of sad waltz in C minor. The passage in 01:26 is directly copied from an old piece of mine named "Boredom" 01:48 Transition. Follow the tonal plan of the first movement of Tchaikovsky's Fourth Symphony and modulate to tritone major Gb major (which is the tonic key of my next major work, String Sextet in G flat major). 04:09 2nd subject, Exposition. Introduce the "dream motive" (0247) and subsidary chromatic motive of (0123). Conflicts of the despair and dream motives continue, the dream seems to win at 06:53 with its own climax but easily defeated with a bold C minor half cadence right before the close of the exposition with a forceful perfect cadence in Gb. 08:42 Development, part 1. The dream breaks expectedly I really like the counterpoint in 08:59. Modulates to E minor for the transition theme, then build to a really beautiful climax in E major in 11:10 which I really love. Makes this movement sounds a bit less tragic. 11:36 Development, part 2. Another false serenity after the beautiful climax by a disappointed passage in G# minor in 12:38. The serene texture returns in B major in 13:17 but falls short to a dominant preparation of C minor in 13:50. I really love the retransition as it sounds really passionate to me (Actually I love all parts of the remianing parts in this movement after this point). A review of the keys visited in 14:27 with an octatonic falling scale, ending with two sorrowful monologue of clarinet and cello, just like the beginning. 14:53 Transition. I skip the 1st subject reappearence in the recap as it's completely meaningless to do so, given how the motive is developed in the entire movement. I really love the tragedy here, as I even have this passage reappears in the coda of 4th movement, after 40 minutes or so lol. Another false serenity in tonic major in 15:24, and I really love the nostalgic sounding passage in Ab major in 16:01, still base on the dream motive. The German sixth chord in 16:36 must be stolen from Schubert"s Quartettsatz. A fugato in 16:42 trying to fight despair and reclaim dream once more and "sucessfully" modulates to Gb major once again. 17:31 2nd subject, Recap. But when you want more you hurt more, as despair harms you more when you have hope. This time a hard C minor half cadence comes. The dream theme now becomes a nightmare in 18:07 and continues to sigh. 19:20 Coda. Previous themes keep reappearing as I myself used to ruminate my sadness all the time. Finally it ends with what begins the piece, the realization of despair in its original form. Structurally I am not really satisfied with how I expand the themes in the 2nd subject of exposition (Dream part) and how I treat the materials in development, as I am afraid I overextend too much. However I just retain most of the things originally as I wanna keep true to my old self. It's an absolute low when I composed this piece, as I really questioned myself whether I could really compose something good back then. Luckily I did finish the entire work and gave me some confidence, plus meeting some really good friends here. The whole 4 movement piece is composed with three motives mentioned above, as I wanted to keep the piece coherent. The inspiration of the work comes from Brahms’s Clarinet Quintet as I wanted to write a more tragic piece than his (of course this goal fails), but I am happy with what I’ve done. Strangely only now do I find how Brahmsian this piece is. One interesting thing is that despite the movement is in C minor, in the first 14 minutes (two-thirds) of the movement, only 2 minutes are in the tonic. In this revision I mainly modify spots I find unreasonble, some voicings and slurs, and breathing spots for Clarinet. Hope you listen through the music and read through the description, and my wish that enjoy the work! Feel free criticize the work as I know it's far from perfect. P.S. the old version of this same Quintet is posted before: It's my biggest mistake to post an hour long piece here as my first post. So I will chop up the 4 movements and post it one by one now! Henry Clarinet Quintet in C minor 1st mov V3.mp3 (For YT)Clarinet Quintet in C minor 1st mov final 20260501.pdf

How would I go about learning romantic harmony like Chopin or Tchaikovsky?

My submission

[Updated - May, 2026] A Fire Within - Main title from the 2026 short film "A Fire Within: A Railroader Movie". Find on YouTube starting on May 16th, 2026. Welcome to A Fire Within, a project I started in February, 2025. This film follows the relationship between two friends, Sam and Andy. The main moral of the story is betrayal and hits at the idea that 'even your closest friends can betray you'. This main theme accompanies this tale and welcomes you to their world and acts as a basis for the rest of the soundtrack. The soundtrack for "A Fire Within: A Railroader Movie" will be released to all streaming services starting on May 16th! Creating the score: Set into a large binary form, this work is in E-minor and is one of my most emotional works. It is very personal to me, as the whole story mirrors a small part of my life. I felt inspired by the soundtrack from the 2010 movie, "Unstoppable" and with Barber's Adagio for Strings. It was my goal to capture melancholic emotions and an overcast/ gray atmosphere. If you would like to know more about the score, go to the "About" section on page 4! ________________ Program Note: A Fire Within is the main theme from the short film "A Fire Within: A Railroader". Published on YouTube in 2026, this indie film is an an original story written by Mason Kistler detailing betrayal between two friends. Based on the composer's own experience with relationships between friends, partners, and colleagues, this title theme acts as a reflection of those turbulent times from his perspective. In context of the film, this work acts as vehicle to display various leitmotifs and acts as the foundation for the entire soundtrack. 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 listen as they ignite the Fire Within. [DO NOT REPLICATE] FireWithin_Audio.mp3 A Fire Within_MainTheme.pdf

https://andrewhugill.com/manuals/violin/harmonics.html I usually use this website to check with the harmomics stuff on strings, as I'm no string player myself. Henry

Maybe in my dream and @Kvothe divined it 😅

Where did Henry say that?

Ahh, sorry! I am an advanced oboe player!

Hello @Tristan25 Below is my feedback of your piece. Motive(s): Throughout the piece you have recurring motive that makes the piece cohesive. And yes, there is variation of the motive to interest, overall. However, I feel that interest is lost after so many times we hear it. This creates your thematic material short melodic phrases. This is usually fine. However, there is need something else to grab our attention. Harmony: As your first piece, it is fine to stick to more diatonic harmonies. Later, you should try learn chromatic harmony! Form: I am not certain what the over form of the composition is. Overall, it is great start

I finally present to you a movement from my big variations project that I've had brewing since early 2024! Emboldened by the success of my "Deck the Halls" Variations I sought out more popular themes that I could write variations on. Originally I only intended to write variations on the Returner's March, but it soon grew out of all proportion when I started noticing all the little motivic relations between different themes so I had to include more. This is meant as a hybrid variations fantasy, medley, and mash-up of the themes that you can listen to here: The original themes were written by the great Nobuo Uematsu so my variations retain a certain Japanese flavor. In fact the first half of this Scherzo is subtitled "Asiatic". The Scherzo proper doesn't start until 6:01. I welcome any of your suggestions, critiques, comments or just observations. Thanks for listening and I hope you enjoy! P.S.: I'd like to thank my friends @chopin, @Henry Ng Tsz Kiu, @Thatguy v2.0 and @gaspard for their time, advice, and support throughout the composition process!

Since because I’m out of my house and I don’t have two devices on me to keep stuff in a sort of judge, tape manner, I’ll just say what came up in my head during each part So in the structure to point out for sure there are many sections as you could see each are all related, but there is some distinctions and yes, there is a great range of dynamics and beautiful orchestration. The message that you intended is sent through in the message is read how it’s intended to be read.As a scerzo

Thanks very much for your comments! These are the solo violin and solo cello sounds available in Noteperformer. This is a standard scherzo form, with an A section (up to m. 19), a developmental B section (mm. 20-39), and a return of the A material (mm. 40-56). I don't feel any need to have every instrument playing all the time in a piece like this, and the inactivity in the strings for a few measures is, I think, quite typical of the genre. I do think that I'll probably omit the repeat of the second section of the scherzo proper and of the second section of the trio. Perhaps if you're feeling that the developmental B section is wearing out its welcome, that would help.

Some more ideas for the Landscapes - Soundscapes competition: "The Peace of Nature" award "A Rustic Mood" award "Nature's Garden" award "Nature is wild" award

Errr...probably still won't work. It would be better to keep all those runs within the same instrument family (strings or winds). This reminds of a passage in Brahms' 1st Piano Quartet where the piano has a mini cadenza towards the end: https://youtu.be/uwAQ7zVM6sE?si=HpAKiiDPOwnDPdHC&t=2285 Arnold Schoenberg eventually orchestrated this piece and had a clever take on this passage: https://youtu.be/7wzJluXJ5H8?si=th4OTUQ7RTSntfSD&t=2422 The Fauré passage is bit different in character, but I think Schoenberg has a good example of something you can try. Maybe give those runs to a 2 clarinets: 1 Eb for the higher pitches, and 1 regular Bb clarinet. They'll be sitting close to each other, and would easily blend in to each others' runs and timbre. The violin/piccolo combo would be too jarring in tonal color, and the fact on stage they'll be separated by a few feet, making the coordination really difficult.

@danishali903 You are correct for most of your assessment. I never learned the proper format for notating string harmonics. This is a gap in my knowledge and the way I meant to convey the information was the pitch written is what the harmonic should be sounding. Not to start a harmonic on that pitch. In a simple fashion, I liked what was sounding based on the notes I picked and decided to keep it.. whether it was correct or not 😅 If you are able, would you be willing to explain the notation? Are you meant to write the note head lower? I saw your example note heads, however, I am still confused by what the information is conveying. With the dynamic marks/ hairpins, yeah… I got lazy the last few weeks on this copy. I was focused on school and actually publishing the movie versus all the final engraving passes. It is fixed on the completed soundtrack score with all 12 pieces back-to-back. Lastly, while I can understand the stillness of the B-section may not keep everyone’s attention, I have my reasons. While I can add more movement in accompanying instruments, it is kept simple for the title theme so I was able to expand upon it in later installments. To add, I also know not all pieces of music need a moving line in the accompaniment. It was my goal to focus on the harmonic language and advance the harmony compared to the A-section. ‘Simple and sublime’ if you will. I intentionally went with doubling as it is reminiscent of how I play it on piano. Just slow moving chords moving higher in register. Adding the weight from the literal sound and feeling the vibrations from the entire ensemble. Thanks again for the comments!

Ill be participating!

Thank you Peter, I become the first recipient of this badge!!!!!! 😍