luderart

Thanks pateceramics for your review and appreciation of the piece. I am glad you enjoyed it. Thanks also for giving me the idea of caesura markings. I will make sure to consider them as an option in future pieces for solo instruments.

A beautiful and thoughtful prelude of which the counterpoint and harmonies linger in your ear long after you listen to it!

Thanks Wieland Handke for your review of my piece and your impressions about each sententia often amounting to a detailed review of it. Indeed I also consider the sixth one to be the best realization of the “sententia” form as well as perhaps the best of this set. Regarding the link of the composer Thomas Handke that you mention, I wonder whether he is related to you as he has the same surname. I listened to his “Partita für Fagott solo, op. 33” and enjoyed it. It is also performed well by the performer. Thanks for the link! I have only composed one solo piece for fagott which is the bassoon in English, and consider it an instrument with a voice full of feeling. Regarding the 11th measure of Sententia No. 5 in ¼ and with only a rest, it was done for practicality since otherwise the repeat sign would have to be made in the middle of the bar (in case I changed it to 5/4), a practice which I have the impression is not desirable if not incorrect. Or I would have had to write out a new bar as a separate continuation of the repeat.

This is my "Seven Sententiae for Clarinet, Op. 395". It is one of my most ambitious set of sententiae both in overall length and individual sententiae. It is also one of my greatest compositions for a monodic instrument. I hope that you enjoy listening to it and would welcome your feedback. Seven Sententiae for Clarinet, Op. 395.mp3 Seven Sententiae for Clarinet, Op. 395.pdf

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.

With the Israeli genocidal war on Gaza having only recently "deescalated" under a so-called ceasfire, a new genocidal war launched by the US and Israel against Iran, and the Israeli genocidal war against Lebanon relaunched in full-intensity, as well as the Russian-Ukaraine war going on since 4 years, I think now is as appropriate a time as ever to share this piece I composed last year and myself performed and recorded recently: Three Sententiae for Baritone Solo, Op. 389, "A Prayer for Peace" (Based on Three Biblical Verses). I hope and pray that peace, however elusive it seems in the present, will soon become a reality all over the world.

This is my "Piano Stream No. 5", composed in August last year. In 2013, 'Stream' was the name I had found would best describe pieces of mine composed in a style that ‎seems to me to recreate the unique experience of watching a stream in nature. It is a type ‎of fluid music, a type of music where the texture is always changing and is never the ‎same, that does not have an identifiable rhythmic pulse, that is in constant, ever changing ‎flux. A 'stream' is a rather happy, relaxed, spontaneous, and flowing piece. It is often in ‎variational form. A stream is more about creating a certain impression, rather than ‎introducing and/or developing specific themes. This fifth piano stream of mine is also my twentieth composition in the 'stream' form. With my previous stream (String Quartet Stream No. 3, Op. 288) composed all the way back on December 26, 2016, this stream marks my return to the form after a break of more than 8.5 years.

Let me revive this old and interesting thread I had started many years ago, and also take this opportunity to encourage newer members to add their own compositional wisdom in the form of maxims, as well as discuss each other’s maxims. Here is a new maxim that I thought of a few hours ago today: As composers, we never really know why we compose. If we knew it , we might never have become composers.

No composer composes thinking their music is worthless! They all do so thinking that they have something valuable to say. That includes you and me. Of course I appreciate the music of all the masters that you mentioned, and also that of Bach and Handel, Haydn, Schubert, Cherubini, Brahms, Khachaturian, and many others (including living composers). But all those composers do not negate me as a composer; or comparison with them does not devalue me as a composer. They do not replace me or make me irrelevant, redundant or useless. They are not me! So however great and genius their music is, it can never fully express my mind, my thoughts and my feelings. I compose what I am inspired to compose and what I have to express inside myself. I do not have to imitate them or to devalue myself just because they were and are great! And I evolve as a composer at my own pace, even though you might not notice it, just as they did at their own pace.

'Good' and 'popular' are not necessarily the same. Besides, I believe that the evaluation of music is a largely subjective matter. So, people's opinions of music differ. And that is natural. What you might not like, there are others who like. You have no right to impose your opinion as objective truth as far as music is concerned.

Welcome back Sojar! I must say that your reviews haven't changed at all too. Nothing constructive, all negative and judgemental....

What an enjoyable concerto for trumpet. The theme of the opening movement reminded me of Hummel's trumpet concerto's opening movement's theme. Bravo. I wonder how much time it took you to compose it. Also, are you trying to have it performed?

This is my "Three Sententiae for Glissotar, Op. 386", a piece I composed last year. The glissotar is a newly invented instrument that is a version of the Hungarian woodwind instrument "tarogato" but with the distinction that the notes are not determined by holes as in most woodwind instruments but, as in string instruments, by pressing the fingers anywhere in the range; and glissandos are possible. I had to create a new soundfont for it in order to be able to make this mp3 version. I have provided a description of 'sententia' as well as of 'glissotar' on the title page of the score.

1. Use a faster writing pen! 2. Use a faster computer/laptop. 3. Think faster. For some more serious advice: 1. Dedicate the time for composition. 2. Don't force yourself to compose. Let the inspiration come and you will compose. At least that's the way I approach it. I have heard others advise that you have to start composing and the inspiration will follow. But for me, it isn't like that. 3. For inspiration: a) Listen to other composers' music. b) Check for calls for scores and competitions. These will give you ideas for composition.

Hello Henry, Thanks for your review and valuable comments regarding this piece. Yes, this is like all my organ pieces except the "Soliloquy for Organ No. 1" composed for organ manuals only. Indeed the feedback of an organ player would be great!