quaoquarx

Here's my entry: http://www.youngcomposers.com/music/listen/6920/Miniature%20I It doesn't include any audible files, as requested.

I would like to participate.

So, I've been given an assignment by my friends and myself actually, to compose a mass. It is supposed to be very minimalistic, actually, with two or three vocal parts and maybe an organ part. Also, it should be minimalistic in length. Since I'm aiming for the rainessance style, nothing experimental is meant to be incorporated in this piece. My question now is, apart from obligatory movements, Kyrie, Gloria, Credo, Sanctus, Benedictus, Agnus Dei, are there any other guidelines to follow when writing, for the only thing I know, or that I have access to are the lyrics to the movements. How long are the movements relative to each other? How are they structured? Form? Are there any predominant 'settings' to each of the movements, mode - speaking? How many times should the lyrics be repeated? What devices should I use? And probably what bugs me the most: how to start? Just write counterpoint and apply text? What to do? Thank you very much

i saw this just now. is it to late to add my submission within a few days from now?

here is my suite. recording is bad probably due to my slow computer (some bits are cut off) i couldn't record allemande, but i put up the score. unfortunately, the pictures in the zip file are the only thing i can get. as well as the fugue elaborate. i am sorry for putting this up at the last moment, and for bad quality of sound and score, but i would really appreciate if you objectively evaluated my work. best regards, viktor http://www.youngcomposers.com/music/3933/suite-in-d-minor/

yes, but then you will not be able to hear it.

i have a question. since this is a composition and i suppose not a performance competition, would it be OK if i only uploaded the score of my suite by december 31 and recorded music somewhat later (ca january 10)? because right now i have no equipment to do so. (but i will have it then)

The goal of this challenge is to write a prelude i the following manner: Take any two of the Bach's 48 preludes from The Well - Tempered Klavier and put them into one, new prelude in such a way that figuration, melodies and form is taken from one prelude and harmonic background from the other. A clear example of what i mean is this: http://www.youngcomposers.com/music/3701/j-s-bach-c-prelude-bwv-848-in-c-prelude-bwv-846/ where i took 848's form and figuration and 846's harmony and quasi - melody (the highest note in arpeggios) and made a new prelude. You can hear both preludes inside this one. The key you are writing in must be of the either prelude (but not of neither). That's the challenge. The deadline is 16 December 2012 Good luck!

Have you ever found yourself writing something (motif, phrase...) you thought was good, only to, after few days, weeks, even months, find out you've already heard it somewhere else, and actally plagiarised it without knowing? I know I have, and to be honest, it happens to me quite a lot. It actually irritates me when it happens. Mostly, I unintentionally plagiarise a piece I haven't heard in a long time, and when I hear it again, it comes to me: 'Yea, that was it'. And then, I realise my whole composition was just a loose remake of that. Does it ever happen to you?

I'd like to participate. Also, I have a question: You mentioned both 'musical motif' and 'melodic motif'. Would it be OK if I used a rhythmic motif, or same harmonical idea instead of strictly melodic? And another question: does really Menuet have to be the optional movement, because if that is so, the suite wil have monotonic 3 - based metre (except for Allemande): Courante 3/2, Sarabande 3/4, Menuet 3/4, Gigue 3/8 or 6/8. If I may, i would suggest a 2-based metre optional movement as a contrast (Bourree, Gavotte) to all the others, if it is OK?

Actually, I wasn't aiming for the baroquesuite, not even a dance suite. It's just a keyboard suite. I was wondering whether I should insert a movement in a major mode, or leave them all in c minor (there are of course major mode parts in scherzo and adagio). And how to finish the suite.

A few years ago I didn't like suites, sonatas... because they seemed boring at the time. As the time went by, I started to realize the inner structure of those forms, and appreciate them more. Most recently, I have became sort of a structure freak, observing relations between sections, movements..., and it does indeed fascinate me. I've also been composing for some time now, but didn't write that much material. Most recently I have firmly set a goal for me, a keyboard suite in c minor. So far, I've written 3 movements, Prelude (presto), Adagio and Scherzo (Allegro assai). The movements yet to be written: Trio, Chorale, Finale. I structured it like this: Prelude (very fast repeating figure going through different harmonies) 2/4 Adagio (as a contrast to the prelude - polyphony in 3 parts) 2/2 Scherzo - Trio - Scherzo d. c. (fast scherzo and relatively slow trio) 3/4 Chorale (slow, hymn - like homophonic four part harmony movement) 4/4 Finale I have a few questions. Please if you're going to answer 'just do whatever you feel is the best', don't even bother writing it. 1. Should at least one movement be completely in a major key (e. g. Trio or Chorale) 2. Is it better for the Finale to be in 6/8 meter and act like a jig so the suite closes like a baroque dance suite, or should I use a rondo form like closing a sonata. 3. I was thinking for some time about adding an 'extra' movement in the middle ('the center movement') between adagio and scherzo. Perhaps a Toccata of some sort, or a rondo movement, but then a jig at the end... Or is it good just the way it is now. I know it is a lot of text here, but... I wanted to be informative. I would have put the first 3 movements up here for you to listen, but I don't have a microphone, and MIDI synthethization is just lame.

@Locrian if i may ask, what is a tone row? is it somehow related to dodecaphony? @jrcramer yes, bach's themes are pretty recignizable when played correctly. although i listened to shostakovich a little, i fancy bach more because it fascinates me how he combines all parts to sound harmonious and in-tonality. even better are his chromatic passages, after which you expect a consonant harmony, unlike modern (20th c.) composers, who avoid consonance and tonality. @sarastro i will most definitely do that

Hi. What makes a subject good and usable in multiple contexts throughout the development of the fugue? How to write a good one? How to figure out right at the beginning that your subject is a bad one and not fill the whole page with music just to realise that your subject is bad and all that work was for nothing (it happened to me. maybe because i critic myself too harshly, or maybe it wasn't good). Bach often makes the first beat a pause and the subject contains a 'signature' figure/motif so to speak. Is this obligatory? Recomended? What really takes to write a good subject that sounds good in different keys modes and various contrapuntal techniqes?

yes well thank you. my sub is 1.5 measures long, and my 1st episode is 6, 2nd 2, 3rd 6. i did some imitation and light sequences, and then stated the Sub in the dominant. ? it will soon be done, and i will post it on the forums. thanks again for the help