Philip Daniel

The larger chords would be arpeggiated, of course.

Here's the beginning of a Marche Militaire for piano I'm writing. The harmony is simple, but there's some polyphony in it. I find that I have trouble finishing many of my pieces because I'm such an ardent perfectionist, and I destroy nearly everything I do. Scherzo.MID Scherzo.MUS

It's great to see someone who likes to improvise in such a style! Now, while I'm not a really a big fan of John Field's work, his style is generally very beautiful in its sophistication. Though his music lacks the morbidity of Frederic Chopin's, in no way does it lack depth. As a melodist, he is definitely the equal of Franz Schubert, and his sense of structure and counterpoint comes close to rivalling Clementi or Hummel but is definitely overshadowed by Beethoven. He is rather conventional harmonically, influencing Mendelssohn in this respect.

Been listening to Domenico Cimarosa's Eight Sonatas. Short, but delightful. At least to me, I often find the simplicity and balance of 18th century music more interesting that the complexity and emotion of 19th and 20th century compositions.

He would have overshadowed Grieg...if only he had lived longer!

Joe Hisaishi has been Japan's foremost composer of film music in the last two decades. Best known for his music for the films of Hayao Miyazaki and Takeshi Kitano, he is one of my favorite contemporary composers, not only for his mastery of the musical craft and his bold eclecticism, but also for the way the music is perfectly fitted to the image. He is far above, in my opinion, many overrated film composers such as John Williams and James Horner. Here are links to pieces from the many soundtracks he has composed: Joe Hisaishi meets Kitano Films Sen to Chihiro no Kamikakushi (Spirited Away) Studio Ghibli Songs (#1-4, #16 composed by him) Tonari no Totoro (My Neighbor Totoro) Kaze no Tani no Nausicaa (Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind) Mononoke Hime (Princess Mononoke) Hauru no Ugoku Shiro Image Image Album (Howl's Moving Castle Image Album) Hauru no Ugoku Shiro OST (Howl's Moving Castle OST) Majo no Takkyuubin (Kiki's Delivery Service) Tenkuu no Shiro Rapyuta (Castle in the Sky) Animage Complete Collection