Aiwendil

Thanks for listening! Yeah, I appreciate the point about monotony. For such a short piece (really just four phrases, played very slowly), I thought I could get by with just the one motif in the upper strings. I did consider inverting it for the fourth phrase, but it didn't seem to work as well that way. Also, thanks for the note about the Gorecki symphony; I wasn't familiar with it. I did have some of Shostakovich's political works in mind. Another idea I had banging around in my head was a parodistic minor-key version of "The Star-Spangled Banner" in the militaristic style of some of Shostakovich's symphonies, but that felt a little more blunt than what I wanted. Can't decide whether I like the rather sterile name "Semiquincentennial", though I can't really come up with anything better. I almost wanted to call it "America the Hideous and Beautiful", but that sounds kind of sophomorically pretentious.

Thanks very much for your suggestions! I'm revising the score to make some of these fixes. The cello line is not really meant to be the main feature; I think of it more like a cantus firmus, and I prefer the familiar melody to be there more subtly. But I didn't write slurs into the cello part just to try to give it a little bit of detachment from the other parts. Not sure how well that works, but that was the idea. The two quarter rests in those measures you mention are because the a tempo comes only on the fourth beat of the measure. Thanks again!

This is a short thing I wrote in one day, perhaps a bit self-indulgently expressing my rather, shall we say... mixed... feelings right now about my country as we near the 250th anniversary of independence. The cellos play the melody of "America the Beautiful" while the violins and violas add harmonies that subvert the simple tune. As always, any comments or feedback would be appreciated! Semiquincentennial.mp3 Semiquincentennial.pdf

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.

Thanks! You have a good point about the repeats. All those repeats are standard for the scherzo form, but I think probably taking out the one at 127 would improve the piece. Maybe also the repeat of the second half of the scherzo.

Hi, everyone. I was wondering if anyone would mind listening to this movement from a piano trio I'm currently writing. I'd appreciate any feedback, but in particular I'd like to know whether you feel that I've gone too far with the repeatedly evaded cadence at the end of each scherzo section. Thanks! Piano trio - scherzo.mp3 Piano trio - scherzo.pdf

Those are very different things. If I buy a hydraulic press and use it to flatten a stainless steel pipe, obviously I'm morally responsible for flattening the pipe. If that pipe belonged to someone else, I can hardly evade responsibility by saying, "Hey, it wasn't me! It was the hydraulic press!" On the other hand, it's equally obvious that I can't lay claim to flattening the pipe as a feat of strength. If I cry, "Behold my strength!" as I hold the flattened piece of steel aloft, I am quite rightly met with, "Uh... you didn't do that. The hydraulic press did."

Thanks! It's fun to try to include little witticisms or humorous moments while still folding them into the piece so that they sound "good".

Thanks very much for listening, and for your comments! It's probably because I'd been listening to so much Mozart before writing this that I included two minuets instead of making one a scherzo - but I also think the last movement provides that scherzando feeling. I'm glad you noted the modulations in the last movement; I got a kick out of writing that bit, as if the oboe realizes it got off at the wrong stop on its chromatic scale and then it takes a few tries to figure out how to get back to the right key.

A divertimento for pairs of clarinets, oboes, horns, and bassoons, inspired by the wind divertimenti and serenades of Mozart. Any comments would be most appreciated! 1. Allegro.mp3 2. Minuetto allegretto.mp3 3. Andantino grazioso.mp3 4. Minuetto vivace.mp3 5. Presto.mp3 1. Allegro.pdf 2. Minuetto allegretto.pdf 3. Andantino grazioso.pdf 4. Minuetto vivace.pdf 5. Presto.pdf

You can upload whatever files you have by clicking on "choose files" at the bottom of the post box. I don't speak for the forum, but at least for my part I would say you need to post actual music if you want any feedback. Also, when you do, I suggest you consider first whether "Jazz, Band, Pop, Rock" might be a more suitable category.

I hope you don't take this the wrong way, but I'm not really sure why you're posting these here. This is a music composition forum, and you're posting lyrics without music. We can't give feedback on them as music compositions. I think perhaps a creative writing forum would suit your purpose better, and would yield better feedback for you?

Thanks! It's a bit of a lighter finale, like that of the Hummel trumpet concerto or of some Beethoven concerti, which I thought was needed after the long and serious adagio.

I don't think we should be Draconian about policing this. I think the policy should be no posting music composed by AI, but I really think it would be a mistake to start policing and interrogating every post and assuming it's AI until proven otherwise. If there are indications that a piece might be AI (e.g. no score provided, telltale signs of Sonus, posted by someone with no prior history on the forum, etc.), then it makes sense to inquire further into it. But demanding proof of authorship from every composition would be a drastic overreaction to an issue that has, as far as I'm aware, only actually cropped up once here so far. I'm against AI compositions on the forum, but I'd rather waste my time once or twice giving useless feedback on an AI composition than chase real people who are posting real compositions off the site.

Haha, yeah, I love Haydn's musical sense of humour.