JFTFT

I'd also like some clarification.

Really impressive blend of sonorities! I'm a big fan of pure modal harmony (working on developing a form of "functional modality" for myself) and you balanced the consonances and the dissonances well - I especially liked the interplay of the LH/RH at the end of the second study. As for the 5/8+3/8 measures - I also heard it as 4/4, but in the context for the 5/8+6/8 at the end I guess it makes sense. It might read easier to someone sightreading as the two separate measures. Nice work!

Well, for me it's a yes and a no. Being an instrumentalist in an ensemble definitely has helped me in a million ways musically (including composition) and it's doubtful I would have the inspiration to compose without the appreciation and understanding what is means to come together and produce music. In terms of the actual process, I have had little passion for noodling/improvising on a instrument outside of piano (and I can barely play one) - it's probably because solo playing has never appealing to me, and whenever I'm playing alone I almost always envisioning the ensemble sound as I play. Additionally, the things I want from my music right now barely align with what I've heard and experienced in ensembles (clarinet player, so largely wind bands) and I find myself questioning if what I already know how to write is what I actually want to be writing. I didn't realize it until recently, but I think in some ways being an instrumentalist has impeded my composition as well as helped it, in this respect.

I'm rather indifferent to the music of Brahms, but I definitely appreciate the influence he had on other composers (namely British ones.) My problem is that there's music of his I dislike, and the things I do like often resurface in music I enjoy a lot more. I guess I can say I have respect for Brahms even though I'm not in love with his music. And to answer the original question, I think he's very much a Romantic but not necessarily a regressive one.

Setting a text for solo vocal and a chamber ensemble, arranging a piece, and composing a piece for a separate chamber group, plus I need to write something for my 20-century theory class.

Could you be more specific about the harmonies you use, maybe provide a small example? It could be as simple as using more homophonic textures or removing "bloat" from voices.

Since it's now past Sunday for everyone, I'll just assign the themes right now (randomly): ChristianPerrotta will get Austenite's theme mk390 will get KJthesleepdeprived's theme danishali903 will get ChristianPerrotta's theme KJthesleepdeprived will get mk390's theme JFTFT will get aranarochel's theme Austenite will get JFTFT's theme aranarochel will get danishali903's theme Some people missed the deadline, so if there are ton of latecomers maybe we do a second separate swap with the next group of themes. Sound good for everyone?

My theme: http://www.youngcomposers.com/music/listen/7834/

Works for me!

Either way I suppose, I liked the original dictionary idea because the intent was to guess what word was used to craft the piece, but since we're doing a theme swap it matters a lot less. I'm not sure about using wikipedia articles, I hit your link and got one page about vegetable proteins and another about a strain of bacteria. The random selection idea could work, though.

Count me in! I liked your last suggestion where we pick any word from a dictionary and try compose something based on that one word. I definitely think our themes should be bare bones though, and leave a lot to the imagination.

I think performing in or going to see a live orchestra is the best way, but listening while studying scores is also good. But yes, whatever program you're using will never be as accurate as a live performance. You basically have to predict how your music will sound based on prior experiences.