Alex Weidmann

This piece is for a concert later this year. Just started on it tonight, and it's the first time I've written for guitar. So I'm sure it's probably unplayable! N.B. I decided to use two staffs to make it more readable. Think it would look very cluttered on a single staff.

Hi Gabriel. Sorry this a bit late for your competition entry, but like Kvothe says above, there are errors in the way you've labelled the staffs. Far as I can see, you should have Oboe 1.2, Clarinet 1.2, Bassoon 1.2, Horn in F 1.3, Horn in F 2.4, Trumpet in Bb 1.2, Trombone 1.2, Trombone 3. Also, where strings have dyads, you should indicate whether these are to be played div. in 2, or non-div. (e.g. celli in Bar 13). Where you have more than one voice on a staff, stalks should always point in opposite directions (you've done this in some places, but not others). The exception is when you have div. in 3 or greater in the strings. Some of your slurs in the strings are too long to be playable in one bow: so these slurs should be omitted. (A slur always indicates: play in one bow. Composers sometimes write molto legato above the staff to indicate longer legato passages.) For the horn parts in concert pitch, you are allowed to have lots of ledger lines, so they can be written in standard treble clef. Hope that helps, Alex

Hi Henry. The quotations are very subtle and fragmentary. E.g. These two quotes from the Domine Jesu. I was aiming for a deconstruction of the Requiem: so I only used a few fragments, rather than quoting long passages.

Thanks Henry. Mendelssohn is a composer I've neglected until now; although he was apparently a greater child genius than Mozart! I accidentally wrote a few hand clashes in the harp (e.g. Bar 45 on Middle C). Hadn't thought of using xylophone, but will give it a try. I would like to add more for the violins and celli to do: so I think your suggestion is a great idea.

Happy New Year to all! For my first post of 2026, here's my orchestration of Medelssohn's Barcarolle from Songs Without Words. It's more or less done; though I may add more dynamics to match the original piano work, and need to add more slurs. Current dynamics are intended for midi playback: so I will be adjusting those for real life performance. Haven't decided where to mark a2 and solo in the winds: so any tips on that would be really helpful.

Does GarageBand Drummer count as AI? I've used this once or twice in the past. Though I made lots of manual tweaks to create alternating rhythms and percussion techniques in different sections of the piece. So it wasn't purely AI driven. I've also used AI to create cover art for my scores.

Thanks so much for listening Henry! Glad you liked it 🤗

Seasons Greetings all! Here's a little something I'm cooking up for a concert next year. It's based on the Epitaph of Seikilos, which is the earliest surviving complete song. I tried to give it a flavour of Antiquity, and to create unexpected harmonies. Haven't come up with lyrics yet; though it will start with the original Ancient Greek text translated into English. Maybe my piano part is a bit too thin? Or perhaps I should keep it sparse? The notation is intended for midi, and I'll be adjusting the dynamics upwards by at least one degree for the musicians. When I make the final score, I'm intending to write out the spread stacked chords in full as arpeggios.

Thanks Henry! That upwards leap in b.58 is definitely a cry of anguish for me. Glad you liked it! I was actually considering dropping the whole first movement: so great minds think alike! I agree it's the weakest of the three, perhaps because it's too pastiche, and also feels like it's treading water in the middle section. Since Vivaldi was a major inspiration, I was trying to evoke his violin concertI in my style of composition. For example the repeated notes in the third movement coda are typical of his music, and help to inject extra impetus and energy.

Thanks! This was the neoclassical piece that inspired me:

Great use of percussion in this work, including a load of techniques and instruments I'd never heard of. I hope the propane tank is empty; otherwise you could have an explosive ending!

Thanks Luis: that's exactly what I was aiming for! Can't wait to hear what it sounds like when played by real musicians.

This is a really fun piece to listen to! The brass writing is top notch. The highlight for me though, was the duetting between the piccolo and flute. Not a combination I would've thought of using. Love the strange sound of the flexatone! Will have to use that instrument some time in one of my future works. I wonder, would it come through as strongly as this against a full orchestra? Or would it need to be amplified?

Happy Winterval to all! This is a work I posted previously in the incomplete section, and it takes the form of a mini-concerto for violin (with the movements indicated by the rehearsal marks). It's more or less finished now; though I may still have to tweak some of the voice leading, and haven't started writing in the slurs yet. Since I last posted it, have added a coda at the end, and a whole bunch of counterpoint throughout the piece. (N.B. Rehearsal mark C indicates the start of the coda.) The work was inspired by Vivaldi, along with a modern work called "The Gold Standard" by Richard Harvey. (The latter was the main inspiration for the coda.) Think the most successful melody-line is in the second movement, as this carries emotional weight for me. The other two movements are more like baroque dance music. (I could imagine the cast of "Bridgerton" dancing to them at a ball!) I may have to cut the work down, as we're not really supposed to go over 5 minutes, and I'm now at 6. So any suggestions about where I could cut would be very helpful. Not quite sure the structure is properly balanced at the moment, or whether the movements gel together as a coherent whole? Any suggestions on what to name the piece also welcome. N.B. The dynamics and articulation are intended for midi rendition, and will have to be adjusted before I send it to the orchestra who are performing it next year.

Hi Stig. Just listened to "Evening Sun" It seemed like a stream of consciousness; rather than something with a fixed structure (such as Sonata form, Rondo form, etc...). I found some of your harmonies quite interesting and unexpected. Perhaps this is your unique way of composing. Have subscribed to your You Tube: so will try to listen to more of your work in the future.