Henry Ng Tsz Kiu

Hi Lisa! Piotr is our admin here and welcome to our forum! Henry

😆 I'm sure my big hands can get hold of them haha

Yeah William Byrd's music is so colorful! The false relation in English Renaissance is very espressive. And I always like how Dufay is influenced by Dunstable with all the uses of 3rds and Faxbourdon texture. Basically the English are the one who pushes the history forward from the era of octaves and fifths to thirds by moving that overtone series one step further. Henry

Hi @Vasilis Michael! It's as good as your usual style with fleeting harmonic progression like the one go to Ab major at the start of B section of the Minuet in b.8. The Trio is really dreamy and definitely with Schubertian influence there, especially that turn to minor in b.56. Thx for sharing! Henry

Hi @gaspard! Nice performance. I always get fascinated by early instrument performance with lots of ornaments. The Virginal is a beauty both for its acoustic and its look. English music was much more colorful than the Ars Perfecta back then. Thx for sharing! Henry

Hey VInce, I like the simplistic style here and the smooth voice leading. I will make sure to try this on piano and record it. Henry

haha yeah indeed they are.

Hey @Mooravioli! No doubt your piano prelude is good. And congrats on having your teacher playing it for you! It's a pleasure and honor for you! I had actually listened to this piece before your teacher played it haha. I remember I said that I wanted the trio section to be longer, and I think you do extend it in this version! I think the flow is better now! The harmony and texture is very interesting throughout, they certainly reflect a sense of escape from the time of anxiety now. I really like the b.37 section, even though it's light-hearted, it's easy to ignore the beautiful counterpoint there. I also like the reappearance of the first theme where you instead use the texture of from b.37 first, before recapitulating the lucid texture in b.108. Really enjoyable piece, thx for sharing!! Henry

Hey Kyle @UncleRed99! It clearly is captivating and promising "rough" draft! I like the majestic tone overall. I think after the climax in b.31, before going to a quieter section in b.34 you can have a transition instead of just a chord, but it's just a draft now so it's fine haha! I hope the contrasting section in b.34 longer and stay away from the F minor for a bit longer too. Also in the last adagio in b.51 I would add more movement and countermelodies to vary and contrast it with the Adagio beginning, like adding tremolos and some quaver movements between the chords like in b.53 and 58. Thx for sharing! Henry

Hi @UncleRed99! Clearly I forgot your original post so I will just treat this as a complete new one lol. I think so too, I enjoy this Japanese style music with a slight sadness but not too much. I feel like in b.51 the transition to a louder passage is a bit abrupt, maybe add a gradual transition with a volume crescendo before it? Because for me it's the only place I feel abrupt in the entire piece even though there are other spots with the tacit after a fermata. I feel like the trumpet melody in b.61-63 is too high in its register and will overpower the other instruments. Overpowering is ok but I think it doesn't fit your style here too much personally. And in b.53-57 there's an imitation between oboe and saxophone, but I think the oboe is overpowered by the saxophone so the imitation is not the most effective. And in b.94-95 I feel like the accompanying figure is given too much emphasis particularly with the 1st violin and trumpet. Maybe remove the trumpet? I sound nitpicky, but I do enjoy the piece! Thx for sharing. Henry

Hi @Kvothe! If going for a stricter counterpoint, the clash of tritone in b.3 and 4 between B and F would not be permissible. The leap from C to A in the left hand in b.6-7 would not be permissible since it's a major 6th leap, rather than a minor 6th. And to smoothen the counterpoint, whenever after a leap use a step in the opposite direction, as the technique is used by Palestrina. Thx for sharing. Henry

Hi @luderart! I quite enjoy this one with those alternations of chordal and fast passages which I think well fitting to an organ. I like those bare fifths and Phrygian mode which gives the piece more antique feeling. One question is that: is this piece only written for the manual part of an organ without a pedal? I would invite @PCC to review as well since he plays organ haha. Thx for sharing! Henry

Hi @林家興 I think this one is a good effort to write a variation which you succeed with a lot of different styles including contrapuntal, romantic and more impressionistic style. For variation 1, I think you should definitely explore and extend the fugue more haha. The subject is clearly not so developed when only the exposition of a fugue is presented, plus a counter-exposition with the inversion the fugue subject! Also, you could have the viola stay in b.35 so that the subject entry in b.40 would be by First violin with a 4 part counterpoint there. For variation 2, like @Monarcheon I really like the harmony there. Just for the ending typically a pizzicato wouldn't be written with a long dotted minim but instead just with a crotchet? Variation 3 is my least favourite variation but it's just subjective lol. Just one stupid personal thought: I always think variations should be developed through the order of the variations, and I think you can add more variations in the E minor first with the more negative mood before going to other keys to explore different styles. Also, are there any reason why the variations are arranged in this way? Thx for sharing! Henry

Hi @NicholasG! The brass passage in 0:39 is way too loud and it scares me lol! I think you should definitely tone down the dynamics there! I would say it would make a good trailer music. Thx for sharing. Henry