rautavaara

Work for the professional ensemble Lontano. Little bit rushed. For fixed ensemble: Alto Flute, Bass Clarinet, Violin, Cello and Piano. To be performed live at the end of March. Cantus/Ritual

I love the chords you are using, but I wish the melody were more agile and angular. With the static chordal accompaniment, I think you can afford to go to town with the melody!

A short string trio written for my second year portfolio. Marked as 'less ambitious than the rest of the works' by an examiner. Understandably, as it was written in two hours!Comment is free.String Tio String Tio

A piano work I wrote for my second year portfolio. Loosely based on Wagner's 'Tristan Chord' Ekstasis

Thanks to everyone for your comments! And apologies for not getting back sooner! In reality, I wrote mm 1-25 well ahead of the deadline, and wrote the rest of the work the night before. BAD PRACTICE, but I work best when I have a deadline. I realise that this is not your regular tango. I wanted to take the hand out of it slightly, by having the main theme in 9/8 (tango 4/4 with quaver added) and make blatant and sarcastic use of the habañera rhythm. apologies for the ending... I didn't have time to finish the piece properly!

A piece for my portfolio. Would never have attempted a tango of my own volition, but it was either that or a waltz. There are a couple of mistakes in it... mainly unnecessary clefs!Tango for Piano Tango for Piano

This piece is surely a joke. The Steve Reich 'inspired' section is a complete rip-off of his clapping music, and your dissonant nods to Schoenberg completely stick out. The serialist section was completely unlike what Schoenberg writes. It's not about putting row upon row end to end with little variation. Otherwise, the main theme was alright. Reminded me of video game music.

You've got some crazy french horn parts there. Ae you a brass player? If not, I'd consult one.

haha, you shouldn't be putting in 'filler' material to lengthen a piece! Only write as much material as is necessary (see Webern). I think you should develop it into a larger section. If you gave the scales some sort of direction, I think you could successfully make an interesting development, which will make the return to opening material more striking

Way, way too much doubling. You can't justify separate parts if they're all playing the same thing. The trumpet solo has some awkward ties where you could simply have quaver/crotchet/quaver. Otherwise, nice. The middle section with less doubling is far more convincing than the rest.

Please learn how to notate piano music properly. Consult a relevant book.

I can't get the recordings to play, but I can make one comment from the score – it's usually avoided, but you have the piano playing in exactly the same register as the baritone – I'd avoid this, as it'll cloud the voice.

Can you post a score? The voice leading sounds OK, but it was dubious in places. The descending scales around 1.44 seemed a little directionless/meaningless. Otherwise, nice music.

Mostly good, and well executed. Quite a nice sound-world. I'd have reservations about a 'heavy' fortissimo around the clarinet's break (m. 33), but for a professional intonation would not be a problem. The transition back into the opening material around m. 122 could be a tad more convincing; it's rather sudden.

I'm waiting until it is available at a vastly reduced price. ahem.