Discussion: November-December Competition, 2013

Note: This thread is for discussion only. Do not sign up to be a judge or an entrant in this thread; do not post pieces in this thread.

Topic: Compose a one-movement piano trio (a piano with two other instruments of your own choosing) in a loose sonata form: Exposition, Development, Recapitulation, etc, with changes or quirks as you, composer, see fit. - Because these are very holiday-heavy months for much of the world, the piece should be appropriate to a holiday, festival, or tradition of your choosing, whether you observe it or not: whether that's Thanksgiving (American, 28/11), Hanukkah (Jewish, 27/11-05/12), Bodhi Day (Buddhist, 08/12), the Dōngzhì Festival (Chinese, 21-22/12), Saturnalia (Roman, 17-23/12), Christmas (Christian, 25/12), Kwanzaa (African-American, 26/12-01/01), New Year's, or any other festive or seasonal celebration that takes place sometime in November and December, or even a general sense of the spirit of the holidays. - Also, whether you want to or not, composers, you can allude to themes, harmonies, or rhythms often associated with your selected holiday, but, to be clear, this competition isn't about arranging or making a theme and variations on preexisting themes; original material must be the focus; and if you do choose a known holiday theme, harmony, or rhythm, it would be well to explain them in your notes. (See comments below for further description and detail.)

Scoresheet:

• Creativity: 30pts. - Measuring the effectiveness of thematic and harmonic and rhythmic material and how they're utilized.
• Structure and Coherence: 25pts. - Measuring how well the sonata form is utilized, with themes, harmonies, and rhythms in account, and other issues of cohesion.
• Instrumentation: 25pts. - Measuring how well the instruments are composed for.
• Score Quality: 10pts. - Are the pages cluttered and difficult to read? or is there too much whitespace? Unneeded clashes between notes and other markings; effective use of accidentals; effective use of dynamic and instructional markings; etc?
• Audio Quality: 10pts. - Is the volume too high or too low? Are the various voices clear and effective? (Suggestion: Listen to the recording with and without earphones and try to come to a volume that's bearable on both.)

(Points above [in total out of 100pts] are given at the judges' discretion: for instance, with Creativity an entry can be given anywhere between 0-30pts. Points below are given in full if conditions are satisfied; otherwise no points are given.)

• Live Performance (given atop the points for audio quality): 10pts free.
• Theoretical Analysis of the Piece and/or Program Notes (on a separate PDF from the score): 5pts free.

Guidelines and Rules:

• A score (in a separate PDF file) and an audio file (electronic or acoustic) are required: without both the entrant will be disqualified.
• The piece must consist of only one movement or part; no others will be considered.
• Beside the piano, two other instruments to fill the trio may be chosen by the composer.
• 10min time limit (10sec leeway); exceeding this limit, the piece will be disqualified, but by the discretion of the moderator or a majority consideration of active judges.
• For further information, go here, message the OP, another moderator, or an admin (list: here).

Deadline: 2nd January, 2014, midnight (PST). Pieces not posted in the Entries thread by that time will be disqualified, but by the discretion of the moderator or a majority consideration of active judges.

SIGN UP HERE TO BE A JUDGE OR AN ENTRANT

Judges (four limit):

1. NRKulus
2. Sonataform
3. danishali903
4. (Open)

Entrants (three entries, active entrants, required for the competition to proceed):

1. ChristianPerrotta
2. stewboy
3. EstudioEvergreen

Post Entries Here

Note: Because the scoresheet, guidelines, or other rules may change as issues come up, it might be well to follow this thread to get updates as they do. - Happy Holidays!

I imagine the piece could be similar to Brahms' Academic Festival Overture, where he took themes that were well known to university students and then integrated them in a sonata form movement, no?  

If you like, though original content should be some if not the dominant focus.

Could I do something based off of the theme from the first movement of Vivaldi's Autumn concerto? Or would I have to do a more original theme?

Could I do something based off of the theme from the first movement of Vivaldi's Autumn concerto? Or would I have to do a more original theme?

You can, but the primary focus needs to be original material; your piece can have allusions, but it can't just be an arrangement of someone else's work.

You are very clever, here. The sonata-alllergo form has taken off wings ever since Bach first used it. Now, here's a though since Berg's sonata does not follow the format thematiclly, are they pemiited to step outside the classical form and experienment with the structure?

You are very clever, here. The sonata-alllergo form has taken off wings ever since Bach first used it. Now, here's a though since Berg's sonata does not follow the format thematiclly, are they pemiited to step outside the classical form and experienment with the structure?

I think the sonata form has to be one of the most rewarding structures to work in (hence my name). At it's because level it's a departure, a conflict and a return - the hero's journey - how the conflict effects the element of return is what I find most fascinating about sonata form. 

Ah, but there are composers who do not use that structure. They like to create a fantasia- sonata instead Here's an example of what I am refering to: Sonata in B  Minor

Note: it does not follow the exposition- devolpment- recap sonata form. But what it does, and here's where I love Listz, it creates a fantasy free form a ala sonata inside the sonata form.

Ah, but there are composers who do not use that structure. They like to create a fantasia- sonata instead Here's an example of what I am refering to: Sonata in B  Minor

 

Note: it does not follow the exposition- devolpment- recap sonata form. But what it does, and here's where I love Listz, it creates a fantasy free form a ala sonata inside the sonata form.

I'd argue he is using that structure - granted in a very broad and large sense - i believe the Liszt b minor sonata is in sonata form with an exposition - development and recap. It even contains movements within a sonata form, which blurs the lines between sections.  

But I love the piece for the same reason you do, it blurs those lines and expands greatly on the sonata form that we typically associate with Mozart, Hadyn, Beethoven...

I welcome you to check out my Sonata-Fantasie in D major,

http://www.youngcomposers.com/music/4725/winter-in-the-sierra-sonata-fantasie-no-2-in-d-major/

Where I also expand sonata form, for example most of my entire recapitulation is a complete variation of the exposition. Enjoy  :phones:

Yes, after checking back this: there's that Sonata form per say in 30 mins!  Yes there are also those nice finer things too.

You are very clever, here. The sonata-alllergo form has taken off wings ever since Bach first used it. Now, here's a though since Berg's sonata does not follow the format thematiclly, are they pemiited to step outside the classical form and experienment with the structure?

So long as the basic structure is there, and if the composer can justify his/her material to fitting the typical form, anything is fine. What Exposition, Development, and Recapitulation mean is very much up to the composer: they can be widely interpreted and thought of as individual movements of a kind, one running into the next; there can be 'episodes between the movements; and so on. But ideally there would be some regular material that permeates through the piece to give it real cohesion. Atonal and Expressionist styles are fine, too, so long as they're justified - in either external notes or in the score - and utilize their theories to fit the form in some quasi-organized fashion that one would at least guess it's a 'sonata', regardless of its title. Experimentation is fine, so long as the basic parts are there. - And it should be pointed out that there is a 10min time limit, so what experimenting is done might necessarily need to be limited.

Hmmm....still debating over this.

You can, but the primary focus needs to be original material; your piece can have allusions, but it can't just be an arrangement of someone else's work.

Okay, that's what I was hoping for. Thank you!

As much as I hate to do this, I must pull out of this competition. Between other composition projects, school, and other personal commitments, I just didn't have time to work on this at all. I thought I could pull it off by the end...but alas, I couldn't. However, if there is still room for a judge, I would gladly take up one of those open positions. 

What about the results?

What about the results?

Waiting for the judges to finish. Hopefully their results will all be in by Sunday.