Polonaise in G minor

After listening to several of your works you've uploaded here, another thing I really think is worth mentioning that I enjoy the relative ease of your compositions. I've never seen an extremely difficult passage that serves absolutely no purpose for the music -- I think that shows a great maturity in your approach to music. There's no "gimmick", you're just a pure music-maker

Again, I really don't have anything but praise. I think the only way that you could improve is if you were to shove yourself out of your comfort zone and sort of expand your boundaries, at least stylistically speaking. Is this necessary? Well, no, I don't think so. But you may be surprised at the results of doing such a thing.

Thank you for sharing this! I think this is my favorite thing I've heard out of you yet

hey this is very nice, i dindt hear it , very nice job

Heyo,

As usual, this sounds very nice so contrats! The harmonic language and structure are all very pleasant to the ear. You have a real talent for composing comfortably -- nothing awkward, everything coming into place like a Schubert melody.

I'm starting to encounter a rather peculiar problem whenever I listen to you music in general, and it's quite particularly evident for this piece. I listen to lots of classical music, and I play quite a lot of the piano literature, just for fun, and not with any degree of professionalism.

So: my issue is that when I listen to this, I don't hear you. I hear Chopin. In fact, this piece is so Chopin-like I can tell exactly where certain passages are similar to passages from Chopin's own polonaises.

1. The arpeggiated flourishes remind me of mm.14 from Chopin's op.26 no.1 polonaise
2. The first melody introduced sounds almost exactly like a less decorated version of the melody from Chopin's op.71, no.1 polonaise. (m.5-6)
3. Left hand run in mm.45 is is similar to those from Chopin's Polonaise op. 44
4. The figurations from mm. 15 remind me very much of certain transitional passages from the Heroic op.53 polonaise.
5. The harmonic decorations, such as those in mm 31 and 32, are also very Chopinesque indeed. (See his first Piano Concerto, or his Grande Polonaise brillante op.22)

In case you're wondering, no, I'm not at all implying that you've plagiarized passages; the differences overall are quite sufficient to make it clear that this was never your intent. My issue is that it's just so like Chopin that I'm not sure where its musical merit is supposed to lie.

Seeing as you're from Kolkata, I'm just wondering why you would choose the form of the polonaise. It's a Polish nationalistic idiom, and you're clearly not Polish. (Correct me if I'm wrong; internet identities are very tricky things, haha ) But when I see that you've written a polonaise, I don't actually have an issue with that; I expect that you've placed some personal take or spin on the form, as other composers of polonaises apart from Chopin have done. But when I listen to the piece, I hear a Chopin polonaise, not an Archishman polonaise. In other words, you seem to have adoptednot only the form, but a style that is very very similar to another great composer.

The problem is, you can't out-Chopin Chopin (whether or not that is your intention, haha.) By composing in this idiom, you're are giving the potential player a valid choice between choosing a Chopin polonaise to play, or one of yours. Chances are they'll choose the Chopin polonaise, simply because you don't offer something that Chopin does not. This is not some generic "this is an outmoded idiom" accusation, btw. I'm just saying they're too similar for a person to want to learn and play your piece for what it uniquely offers. If, for instance, you did something purely your own, a person could choose to play both polonaises; yours, and Chopin's.

In short: explore! Listen to Prokofiev, Beethoven's fugues, Alkan, Rachmaninoff, Auerbach, Stravinsky, Ravel, Debussy. Resist the temptation to use a familiar figuration or phrase because you might have subconsciously adopted it from Chopin. To a person who does not have a wide experience with the repertoire, your works are brilliant. To a person who listens much, appreciation might be a bit a a struggle. Hope this helped, since it's not a specific criticism of the piece, but of a general idiom.