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I just never thought of it lol, as I thought all sonatas for violin and piano are called Violin Sonatas anyways but look like I'm wrong. I did put some slight melodic emphasis for the violin as this is Arjuna's instrument to play, and I would love the instrument to sing beautifully. Thx for your review! Henry

Hey Mike! Yeah I'm just able to sneak in some pentatonicism in this otherwise normal classical/romantic movement. I am learning how to write simpler and lighter music while still maintaining the flow and effectiveness, because it's not things I have done in the past few years. Yeah I don't wanna explore too much here, maybe in the variation 4th mov there's more! Thx for your review! Henry

Hi Peter! The Nimrod theme is 10 times better than mine lol! I love that variation very much! Well I don't care whether a friend is known through real life or internet. Arjuna is definitely much closer than many people I know in real life. I won't write a piece for someone I don't treasure. Yeah I just try to for light mood and simple style here, something enjoyable and not too difficult. Honestly I quite enjoy composing this piece after the Sextet since that one takes tons of efforts. Thx for your review Peter! Henry

Can I have the score to this? This way I can give more detailed feedback and also talk about orchestration.

The chord progression sounds very similar to Vivaldi‘s winter concerto for the first movement. Same thing with the rhythm, but articulated differently with more aggression. Also, there is some twinkle sound. I don’t know if it’s a glockenspiel or glass bottles or literal icicles being played on. It sounds nice, but some are out of time unless if that’s your intention.

Look in the description of video for performance notes. I also had attached a PDF of the score. Keep note that this is one of my shorter works and has been rushed so not a lot of effort had been put into this

Would the title Sonata for violin and piano be more appropriate? We say violin sonatas informally, but the compositional weights seems balanced at least to a certain extent imo

A very light, and elegant Mozart / Beethoven-esqe influenced piece. But now that I listened to this more closely a second time, this sounds more Beethoven. I noticed you kept things a lot more simplistic with this composition. The simplicity makes it easier to follow the story. For example, I noticed you referenced your sextet's pentatonic themes in a few places too which was a nice touch, particularly here: 1:38 3:28 5:27 6:27 Your key changes from the major to parallel minor also made me think a lot of Beethoven's key changing style. For example, at 1:07, this is a prime an example of some key changing techniques I hear in Beethoven's concertos. I loved 3:40 - to 3:53. This was a section that could have been used to segue into a completely different theme. But I suppose you didn't want to venture too far off from the main theme of this piece. Either way, great piece, fun traditional classical harmony and nice references to your sextet.

Hi @Henry Ng Tsz Kiu! I really love this sonata! In this particular movement, the ARJUNA theme brings to mind for me the Nimrod movement from Edward Elgar's Enigma Variations. Funny how both this work and Elgar's were written for friends! Very cool that you dedicated so much time and effort for a birthday gift to an internet friend half a world away from you! I really like the very classical-yet-romantic leaning graceful music that isn't too waltzy. I think I like this work because it's not too Beethovenian - I hear more of your own individual voice coming through in this and I also find it more joyful and entertaining for the same reason. It's also amazing how much this was prompted by Arjuna! Thanks for sharing!

Hi! This Violin Sonata is commissioned by and dedicated to my friend Arjuna Clark @expert21. He had asked me long ago to write a Violin Sonata for him, but I only managed to start the work after finishing my own String Sextet and 3rd Piano Sonata. Luckily this one is completed before his birthday this year for a timely birthday present. As always, thank to @Thatguy v2.0 for making the audio. The whole work's tonic key B flat major, key scheme and styles of the movements are chosen by Arjuna himself. The work also featured the "ARJUNA" motive in all the movements, suggested by Arjuna himself: A=A, R=Re=C, J=G, U=Une=Bb, N=rest, A=A. The style here in this movement is a waltz style which I have never tried before but I know Arjuna loves it. I have toned down the playing difficulty for both the violinists and pianists, as I wish I can play with Arjuna with a live recording later. What I want to achieve in this Violin Sonata is simplicity and beautiful violin singing, since I didn't give much chance for the strings to sing in the String Sextet I just completed then, and my music is usually too complex. I hope I can write something simpler and lovely. The thumbnail is an ugly self-made birthday card I made to Arjuna LoL! Forgive my bad artwork haha. Here is the score and YT link for the music: Violin Sonata in B-flat major 1st mov.pdf Here is the timestamp for the video: 0:00 Dedication 0:06 Exposition, First Subject. Introduces the ARJUNA motive. 0:24 starts the transition with inversion of ARJUNA motive in piano, sounds a lot like Beethoven's op.110 Sonata. Modulate unexpectedly to D major in 2nd subject. 0:56 Exposition, Second Subject. Uses mainly the inversion of ARJUNA motive in D major. Ends with some pentatonicism as inspired by my own Sextet, just finish days ago before writing this one. 1:58 Exposition Repeat. A rare thing for me to repeat expositions but I find it adequate doing so here. 3:47 Development. Prime and Retrograde of ARJUNA motive in G minor first, then develop on the 2nd subject through G minor, B flat minor and to E major. Force a beautiful C sharp minor climax in 4:32, since it's my favourite key. Return to tonic key through major 3rd relationship. 4:58 Recapitulation, First Subject. Have the recap sneaks in in a Brahmsian fashion (again!). 5:16 starts the transition, this time includes a quotation from my own String Sextet in 5:33 in G flat major to fit the key scheme. 5:43 Recapitulation, Second Subject. Normal recap in tonic key, nothing changed. 6:37 Coda. Restatement of ARJUNA motive in its prime form, nothing complex here. Hope you enjoy! Henry

Hi @Marc Deflin! My fav. section is the A major section in b.19 where the flow there is really good. I like the opening cello melody too, though ending on a V/vi then go to I sounds a bit strange to me I personally would prevent to have two 3rds on a major chord unless you really want a very bright sound. I remember the 2nd movement also a slow movement, so maybe having a moderato last mov. sounds a bit less dramatic to my taste. I remember the 1st mov. theme, what's the reason you are bringing those themes back in the lasat movement? Nice job finishing a string quartet! Thx for sharing! Henry

Hello @famedstingray59, Welcome to the forum! What is the film featured in your music? I quite like the a bit post tonal sytle for the unsettling mood plus a pretty satisfying end, though still with some dissonances lingering. Thx for joining our forum and sharing! Henry

Hello @EmotionallyChargedMusic, Welcome to the forum! The music does sound emotional distressed with very heavy bass and low register of piano, before featuring the organ later. It does sound a bit scary to me too and does match the imagery of monsters. Thx for joining the forum and sharing! Henry

That is actually what i planned on doing with that melody!

This is a scene where the main characters were racing against a winter storm blizzard

Hi 🙂 Here's the third and last movement of my first complete string quartet. It's a moderato which starts quietly in the main D Major tone, before modulating in its first theme to a strong A Major viola-leaded melody. Then both main themes from the first and second movements are sequentially reexposed. Follows a happy interlude in D major. Whereafter first theme comes back and developments bring us slightly as a conclusion to the final exposure of the principal theme of this string quartet (the one from the adagio), first hinted at in the background by the viola. Thanks for listening ! 🙂 Regards, Marc

Right now, I’m readying my music project workspace in my computer’s hard drive for my eventual migration from Finale to Musescore and Dorico, e.g. creating MusicXML files. Also, even though burned out, I’m trying very hard to finish my Fantasy Reflections 2nd track for violin and piano. Lastly, I have rough piano sketches for some pop ballads right now, being enamored by my really guilty J-pop phase these past 12 months. Although melodies and colorful chords progressions come relatively easily to me for these pop songs, I’m still doing early research and brushing up on drum patterns, lyrics, and pop instrumentation. Some advice for me is appreciated! ~Frank

Hello @Valerio DallaRagione, Welcome here! I only listened to the very opening of your piano concerto, but I already felt mystical, trance-like, Egyptian vibes. You sure do seem like a really ambitious composer, and it really shows. Keep it up! ~Frank

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1w-SmNpUhq5RHh-KawOARjjFUxGxphvy5/view?usp=sharing

Also when the brass is playing the melody I would try to harmonise it. That'll make it sound more 'full'. Although that is also a neat card to only pull later on in the piece, if that melody returns. This also goes for woodwinds, but it is less important there, cause of the different textures the instruments have; when they are playing in unison it'll probably sound more varied already. Brass sounds really epic but also kinda like a sine wave imo... Especially when they are a bit pitchy

Alternative option not bad either. Those things below are supposedly bassoons... Your piece sounds really cool. I'd love to hear it when it is finished 🙂

Wow your brother must be very talented, those two concerti and Carmen Fantasy and Erlkonig and Paganini Variations are among the most virtuosic pieces in violin repertoire, in such a young age!

The one month may be a bit biased as my brother (11) already played Sibelius and Tchaikovsky violin concertos (albeit not perfect), Carmen Fantasy, Erlkonig, and God Save the King Paganini variations among some other pieces. But the cellist I wrote for got scared with double and triple stops (to be fair some of them were a little overboard and that was before learning enough harmony to do so)

Yeah 😅

OHH you meant the score order