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Thank you very much for your positive feedback. Yes, you’re right—a celesta would have worked well at the beginning. In fact, I was, to some extent, imitating one by using the piano in its highest register.

A curious and lovely piece. You’ve made good use of the piano’s range. At first, the very high register can be a bit tiring, but this is soon offset. It would probably sound good on a celesta, an instrument we associate with this sort of scene.

I listened to your composition and really liked it. The melody is expressive, the texture is interesting, and so is the orchestration. It turned out to be an excellent piece!

Wait, what? One of my favorite composers in this forum, Vasilis's piece is played by one of my highly regarded pianists, Henry? Great, this is a good day, I can say that, certainly. Hey, Henry, well done — this is well played and beautiful. This performance breathes life into the piece even more. As for the composition itself, Vasilis, as I said, amazing. So amazing. Thank you, thank you for sharing this!! Shout out to both of you guys! Best, Lithl.

Here I am delighted to share a recording of my sonata, beautifully performed by my dear friend @Henry Ng Tsz Kiu I feel truly honoured by this wonderful gesture, and I cannot thank him enough for the time, care and generosity he has devoted to bringing my music to life. Dear Henry, thank you from the bottom of my heart. You are not only a remarkable composer but also an outstanding pianist, and knowing that you have chosen to perform a sonata that I dedicated to you makes this occasion even more special and meaningful to me. I feel deeply grateful and honoured. Thank you, my dear friend! Vasilis Sonata no.27 1st Nov 2026.mp3

Hello fellow composers! I wanted to share a short piece I wrote called Forest Path. With this piece, I was trying to evoke the feeling of walking along a quiet trail through a dense forest — something intimate, peaceful, and reflective, with a sense of gentle exploration. As with my previous pieces, I’ve been trying to focus on melody, orchestral color, and restraint. The goal was to create a warm, lyrical atmosphere using relatively transparent textures and gentle harmonic movement, rather than relying on large dramatic gestures or extensive development. I’m continuing to experiment with writing short, self-contained pieces that establish a distinct musical character without becoming overly complicated. One of my goals with this project is to improve my ability to write memorable melodies and use orchestration to support the atmosphere and expression of the music. I’m particularly interested in whether the musical ideas feel engaging throughout, despite the relatively simple structure and restrained writing. I’d also welcome any thoughts on areas where the piece could be developed or refined. Thanks in advance for listening!

“Vampiress” (a city song from the cycle of musical illustrations to Max Dalin’s novel “The Bonfire and the Salamander”) Music by Alexander Khomenko Lyrics by Konstantin Chiganov Lyrics: They told me: “You love a corpse, you fool.” Did you think decay would make me flee? The bite of her lips, so cold and cruel, And I will have the last laugh, you’ll see. The graveyard is a twilit garden’s gloom, The tomb, our bridal chamber, waits. Her hair’s sunset lights up the coffin’s room, And on that bed my strength abates... Her fangs gleam sinless in the night, Her crimson eyes make a vow: Undying love, and by their light Hell and heaven are nothing now! Our wondrous path, our frozen sleep, To catch the thread of fate and blood! Love Twilight’s princesses, love deep, And drink not wine, but life, a flood! (translation by Claude)

Good day. I’ve watched and listened to your waltz. It’s a pity that almost the entire string section was cut off in your score. I liked your idea. The character and the image are interesting. However, your orchestration raises questions. With a live orchestra, all of this will sound worse than in computer playback. You have a lot of unjustified voice crossings, a lot of imbalance, and instruments used in registers where they simply won’t be heard. And if a part can’t be heard, there’s no point in writing it. Take the very beginning. The theme is in the first violins, divisi. Meanwhile the second violins and, I assume, the violas provide harmonic filler, playing the accompaniment. What’s more, you reinforce this accompaniment with the woodwinds and even the brass! In real life, this will produce a very noticeable tilt toward the waltz accompaniment, while the melody will sound pale and inexpressive. On top of that, your first and second violins cross each other. That’s not good. The flute won’t be heard in measures 2-7. It’s too low for it there, and it will sound weak and pale. In this orchestration, the other instruments will completely drown it out. The brass chords raise questions too. Judging by your score, you aren’t taking into account that in real life the horn is about half as loud as the other brass instruments. This means that many of your chords will fall apart in practice. The trombones and trumpets will heavily outweigh the horns. And, as I understand it, you give the theme to three trumpets and flutes? I don’t think that’s the most successful solution. Your melody is fast and rhythmically quite complex. Even setting aside how technically difficult this part is for the trumpets, the very fact of three players performing it in unison will cause problems. They can easily drift out of sync. But, I repeat, I liked your idea, and the image is interesting. I wish you creative success. Alex

Many thanks for listening! I did think I might add a seed shaker or tambourine near the end, where the violins are playing tremolo. Maybe I could add some harp too.

orchestral waltz no. 2.pdf orchestral waltz no. 2.mp3 started from a piano piece, I am aware the counterbass has about 12 notes bellow e, which would require an additional c string to play, and that the score does not have proper player markings anything else, concerns, suggestions, and so on, I would love to hear also pretty sure that the tuba part is impossible to play softly like I notated :3

Hi @Bjarke, A piece which sounds very much like belonging to a medieval epic! (Probably due to the regular use of the pentatonic scale and the chosen rhythm), m 20, is a typical example, along many other. Overall, I found it well built. Interesting areas with a gradual increase in tension, along with the contrast between the climbing voices and the descending ones (e.g.: m. 24). The "third voice" (not really written this way, but this is how it felt to me) in mm. 23-27, and mm. 31-32 (left hand) brought an interesting new contrast. mm. 26 & 27, I liked the E chord (which comes back in m. 32), really interesting new colour. Second part starting from m. 39, I found overall too repetitive: the melody lacks passion and the bass is missing contrast, until we reach m. 48, which comes as a nice change! Measure 51, we are clearly back in the epic theme, I liked the strong accents, felt like the battle field of the epic ;-) mm. 68-71, I found a good idea to get gradually out of the intense move. The intrigue you bring in mm. 81-82 are an excellent transition (really in the theme) to reach the closure. Thanks for sharing and please let me know if I completely missed the target with the medieval theme idea. Take care, Julien

Nice work, I’m doing this on my phone on the way back from a performance so I can’t really do much in depth at the moment, But there are some nice moments in the music with the winds and the ambient pacing. I would put more things to add texture if I were you though

Hi @Filippo Noti , Long work you've done there! The sheer length must have put off some listeners ;-). It's extremely diverse, moving from one style to another. Some movements I liked (e.g.: parts 4 and 5), others less. In general, I found too many repetitions. Here is some detailed feedback (don't know if you were looking for some, but I think that's the idea of the forum in general, so here goes): Part 1: In general, very chill music, very relaxing. I felt as though I was in an art museum. Some more precise feedback you might find useful (based on my personal impressions of course): * I felt the introductory material, that leads to the more interesting mm. 11-13, was a tad too long (I typically found mm. 3, 7, 9 superfluous) * In m. 17, my brain was expecting for a change in the first notes of the melody, sth different from the usual G, C, E * in mm. 21-47 * this too, I felt, was a little too repetitive * funny writing though, I guess the eighth notes must be played with the left hand? * mm. 49-56, the idea to reuse the main theme is a good one, with richer chords. Some of them could probably be improved, e.g.: in m. 49, I liked the first 2 chords, but not so much the 3rd one - maybe a G7? Same for the next measures where you repeat the 2nd chord. * the very last chord, I found out of character, not in the "mood" of your composition (probably a bit too "brutal") Part 2: * mm. 60-68: soft, mellow part (a little too mellow to my taste), with some interesting rythmic textures * m. 69-71: quite a surprising change, I liked that part, especially the arrival of the 3rd voice, well done! I would encourage you to build on that! Part 3: not a great fan overall, I felt it lacked of some passion: it felt a bit like an exercise Part 4: really a funny part! * I liked the little variations in the accompaniement (e.g.: m. 102, 105, * m. 125: I liked the transition * interesting chords in the treble in mm. 131-142 * mm. 143-150, I found quite repetitive and aggressive * brilliant end in mm. 167-169 Part 5: a nice fugue, very baroque, I liked it! Part 6: * what a contrast, we're moving from baroque to Satie-like music! * Although I liked the atmosphere, I found most chords too dissonent (maybe this was the intention). Some were very nice though, e.g.: 202, 204, 207 * I liked the use of the 3rd voice Part 7: the idea is good, sounds like a very good basis for a song, I would have developped the idea a little more (didn't really see the point of m. 249) Thanks for sharing, and looking forward to hearing more of your compositions! Take care, Julien

“The Last Request” (from the cycle of musical illustrations to Max Dalin’s novel “The Bonfire and the Salamander”). This is a decadent romance. The video is simply a story and is not directly connected to the plot of the novel. Music by A. Khomenko Lyrics by V. Osadchenko Sung by A. Yachmenev Lyrics: Why should I fear the grave, or death’s embrace? A shimmering moonlit path calls me away. But, friends, as you escort me from this place, Upon my breast the sacred Eye don’t lay. White roses, silks, chrysanthemums so fair Will wrap my body gently in their fold. Though mournful, mute, you’ll hear me singing there: A dead heart through the roses, calm and cold. And when the moon is full, unbar the door. How weightless is the moon-winged flight! Whoever stays faithful, though life is o’er, Will enter eternity with me tonight. Twilight will take our weary souls to rest. No more of candles, no more of prayer. The grief of old grows quieter in the breast, And old remembrance hardly hurts us there... (translation by Claude)

This is my piano miniature. In this music, I wanted to capture the image of a doll or a figurine: a cold, lifeless kind of beauty... But is it really lifeless? =)

I enjoyed listening to this. I’m far from the best person to analyze other people’s music, but here are some thoughts on what I heard. First, I think you should just call this f minor and write it as such. Phrygian dominant would have a g flat, I believe. (But I haven’t worked with modes in years and you might have a different reason for not putting this is f minor.) Add accidentals for the natural minor as needed. It will still give the sound you are looking for and make it much easier for a piano player to read. Also, is that a tie on the top note of each pair of notes on beats 2 and 3? It doesn’t sound like it is in the recording. I think they are not necessary and I found them distracting when playing through the piece. I like the themes. They are pleasing to the ear, at least to mine. There could probably be a little more variety. Measures 13-14 do reverse the direction of the tune, but it’s still rhythmically the same, and I wonder if that is giving enough sense of “new material”. Also, it’s in the same key. (This is a problem I have writing music — trying to keep things familiar but not beating any dead horses). How about putting something in a related key, maybe a major or try reversing measures 13 and 14, so you would have the new phrase start with three quarter notes. How about putting in some theme that has wider intervals. You have mostly step-wise motion the whole way through with the exception of a few jumps in the octave section. I think measure 39 and following have the more successful new material. Good variety but the key is still intact, so it’s provides some connection (again, for my ears, can’t speak for others). Maybe don’t use repeats for measures 63 / E section. The listeners’ ears will be well-familiar with the ideas by that point. Finally, I vote for an authentic cadence to at the end. It sounds unfinished. Like I said, just some thoughts I had.

Not much to say, I just wanted to show my work and see if other have a word about it. I felt like it was a bit overextended after measure 78, I'm not sure what should I do with it as shortening it will make it sound wrong and not right. C1.mp3 C1.pdf

Thank you very much – and, haha, I do not recognize the dissonances that much. But good to know that I’m just far enough away from „simple harmonies“, so that I must not exaggerate with dissonances much more! That’s nice to hear. At first, I wanted to develop the fugato further to a usual climax and ending. But, since its flow had already been „disrupted“ twice by the second and third stanzas of the poem, I decided to conclude the piece with a recapitulation of the opening „improvisation“, to finally come home to the key of Bb major. I was not sure about that decision, since that recap has a much more melancholic mood than one would expect for the task to depict a bright summer day. So I really appreciate that you – and some others – enjoyed that particular section. Yes, this kind of “orchestra” is indeed a bit weird (or “diverse”, as you politely called it). I use the YCF competitions to experiment with instrumentation while orchestrating my pieces, which I usually compose (initially) for solo piano. And since the competition rules limit the amount of instruments or players to five, I had to figure out how to achieve the greatest possible variety of colors: I needed a melody instrument and a substitute for the human voice, so I used the trumpet both with and without a mute. The cello and guitar provide the “orchestra” with the bass and rhythmic foundation. The piano remains as an accompanying instrument, but being paired with the accordion, which—in my opinion—is the most important instrument for the piece to produce a somewhat „French“ mood. Thank you, that is a great compliment for me and proves that I was not as wrong with the „weird“ accordion idea! Fortunately, yes—I won third prize in that competition.

Hello @InstrumentalistElle, I still remember your masterful string quartet, which depicts rocks or mountains surrounded by clouds. And since it features many “extended” string techniques involving harmonics and flageolets, I considered it to be a great composition example, but having rare chances to be ever performed live. Now, with this magnificent live performance, you’ve proven me wrong! Congratulations—for a composer, having one’s own pieces performed live is an incomparable reward, far greater even than winning a prize at a composers’ forum competition! How did you achieve that connection with such an outstanding ensemble? If you could tell me, I might even try to compose a string quartet (end of joke). 😀

Hi again and this is may be the biggest i would like a very helpful information about my pieces I. Prelude (Andantino) – C minor II. Sonatina: Allegro – G major III. Sonatina: Andantino – G minor IV. Sonatina: Finale (Presto – Adagio) – C minor Sonatina c moll finale.mp3Prelude in c moll.mp3Sonatina sol dur 1 mov.mp3 Sonatina c moll finale.pdf Prelude in c moll.pdf sonatina sol dur 1 mov.pdf Sonatina g sol mov 2.mp3 Sonatina g sol mov 2.pdf

Thank you all for the kind feedback. I’m glad you enjoyed the piece, and I appreciate you taking the time to listen and comment.

Hi YC members, hope everything is going well with you. Today, I got the idea to start this topic: the best pieces you have listened to in 2026 so far. I don't mean you have to only mention pieces released in 2026 — but the best pieces you have listened to in 2026 as of now. I'd like to share: Jon Appleton's "Homage To Orpheus". Makoto Ueno "Preludes, Livre 2, CD 131: No. 10, Canope". Also, this piece as well: Ben Nobuto's "Hope Spiral". My friend @CrystalCanon told me about him, and I immediately fell in love — please check him out! Thanks, CrystalCanon! Well, I actually have many more pieces, but that's all for now. Next, it's your turn — what are yours!?

Wow that sounds really great and the intro seems so familiar but the main tune so unique.

Does anyone have any critiques?