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You da G O A T my friend

God damn it's true I'm just listening to Barenboim's rendition of it🤣. I may try again with glisses and fluttering, on some other piece that is 🗿. Thank you for your feedback Henry :). "01010100 01101000 01100001 01101110 01101011 00100000 01111001 01101111 01110101" 🙂 I sadly see this in dark mode Thank you Tristan! Seems I passed the test this time! Hi MK_Piano! I tried doing that but the margins don't seem to be updated in any config. I myself have printed a lot of my own scores and ended up preferring two:10mm and 15mm. This time I went with 10mm. I attach this video, perhaps you see something I do not. I checked other printing options and found out one that would increase my margins, but wouldn't increasing margins make margins bigger anyways and then I would end up having a lot of extra margin (My margins + Bleed)? Thanks for the heads up, perhaps I'm still missing something. Video here (I can't upload mp4s). I also tried with other printers and that is when the extra margins came, but I had to activate them. I had some handmade notebook with margin = 15mm at hand. Is this something that only happens with margins less than 15mm? What do you think of a piano part with reduced staves of the other instruments? What would you prefer as a pianist? Full score with dividers, full score but reduced parts that ain't piano, or just piano? Would it be a 100% one option no matter what? Am I asking too many questions 😁? @Henry Ng Tsz Kiu as a pianist yourself, what's your take on it? I'm also interested! For example, in this case we have 0 blank bars in the piano part. I would have thought it's spaced out enough. E.g: It's 10-8-7, and all quarter notes in page 3. Would you make it 5-5-5-5-5 or 6-7-6-6? Doing it any less than 5 when no instruments are playing would be difficult for me (matter of tastes), I could do it on demand of course. 🥶 I'll think about it. I don't tend to in compositions. Just in waltzes! I always do it in arrangements. Why? Not sure. I guess I have not seen them much in anything else than modern music and others' arrangements, but it's a good practice. That or circling bar numbers, but I guess that's less aesthetic. Thank you man, it's always cool when someone comes and makes you ponder your choices and you get to learn a thing or two at the very least. Thanks for your feedback and your optimism 😁. Hoping to stay for a long while this time. Time is scarce but I'll try to catch up! I'll vote for you Kind regards!!

I just listened to the piece and the only thing keeping it from meeting the requirements for the competition is that you're using ensemble strings patches instead of solo strings. If you use solo strings, this would be a great string quintet and would meet the requirement of being for 3 to 5 instruments!

Your piece is for orchestra. This is a competition for chamber works for between 3 to 5 instruments total.

Try fixing the dissonances and especially the 7ths as this is baroque dance.

Sounds much better!

OK, I wanna enter a piece inside of this competition. Where should I enter it? Should I like do something special or can I just post it here? I declare my interest to enter this competition.

possible performance notes: one May fear that uncertainty is one thing. Not knowing what’s ahead of you is definitely something people fear but what if there’s the opposite. Inevitability. You know it’s coming, but you do not know when. Well when it does, it leaves a strong lasting mark you could either look back or run. But your fate is you’re going to have to deal with it no matter what…

I must confess, that with enough time, it could be possible for myself or peers to sit down and play this. However, mainly because myself and my friends are high-in-skill concert pianist's capable of complex repertoire. My logos in thinking comes from the idea of the music being "theoretical" or "practical". In my opinion, practical music is a lot stronger than "theoretical" music. While on surface level/ on paper, this score seems possible in theory. This does not mean it is the most practical or effective way to write the music. You have to keep in mind the type of performer capable of playing this. Humans need time to move the hand, their fingers, turn the page, and more. A high schooler or middle school pianist will not be able to play this unless they have had extensive training. Even I hesitate to pick it up because simply be looking at the music, and comparing it to all the music I have played, I can tell it will be uncomfortable to play in certain spots. If I were to give this to my mentor, who is a student descendent of Chopin, he would never play 4 note tremelos, only 3 notes long and switch. On the trill variation (no.3) he, and myself, would only play the trills as mordends versus proper quarter note trills. This said, challenging music is okay to make, as you can't write music to conform to everyone. Two things can be true at once, and while it may be a challenge to play, it is also uncomfortable for the average pianist. To end, your ideas are good/ fine, and I don't mean to say this piece has no merit. Instead, if you were to ask 3 musicians to sit and play this, they would have a tough time and may ask you if changes in their part would be okay.

Oh yeah. I did. Forums it does that while. 🙂 My bad

Here is an updated version:

I believe you have misread my opening statement(s). I said "Forums" not "Forms". I have a thorough understanding of musical forms, however, appreciate the sentiment lol

Yes, it does take a while to know what forms are. I agree. That's why I am thinking doing composition master course soon on here. It will tons of topics.

The fifth piece within the group of compositions I had already shared here on YC and have been sharing once again because they had gotten deleted during the renovation of the website in late April-early May 2016, and after a hiatus of a little more than six years (the fourth one having been reposted on July 25, 2019), this is my "Soliloquy for Organ No. 4", Op. 156, composed June 27-29, 2013. As I have previously mentioned regarding these old pieces being reposted, I have been choosing the best ones (in my current opinion) among the 181 previously posted but deleted pieces and reposting them. Here is part of how I had introduced it at the time I originally posted it, on June 30, 2013: "I believe this piece to be one of my grandest musical conceptions, and therefore possibly the greatest piece I have yet composed." Let me here take the opportunity to also put the links of the previous four reposted pieces: 1. Three Fugatos for Harpsichord, Op. 222 (reposted on 28/5/2018): https://www.youngcomposers.com/t36633/three-fugatos-for-harpsichord-op-222-old-deleted-piece-1181/ 2. Three Sententiae for String Quartet, Op. 139 (reposted on 30/7/2018): https://www.youngcomposers.com/t36851/three-sententiae-for-string-quartet-op-139-old-deleted-piece-2181/ 3. Soliloquy for Clarinet No. 5 (Op. 172) (reposted on 11/12/2018): https://www.youngcomposers.com/t37265/soliloquy-for-clarinet-no-5/ 4. Reverie for Double Bass (Op. 25) (reposted on 25/7/2019): https://www.youngcomposers.com/t38143/reverie-for-double-bass-op-25/ Finally, I hope that pieces posted on this website will never again be deleted due to renovation of the website. In addition to many pieces being lost forever (fortunately I had mine all backed up), we will have to dedicate hours of time to find, prepare and repost pieces (as has been the case with this post in which (however) I also looked for and posted the links of my four previously reposted pieces).

Dear all, I am seeing other composers to arrange pop music recently, so I give it a try. (So bored this weekend for some reason) It is Like JENNIE by Jennie (Blackpink). It is my first time transcribing a pop song. There are no official scores available online for my reference, so I have to do it by ears. (Tried transcribe it with Youtube-to-mp3/midi converter but that was a mess too) If I have to say, the most difficult part is to mimic the half-singing-half-speaking voice of Jennie. Complicated rhythm and very chromatic (and nearly atonal) "melodies" that I have to do it in 0.25x. Took me almost 3 hours to complete the transcription for the 3-minute piece and did some orchestration for the another 1-2 hours. Hope you enjoy it and please feel free to comment on it. Thank you! HoYin Disclaimer: I do NOT own the music. All rights reserved by Jennie et al. Original MV: My arrangement:

Firstly, Thank you. (Why can't I add any reactions today? It was my first one today!) Anyways, I was able to play the opening for the pianos.You just have to plainly memorize the notes for piano 1, and play chromatic notes for piano 2. At bar 128, it meant that the sharped note should be played with a slightly more stronger accent, because written with a sharp. You see, the bass clef seems darker to me (except if the treble clef behaves like feux follets or the opening of the piece). I really like to use tremolos. And again, thank you very much for the positive feedback and comments. I appreciate it.

@MK_Piano Thank you for your kind reply. I hope my music is still pleasant to "post-tonal" ears. I treat it as a compliment when audience tell me they are willing to revisit - that means there are some places of work that is worth memorizing. While in the post-tonal context, while there are lots of idea I want to express in my work, I agree that there should only be "necessary" details in the writing - audience should be able to enjoy the work with their ears - instead of intelligently enjoying the tuplets or excessive dynamic markings by compulsively referring to the score.🫠 Gosh, I apologize for the double stops. I hope all violinists and pianist will forgive me for the effect.😆 While this work will be a part of my larger set of project "Festive", I do want to make it distinctive from other few works. So yes, I am writing this Halloween music with a storyline and realistically refering to the tradition - glad to hear from you I might have succeeded to convey the idea. Thank you!

It depends on your goal. Your intuition allowed you to make a piece of music that a normal person would say sounds fine/ cool. For a more refined level, you can take that intuition and apply things like chords or melody structure. All of which will allow you to replicate your work more consistently versus "doing so because music theory is essential for writing good music". If you want a free, collegiate-level, link to start learning music theory, consider checking out Music Theory for the 2st Century Classroom. This site is the one I used as a Freshman and Sophomore. It's pages of music fundamentals to complex theory; it is also paired with exercises and worksheets for when you want to practice these skills.

I enjoy this piece! The choice of the woodwinds is good - balanced timbre - especially with oboe adding some sense of mystery to the work. The melody is pleasant to listen to, and the development is natural and colourful. But in terms of the competition, I think it might not be the best fit in the "Halloween" theme (perhaps too joyful? 😅) However, I think section N and O lost some "energy" there - I know you may want to depict the gradual diffusion (dying out) of the smoke - I believe there are potential to be more harmonic before the recapitulation. Regarding the playability, I think it is completely fine, in terms of the clear indication and suitable difficulty to the players. Irregular time signature is a feature here. I think it is a light-hearted work that is worth a concert performance! Good work!

Hey Red! I've been making it goal to comment at least once on the halloween submissions and here I am! In our separate conversations, we have already spoken a lot on the piece, from how you created it, to how a new key/ scale can affect it, and how engraving can make or break a musicians understanding of the work. For those who have known your previous works over the last few months -> year, there is a clear sophistication in this work. I can see the clear sense of structure and harmonic language you presenting and I cannot state that enough. In the halloween sense, I am a big fan of the little dance after the A-section. It is very fun to listen to. Good work my friend! Let this only be a stepping stone to your greater works 🙂

What a wonderful piece of music. Musically speaking, I greatly appreciate your abilty to develop the motif over the course of the work. It was entrancing and even went it felt dissonant, I was listening with intent. I do have specific critiques on the engraving/ format of the score: I think it would be a better decision to increase the margins of the entire score. All printers have a margin where they will not put any ink on the outside of the paper (This is called the bleeds). If you were to view your PDF and hit the print button, it will automatically update the margins. (I have attached two screenshots to show this). I also think you can space out the measures more in certain spots (mm.31-58) even when instruments are playing. A pianist would read a part with all 3 instruments on there to help with coordination and having it spaced out may be a nice convenience. Lastly, I recommend adding system dividers to separate the score and to add rehearsal marks so one day, a trio can actually rehearse and use specific places in the score to practice. Lovely video to accompany this as well! 🙂

In the modern landscape, this, to me, was refreshing to listen to. I have experienced listening to bad post-tonal works where my peer thought more noise and crazy writing benefited the music or hall being played. I appreciate the landscape you painted and would not mind listening to this again in the future. Of course, on an objective level, this piece is difficult. I think it would be effective when played live, however, I would be the one to pass off learning it and give it to the next musician due to the ensemble difficulty lol. When applying it to Halloween, I think you have succeeded. Maybe not in the terms of the 'trick or treat' or lighthearted celebration that happens each year, but in terms of capturing the eerie and scary images a haunted house or creepy film shows. Good work!

@Justin Gruber I appreciate this submission a lot. Some of comments or ratings seem to come from a place of tonality and western structure versus the post-tonal lens this casts. For the style, I think the execution works well. This said, this will take time for performers to nail due to the syncopation playing tricks on their ears, however, I think it is a better condition for it to be challenging on an ensemble level versus a soloistic level. (I have a feeling you already know this to be true lol) For my personal style, I would space the measures out more and keep it to 4-6 measures versus a long stave of 8 measures. Even though you can fit 8 measures in one system, it grows to be a little "cluttery" at times (Measures 56-80). My final critique is when you apply this piece in the sense of "Halloween". I am not 100% convinced this conveys Halloween. It seems to cast the fall season in my opinion. I did not feel a "spook" or sense of "creeping" when listening. Other than these comments, I found your work to be enjoyable! Love to see when people employ some good front matter and proper copyright information. 🙂

@TristanTheTristan As I am still getting accustomed to the site, I have taken it upon myself to get familiar with some of the other forums and type of music people have put on YCF. I have been interested to explore what people have to offer, and from my curiosity, I decided to also start giving feedback on scores submitted by people for this Halloween Competition. This said, to whomever I comment on, I will be treating them like a professional and write based on the expectation that they know, at minimum, intermediate music theory. For now, I will avoid making a table of my rating, however, please find the following to be my review of your submission. As a final note, I like to be straightforward with colleagues, and by no means am I coming from a place of bad faith. I want to push my peers to new heights, and I will be honest with them so they know the truth and can evolve from there. __________ While fitting the criteria of the competition, I do not see this piece as a practical work made for performance. I have noticed multiple errors where a professional concert pianist would have a high level of difficulty playing this work; specifically "Variation 4" where you employ single note tremelos. However, they are not uncommon to use as Liszt, and Debussy used them in their music. Liszt in the Friska from "Hungarian Rhapsody no. 2" and Debussy from the Prelude "...Ce qu'a vu le vent d'ouest". In comparison, your usage of them is more difficult due to the amount of note shifts a pianist will have to do, versus the raw technique. In a similar mindset, I do not believe the first section from measures 1-40 to be realistically playable on the piano. Continuing on, the engraving for the score concerns me heavily. The measures seem to be too small or placed too closely together throughout and in spots, like measure 128, you have two different spellings for the same note (G# and Ab). Musically, is it rather interesting and I did enjoy the theme you created. I love to write in D-minor when given the chance, and I was vibing with the "sinister" nature the key provides in your theme. If you would like to talk more or explore these comments, I would not mind doing so. Thank you for taking the time to read this 🙂