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Thank you all so much for these wonderful comments and suggestions, I'm really appreciative of them! Absolutely agreed on the sheet music suggestions, I created it in a bit of a hurry but its generally nice to know what else can be done on top of it. With this I only didn't because of category difference between them, still I understand it would look much better if aligned. About form, it's definitely music with free form, maybe there could be a ternary song form (ABA usually) drawn from it because I do have some material that comes back later or is developed from. But generally I don't do very well with musical forms when composing especially that of classical era (sonatas, rondos etc.)

Thank you for your sharing! The articles really benefit me a lot. There is a URL link mistake: When I click Tintinnabuli (V): Adding M voices , I found Tintinnabuli (Ⅳ). I can find Ⅴ by searching on your blog, so maybe you can fix this mistake by replace the url. Please allow me to express my appreciation again!

@Henry Ng Tsz Kiu no you're right, when i listened to his piece, it became my favorite out of the submissions. i also like the fact that the other submissions are so heavy and dark in terms of the atmosphere, and mine is like wow its halloween spoooky timeeeeeeeee the beginning chord is actually the same as the one at the end, a Bbm11(#7,#11) or Bb minor and A minor stacked on top of another love that you notice the details that i've put it in. thanks again for the review henryy you're the goat

@Omicronrg9 it is really fascinating how my pieces tend to sound like a medley of unconnected themes to people, purely done by vibes. i assure you, based on the form that i've given, and based on the replies above, that i do state the themes, multiple times, even. maybe it's the accompaniment that's too distracting or too colorful that you don't notice it, or maybe the variations is too distorting, or maybe it's not catchy, or prominent enough? i think i've said this before that i do in fact, sketch my themes wayy before constructing the main piece, and i've tried basically to follow the basic principle of melody or theme writing. here are the first ever sketches of these that I've written in a DAW. just one line melody and chords. A theme: B theme: and i also get the whole "what you see in score (daw too) could sound different when score is not present," you'd think you've composed a good melody based on the looks of it, but when you just listen to it without any visual guide, it doesn't catch on. this is why i tried to put many repetitions of figures within the themes itself (as you can see) yeah compared to other submissions, this one's light. glad you like some of the sections though!! still appreciate the comments nonetheless. score alt link in case you missed it https://drive.google.com/file/d/12Ae39i_u-gnFFMmMTUBYBKnKNEfVpesN/view?usp=drive_link

Hi Dima, welcome to the forums! Instead of google drive links, you can also simply drop the mp3 and pdf here and they will be inserted automatically in the post, just in case). It's indeed brutal as @Wieland Handke remarked. However, I disagree with him in the feelings it produced in me. At the very first minute it did feel like I was attending a human massacre in a slaughterhouse or something like that. Nor spookiness, neither scariness, no: pure +18 gore. But since you don't abandon that mood and just limit to test how much the piano can resist being hit with sledgehammers, it gets kind of boring after the 1:30 mark to me. Then, you finally destroy the piano and the fretted strings come to save the day until the Luthier finishes repairing it. I think it makes up to a Halloween story, a very musical one! Well, maybe I am making up this story along the listen but if I am truly making up this story shouldn't there be a disclaimer somewhere that read: "NO PIANOS WERE SIGNIFICANTLY DAMAGED WITHIN THE DURATION OF THIS PERFORMANCE" or "WE TAKE NO RESPONSIBILITY OF THE DAMAGE CAUSED TO THE PERFORMER'S INSTRUMENT AFTER OR DURING THE PERFORMANCE OF THIS PIECE" Jokes aside, good engraving, but I don't quite get what's your norm with system dividers. They sometimes appear, sometimes not. All in all, a bit too repetitive, but I am not sure if that's bad or if you're even to blame provided that your base was a folk song, and at least where I am from, they are kind of repetitive by default. In any case, thank you for your submission! Hope you stay around 🙂. Kind regards, Daniel–Ø.

well i was gonna write responses to the replies, as well as fix the errors, might as well :)))

Wow what a quick response and revision!

try this maybe?? https://drive.google.com/file/d/12Ae39i_u-gnFFMmMTUBYBKnKNEfVpesN/view?usp=drive_link also fixed the tremolo markings btw @Henry Ng Tsz Kiu

Well the score does show in my side:

Done with my poll!

Hi Ferrum. When I open the PDF window to check it turns out I just cannot. Something's wrong, but not sure if it's in your side or it's the forums, or... Either way I am very curious about the score, duh. This seems to me like a small medley (well maybe not small actually) that contains a wide range of stuff going on but that seems to be permeated by this motif that you don't cease to state and use to transition to all sorts of places. It's like a spring, moving slightly upward and returning, giving birth to new passages endlessly. I must say though that the general feeling this piece gave me was not as concrete as other clear front-runners as you (front-runners to me, obv.). It was enjoyable, anyways! Maybe my shortest review today, but I cannot really find anything to point out about the piece that be worthy of a line or two more, plus I cannot access the score 😞. In summary, I did like some sections more than others, and I didn't feel it very light to be honest! Maybe when put in comparison, you're right. Many thanks for your submission, Ferrum! Kind regards, Daniel–Ø.

I finish reviewing all of them! I have to say, this is by far my favourite competition on YC. It's so hypered and lots of members of participating in it, not just submitting works but also commenting each other! That's what a forum is for right? I wish this popular vote format will contiue in future competitions! Henry

Melodies Themes Motives Harmony Chords Textures Form Development Structure Time Originality Creativity Score Presentation Instrumentation Orchestration Playability Execution of Given Challenge Taste 6 9 8 10 10 8 5.5 8 This is a rather technical, and complex piece. After listening to this a few times, the motifs, structure and flow made a lot of sense. It's interesting, because each time I gave this a listen, the music became less dissonant to my ears! Melody: While you do have a clear motive, due to how short it is, I would have liked to hear possibly another theme. But you do vary the motive quite often, so you are able to keep things interesting that way! Harmony: Definitely more on the complex side. Complex in that you wrote a dissonant fugue. But the harmonies mesh well together, especially after listening to this multiple times. Form and creativity: Clear form, and highly original work. Score presentation: Beautiful score, clear notation layout. Playability: This probably would be quite technical to perform, but seems quite playable to me. Execution of challenge and taste: I realize this is highly subjective, but this piece just doesn't remind me of Halloween, despite the dissonance. But I still enjoyed the piece very much, especially since I am a big fan of fugues.

Hi @Cosmia! Welcome to the forum and thx for joining the competition! I am the same, especially at the ending of it. It just dies away. I agree with @Omicronrg9 and @PeterthePapercomPoser. This one plays more on timbre and mood so it doesn't necessary use melodies or motives to push the music forward. The use of quintal and quartal harmonies are very apparent in this case. I would say this piece, even though it captures the horror side of Halloween, is less fitting to the competition, since it's a bit contemplative and serious to the festival in my opinion. The writing is however first rate, with great use of extended techniques like glissandos, harmonics, knock on instrument etc with great effect. Thx very much for submitting this high quality work to the competition! I really like them! Henry

Hi Cosmia. Bear with me a bit, I promise to be short. I have been listening to dissonance after dissonance in the textural, rhythmic, harmonic, melodic, metaphysical and who knows what else tonight. And now I have reached your piece. In all honesty, when I looked at your score first, I knew, or I supposed at least that this was gonna be hard to swallow. But no, you let me breathe. Despite this piece being built on tension, I found calm on it, even peace. Your atmosphere does not choke me, it doesn't overwhelm me with "pandirectionalism", effects because yes, and breaking of every rule because it's breakable. In my humble and honest opinion you very well managed to create a piece that demonstrates that: • You know your craft when it comes to manage elements that are purposefully clashing with each other. • You seem to know when to stop and when to go again, in other words: you don't hesitate to leave the music suspended, you don't abuse of textural overlap but use it wisely. • Dissonant spaces are very interesting to listen to when they are finely crafted. • There's no need to convince me of what you try to convey when the music, in this case your music, is pretty much able to speak for itself. I would agree with Peter, there's little to no "melody". I don't think that's the approach anyway, and I'm not rating that. Your approach, whatever it was, created an atmosphere that I can not only withstand but enjoy. I am thankful. Regarding the score, it has some room for improvement I guess but it's more a matter of tastes than anything else; things like • Alignment between pizz. and arco because why not. • Tempo equivalences in a frame or bigger/better alligned with the barline. • Instruments should be indicated at the beginning of the piece most likely. Stuff like that, very minor for most. Overall the score is readable, you can read it along the music, and the interpretation is really neat. The score states that's not gonna follow any tonality from the very beginning (no key signature). You have made in summary a very convincing piece with a really uncanny atmosphere. Congratulations, and good luck. Best regards, Daniel–Ø.

Dear @ferrum.wav, Heads off to this piece you wrote. Full command of motives, varieties in terms of style, mature chamber writing all are present in your work here! I love the beginning and how you introduce the chromatic motive, as it's accompanied by the tone cluster of piano, as well as the 2nd motive of the dancing motive in b.5. And very nice use of that tremolo too, if adding a sul ponticello would be even better! I simply love how you go from the more atonal beginning to a firming G minor dominant preparation in b.45 with chordal texture, nice combinatio of both tonality and texture for an intro! Nice imitations throughout the main section, and the glissandos throughout are great. I love you bring the opening in b.92 with a quicker tempo. The modulation to D minor in b.122 is very fluent and I like the 2 against 3 rhythmic figure introduce there too. The climax in b.151 is very prepared with consistent imitations, as well as the cool down. I really love J sections with that augurs of dancing motive by Flute, and that nice disturbance with the recurring tremolo in b.206! And the figure in b.212 is naughty! The brillante in b.238 is really brilliant, I would it would be longer! I just go straight to the end. CLearly the end to a Bb minor closure is very CLever. Beware of the tremolo markings though, the 32th note tremolo should be just written with double stroke if it's already a quaver itself. Clearly this one and Vince's piece are both in the very top level. If I'm to judge this whole competition, I will put Vince's piece slightly over yours. In terms of technique you too are great, but Vince's is more heavy in tone which I always like, given how I write heavier music lol! Once again, congrats for writing such a piece! Henry

Hi Wieland. Nice video to begin with. The sounds are also very nice. Now, the score itself has even smaller margins than my own, so I'd be careful depending on the format whenever it comes to printing. You also suffer from classic overlaps caused by the notation software default configs such as: That aside, some pianists would argue that they prefer their own fingerings so they may ask you an un-fingered part. Some other will be grateful though 😀. Now, regarding the piece itself, while I do catch some G# minor sections, I would argue that most of it seems detached from that key. I noticed lots of G naturals but few F double sharps, and I would say I heard more E minor and B-flat minor passages than G# minor throughout the piece. Maybe I’m mistaken, but as Henry said, this isn’t really a problem. I can also see how the piece weaves together fragments introduced mostly at the beginning, and in theory it does what you describe in your technical explanation. However, while I appreciate their inherent potential to create a structure, I don’t really think they fully succeed in building one. After a couple of listens, I still don’t perceive it as something “complete” or well-structured, despite the explanation you provided and the fact that the elements you mention are indeed present. To my ear, it feels like patches of cement and bricks placed in the middle of an amalgam of sometimes more, sometimes less convincing waves of music... The motives are definitely there, but I don’t find them more prominent than other material happening simultaneously—such as, for example, in the recapitulation, but imo it happens on the piece overall and if you didn't point them out some of them as different, I think I would have had a harder time distinguishing one another when intertwined with other material. In my opinion, there’s a lack of prioritization among the fragments, and that combined with how dissonant they are on their own creates an “uncanny” atmosphere that permeates large portions of the piece restlessly. While that can be effective, it becomes tiring to me, and I don’t feel this is resolved towards the end. Thus, the final passage is a no-no for me. After a piece plagued with dissonances & chromatisms clashing and not letting you breathe much, a final G#m conclusion comes all in a sudden despite the morendo. Don't get me wrong— It's not a very bad final passage, not at all, but I don't see it, once again, well connected with the piece overall. On the other hand, I would say this piece feels more Halloween-like than others I’ve listened to recently, which also make use of dissonances not only on the melodic plane, but also on the rhythmic and textural planes. All in all, a piece I honestly did not enjoy but that I did not dislike either. Many thanks for submitting your piece to this competition and good luck! Kind regards, Daniel–Ø.

Thanks for the feedback! As a little lore to this, I originally wanted to write for Piano Quartet using the woodwind families. I started music on the Bb-Clarinet, and in college, became the Principal bassoonist for our symphonic band for two semesters. When beginning to write, I was really inspired by the Nightmare Before Christmas and Danny Elfman as a whole. However, I just never found any concrete ideas with this instrumentation. It all felt too stereotypical. Thus, I went even more traditional and back to the orchestral setting for this work. I never thought about another name. One user suggested increasing the tempo slightly, and there more I listen back, there more I am beginning to agree with it. I don't have any new ideas for a name, but after this contest concludes, I may revisit it, add those changes, and change the name. Maybe, while I am at it, add another movement or installation and make it a chamber set. Thanks again!

I appreciate the feedback!! I'd love to talk more about some of the theory behind elision(s) when applied to structure. I felt that if I did a pure 4-bar phrase, it would become too stagnant due to all the repetition. As I wanted to keep your attention, I Elided the violin to carry the listener into new directions. I will admit most of my choices in this piece came from a point of wanting rich sound and low registers. I thought that going high in each instruments tessitura would not benefit the character I was striving for. To add, I was pressed for time in my already busy schedule, and I did not feel it worth to aim for complex development of the motivic structure. I did try to keep it simple instead of going for a level of sophistication that would take me a few weeks -> months to really refine. Structurally speaking, I employed transition phrases to connect either a new texture change or section of the piece. Measures 21-24 and 33-37 are such places. It was for these moments where I did not want to exercise new motives, but as I type this, I see this now it could've been a chance to do a dependent transition and allow the motif or texture to start developing as or before the third statement of the theme comes in the Piano. The development is when I broke the classical mode and tried to create a section purely for the effect of Halloween. I wanted something not active in texture to contrast the opening and just go for simplicity at it's finest. Also, not too much I can do about similarities to other works. There are only so many keys and I really wanted to use C-minor for this lol Thanks for the comments, it has given a lot to think about.

Hi Mr. Gomes. Welcome to the forums! I'll be short tonight: You made quite the orchestration. I am myself not enough well versed on such matter yet to give you proper feedback on it but everything seemed balanced, complete to my ears. I was very convinced with how well you ended the piece. Keeping the distances, of course, you do have a motif that resembles the intermezzo of the Zarzuela "La leyenda del Beso" (2nd mvt.). And I very much liked that, as well as the piece overall in fact. In order to get more feedback here from my colleagues, I would suggest you to not just upload your piece. Most people here are used to spammers &/or people that just submits their pieces but don't interact further, even when they meet some criticism, feedback, praise, or anything in return of their comments, so I encourage you to do so (interact, don't just upload) with others' pieces that are seeking for some valuable feedback, causal praise, raw criticism... Whatever suits you best! All in all, a waltz that I will share among my friends that's for sure, it was very enjoyable to me. Best regards, Daniel–Ø.

Thank you everyone!

The instrumentation choice is perfect! I like the bassoon and the base clarinet introducing their own dark personalities. In contrast to so many other atonal submissions, this piece has clear melodies and harmonies and the Halloweenish timbre is almost accomplished entirely through the expressiveness of the bass instruments, without overstressing dissonances. The dance starting in section C (especially with the triplets from bar 36 on) introduces a feeling of awkwardness, raising the image of mysterious creatures wiggling around. All in all a piece I liked very much, but I must admit that it in the sense of the contest and in the context of the other submissions, it is – for my taste – a little too well-behaved and the blending of all instruments together seems too „perfect“, in order to get the award of the „most scary and spooky“ one. By the way, the title „Ghost Town Requiem“ is – in my opinion – a bit too bold, but what matters. Melodies Themes Motives Harmony Chords Textures Form Development Structure Time Originality Creativity Score Presentation Instrumentation Orchestration Playability Execution of Given Challenge Taste 9 8.5 7 9 9 9 6 7.5 Average Score: 8.125

As in your title - „Diptych“ - and your explanation, that you’ve being inspired by paintings of Bacon and Goya, the piece is creating impressions – not necessarily as martially and threatening as the two respective ones – but really fitting the mood of Halloween. For this purpose, the atonality and the lack of a distinct traditional musical form is intentional and well chosen. The articulation and even the advanced string techniques are clearly presented and annotated in the score, convincing that it is not only „experimental music“, but really playable. I very enjoyed this probably last - but not least - piece of the contest. Thank you for sharing. Melodies Themes Motives Harmony Chords Textures Form Development Structure Time Originality Creativity Score Presentation Instrumentation Orchestration Playability Execution of Given Challenge Taste 8 8 7.5 9 9 8.5 8 6.5 Average Score: 8.063

The instrumentation choice, the mixed quintet, was very clever given you the chance of having so many different combinations and colors with the instruments, so that the excessive occurence of the themes never gets boring or repetitive. I must admit that I have discovered the existence of two clear defined (melodic) subjects only upon second listening (and after reading your form description). Maybe I've listened too many atonal music the last few days. With this in mind I would consider it as a polyphonic piece – not a classical fugue – but a combination of counterpuntual theme development, variations and free or homophonic intermezzos which creates a rich and interesting texture that lets the long (more than 7 min) piece pass flowlessly. One of my top favorites. Melodies Themes Motives Harmony Chords Textures Form Development Structure Time Originality Creativity Score Presentation Instrumentation Orchestration Playability Execution of Given Challenge Taste 9 9 9 9 9 9 7 8 Average Score: 8.625

Yes, that’s a folk dance, but a brutal one! With this choice you’ve really matched the objective for a scary, spooky piece in the Halloween contest. The score presentation is clear and very precise, sometimes giving me questions concerning the playability: Where to take up to 10 fingers in one hand by the piano player? (I know, that are „clusters“ to be played with the entire hand or whatever, but some seem to be difficult to achieve with mixed white/black keys as, for example, in bar 190). In spite of the atonality, the texture of the folk dance is perceivable and so the structure of the peace can be followed and remembered by the listener – what is not always the case in „post-tonal“ pieces. Well done. Melodies Themes Motives Harmony Chords Textures Form Development Structure Time Originality Creativity Score Presentation Instrumentation Orchestration Playability Execution of Given Challenge Taste 6.5 6.5 7 9 8 5 9 6.5 Average Score: 7.188