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Hello @Marek , I see, that you have joined the forum recently and now at the first topic you have the fortune – or even the evil – that you’ve received a very detailed review which is not only intended as suggestion on the improvement of your particular piece but useful to all other members in this forum. So I could imagine, that there will be many replies on this topic in the future – perhaps a discussion or even a little dispute about the issues MK_Piano pointed out, especially on engraving. So there is my advice, take that serious, but not personal. I remember on a topic by Frederic Gill where some members had (their own) conversation about details he surely had not in mind and finally was a bit overwhelmed and „overteached“, so that I was a bit afraid he would be too disappointed and would leave the forum at all. Therefore, I now come first to your music, where I only speak from my listening impression: I can really imagine a shore in the morning where the fog is slowly lifting and the sun comes on shining through the clouds. It’s a very calm and serene moment, in which the perception of time seems to be gone away. After you’ve walked an endlessly seeming time at the shore, you turn your head and look back – now discovering the great lighthouse you hadn’t seen before, since it was hidden by the cliffs above, you now have passed. I tell that story to express the sole criticism which I have, and that is the length of the piece in comparison with the things that happen. And in this I can only agree with MK_Piano’s comments on his final pages of the annotated score. Now to the comments concerning engraving: Hello @MK_Piano, thank you for your effort you have put into annotating the score. I think this is helpful not only for Marek, but also to me and many other forum members. There are a few general rules you pointed out which one should follow to achieve a clear score presentation, for example • No dynamics on rests. • Not to prolong notes using ties whenever it is possible to notate otherwise, for example with dotted notes. • No separated rests whenever it is possible to combine them into a larger rest. • No diminuendo to „nothing“ (e.g. unplayable dynamic marks like „pianississimo“). • Some aesthetics (clashing dynamics symbols). And in the examples in that particular score, it is „obvious“ to follow that rules would be a huge improvement. However, as I remember at some of my piano preludes and fugues, there are some situations where I intentionally violated that rules in situations where I find that the score becomes more readable when using tied notes instead of dotted ones or when separating longer rests and put the shorter against the notes of the same length in another voice – to mention some examples. I don’t want to go into detail with this at Marek’s thread here, so I would ask you whether I could discuss that topic with you in the future, for example when I’m about to present that respective pieces here on the forum. One advice I can really emphasize, is to maintain two different scores. One as the „printing“ score to be used for playing from, and one solely for the purpose of recording in your software. I do so with all of my pieces, and the „recording“ score is full of exaggerated articulations, dynamic marks and even micro tempo changes to achieve a satisfying, more realistic recording result wherein I can express my ideas about the interpretation.

Thank you very much! the key is actually A minor, but the tuning is 415, so it makes it sound indeed one semitone lower.

Your composition has John Williams cinematic feel to it ... a sweet melody. I enjoyed the thematic orchestration and development. Mark

Hello @L.S Barros , Reviewing a fugue without a score is a challenge, but if you choose not to reveal it, I fully accept that decision and will try to figure out what I can discover just by listening… The fugue has a short and memorable subject that modulates to the dominant. When I try playing a few notes on my “GarageBand piano,” I’d guess it’s in G-sharp minor, which is one of the most interesting minor keys to me because it has a somewhat spooky vibe (perfect for Halloween) and is a great choice for your energetic and humorous little fugue. I said „humorous“ because the first transitional passage between the second and third subject entry introduces funny repeated notes or intervals which are even more pronounced in the first episode. This somewhat repetitive and homophonic motif is reappears later as counterpoint of the subject, and I enjoy how well it works not damaging the overall counterpoint of the fugue. In the later episodes, you have presented a more traditional transition using sequential motifs, so that the fugue as a whole has an engaging texture that never becomes boring. You mentioned that there are parallels, but aside from the repeated notes or intervals in the first half of the fugue, I always felt to perceive contrary motion in the voices which naturally avoids parallels. Thank you for sharing, very enjoyed.

Oriental Melody For those that travel the world ORIENTAL MELODY.mp3

It will be difficult read, like REALLY difficult.

Thank you!

Thanks! I would definetly give you the score, but since my compositional skills are still terrible there is parallels everywhere, probrably every bar.

I think that's impressive for one sitting!

The Lento ma non troppo, con dolore movement is quite lovely and I enjoyed it immensely. Mark

In anticipation of tomorrow being Bach's 341st birthday according to the Julian calendar, I have decided to upload now the modified version of this fugue, which I initially intended to repost back on July 28th last year to commemorate the 275th anniversary of his passing, but couldn't due to circumstances which prevented me from publishing it in time. As such, in order to better honor his unparalleled legacy and eternal spirit thriving within the vast reaches of his art, still echoing through Western musical history long after the world was graced by the timeless genius, unabating magnificence and unmatched brilliance of his divine compositions, I have chosen to once again mark this occasion by sharing the definitive revised edition of this humble work of mine, originally based on the subject of his G-sharp minor fugue from the 1st volume of the Well-Tempered Clavier (BWV863b), as a tribute to his insurmountable greatness and immortal spirit. In roughly 10 days from now, his 2nd birthday according to the Gregorian calendar will also take place, so by then I may have hopefully finished another piece I'm currently working on in time to celebrate his actual birthday. Note: the whole composition has been rendered in A = 415 tuning and 1/5th-comma meantone temperament, in order to better, more accurately capture the Baroque essence this piece strives to convey. YouTube video link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5xU93vQDgOA Fugue in A minor (Subject from BWV 863b).mp3 Fugue in A minor (Subject from BWV 863b) Piano.mp3 Fugue in A minor (Subject from BWV 863b).pdf

Well, it sounds great to me. It would be best to take a look at the sheet music as well.

This did have a hint of sweetness, which I usually expect in music that is written with the intent of love. usually when I write music with irl love blended in it’s usually more cryptic and abstract (see event horizon; coda material) this did have some end of darkness without the heavy weight of absurdity so it sort of had this impact of coming out of the darkness and revealing its light. Really nice work though good job.

for this, I used an old broken, and out of tune synth keyboard to give me an arpeggio, I played around with the notes switches to make it sound right. Then I had to record it, send it, download it, and sample it; I added some piano and the song was good. It's supposed to sound off tune and off beat, to make it sound more janky and broken like the piano. let me know if I should compose more music like this please! nostalgia.mp3

This is a very small and simple Fugue i made in one sitting, im still pretty bad at making fugues and baroque music in general, so please have a bit of mercy on me! LOB 53 Fuga.mp3

Hello @Luis Hernández , Thank you for the score! Yes, I’m interested in it and did download it, because it is such a small but great example. Since I’m usually focused on piano pieces, I’m not familiar with orchestration – especially with large ensembles. I only did some arrangements/orchestrations of my preludes and fugues, for example during the last two YCF competitions – which I very enjoyed. So, if there is the next such event, I think I’ll come back to your exercise using it as an inspiration how I could make my piano pieces sound in a larger ensemble. And since my preludes just have some more notes than only two – or better to say more than three, as our beloved Tristan correctly pointed out – it will be very helpful!

Hallo @PeterthePapercomPoser ! Thank you. I always highlight the subject entries in the „colored score“ which I use for the videos and even for myself when composing, since it helps me recognizing the subject and I enjoy if it is helpful for the visitors, too. I’m not quite sure which exact subject entry you meant, the first one (of the original, non-diminished subject) is in bar 46 in inversion as accompaniment in the transition section to the anthem (and from there on, the subject appears several times with that shift). While analyzing the fugue (which I’ve composed four years ago), I found out a few more interesting „shifts“ (which I did not remember furthermore). For example, in the exposition there is a recurring countersubject which starts together with the first subject entry as Comes, but is than shifted a half bar (for the second) and a whole bar (for the third occurence). Astonishingly, it seems to work and those „shifts“ help that the fugue is not repetitive in its rhythmic texture, but has a continuous flow – which is required to resolve the dissonances I use heavily in this fugue (somewhat contradicting the consonant style of Palestrina) but which I find appropriate given the serious programmatic backdrop of war. As far as I remember, a ricercar is an „older ancestor“ of a fugue, dating back to the Renaissance; while it is “close” to the fugue, its structure is perhaps less rigid. I have chosen the slow note values to be reminiscent on the style of Palestrina and not thought at a ricercar which also employs long note values as the „stile antico“. But yes, one could call it ricercar, especially since due to the introduction of the Ukrainian national anthem in the second part, the piece became „multithematic“ as early ricercars are.

Hallo @TristanTheTristan , Haha, F-flat major, a key with a double flat in its key signature … But thanks for the link; interestingly, it included some examples where composers actually used F-flat major, at least in certain passages or movements of their works. So you brought me to an idea: Since I have not yet composed my E-major fugue, there might be a spot where I could use F-flat major in a passage with a mood that calls for flats rather than sharps (I associate the mood of flats with „darker“ and „somber“, but also „warmer“ and „mellow“.) But to take it a step further, I should not use F-flat major, but F-flat lydian, so that I could make a key signature change in the score to seven flats in order to stay within the common range of usable accidentals. And the mood of F-flat lydian must be completely confusing: As „dark“ as possible due to the seven flats and „luminous“ at the same time, from the Lydian mode.

Here's the SoundCloud version: https://soundcloud.com/olivercomposer/violin-cello-duet-original

I would argue sharps are more brilliant, flats are more ambient, and c major... is just nursery rhymes basically.

The cellist is really talented. I like her performances. Nice music, hats off!

Nice mysterious, atmospheric intro. I really like it!

Hey Guys, Here's my original composition featuring cello and violin. I've been working on this piece for 3 days. It's very hard to write for only two instruments, because it's not that easy to form harmonies with two solo instruments. Technically it's possible, but they play broken chords and arpeggios. (Of course, both cello and violin can play double stops, but I deliberately didn't add double stops to the piece.) So, it was challenging to create the illusion of harmonies without real harmonies. What's your opinion? Feel free to share it with me in a comment!

I appreciate your comment! I agree with you, repetitiveness is a huge risk in game music, and it's hard to avoid it.

Listenable? Very much so - I'd say a beautiful work indeed.