All Activity

I just remembered I never actually posted a thread on my Requiem, just the first two movements in a thread on my other mass, Missa Sabrina Fair! If you want to listen, try this: Churchcantor : Community Titles and scroll to bottom. The last movement is unfinished, but all I need to do is transpose a D minor fugue to Bb major, and write a coda/final cadence. Cyclical, as Süssmayr chose to complete Mozart's Requiem. In other words, the Introitus will come back in the end. Actually, that Noteflight link will default to sort by date, just sort by title.

Hello everyone, I posted this piece on the "work in progress section" but after modifying a little bit the form and cleaning it up I felt it was in an advanced state for being there (moderators, please, if possible, delete the other post as it seems I cannot delete it myself. Sorry about the trouble). I composed this inspired by a composition practice exercise based on a post in the Talkclassical forum for writing some neotonal music (Bartok, Stravinsky, etc): Step 1. Write a diatonic melody in a mode missing one note. Step 2. Use a different mode or scale for the harmony. My melody is in C Ionian without F, and the harmony is C ascending melodic minor (C major with Eb, though I ended up using E here and there too). I later added a B section with the melody focusing on the unused note F. The form is A[:BA:] (so ABABA). Because of the more modern style, I tried being harmonically adventurous. But I am not used to using extended chords or trying to use dissonances more freely so I am not sure if the piece works as a whole. Some of my concerns are: Does the piece and structure work overall? Does the harmony work in general? The theme A repeats three times, exactly in the same way. How could I add variety? Or maybe I should do a Rondo (ABACA) for adding variety? I always get stuck with same simple form and I also do not know how to reharmonize or avoid repetition on themes without making it lose the balance. Does it work well as a vocal piece or another instrument would be better (specially since there are no lyrics)? Technically it is in C Minor (it starts and ends in it) but since it uses mostly natural A and natural B throughout, and natural E on the melody, I used the Cmaj key signature. Is that okay or I should change it to using three flats like in natural C minor? I am not sure how to notate the piano sections that consist of ascending chordal accompaniment (with the pedal, although it is not marked). Is there any obvious mistake in the notation?) Thanks for listening and any feedback is welcome! PD: I found out that the first 4 notes and main motive of the piece (and the mood, because of the vocal singer) is similar to Jerry Goldsmith's theme to 'The Illustrated Man'. I never heard it before so it was a pure coincidence. I think the harmonization of those 4 notes is different, though.

Well, Beethoven KNEW he was a great composer in his lifetime, but he was more worried about being able to afford food, rent, and plenty of cheap wine sweetened with toxic lead salts! Not to mention digestive issues (Colitis?) that were far worse than the progressive deafness and could have killed him any time. No composer I know of made more sketches: 600 pages for the Missa Solemnis! That is a great composer, a genius, and both are very rare birds.

Well, in October I had a couple of unexpected houseguests, and the month was pretty wild! I'll leave out the details so I don't get banned again...😁The others will not be too hard to enter, but I need some time off! I am mainly researching and thinking about music rather than writing right now.

It's actually the piece I wrote in Spring '24 that made me finally at age 55 learn music software! I was trying to teach the local songbirds a few words in English, but the best they could come up with was "Beard hear, bird ear" (I have a beard) repeated endlessly, and a couple other things...he's here! Who's here? Like a baby. Now, I have entered other than some short choral pieces and a short (G&S-scale) opera all the music I care to enter unless I write something else...the overture of the opera is at least entered!

Yes, do check out my old-school Requiem! It is not death-obsessed, but rather a hopeful Requiem in a major key. The Introitus is Romantic, but it goes Neoclassical pretty soon after. I broke up the text just like Mozart did, and in the manuscript even had a funny where I wrote, in the exact place Mozart croaked, his apparent last written words: Quam Olim DC...da capo. Actually, start here! Requiem In Bb Major-Quam Olim II Free Sheet Music by Robert C. Fox for Various Instruments | Noteflight

Thanks for listening! My style goes with my bipolar nature. When I’m in a down cycle, it tends to be more dissonant and frantic, while the manic episodes tend to produce a more romanticesque feel. I based the structure for this off of Mozart’s, with a few omissions. That requiem is one of the pieces that made me want to be a composer and has always inspired me. I’ll have to check out your piece!

Thanks for taking the time to listen. The main mood of the piece is a little nihilistic, hence the frantic dissonance, but I’m glad you caught the more plaintive feel of the Pie Jesu. My intention was to conclude with a more mournful, but calm thought. Almost as a recognition of the evil in the world, but with a resolution to carry on.

Hello, Maybe I catch an organic form of music : Full improvisation, no rythm duty, acoustic drum, no remix, only reverberation effect on Audacity, one take, never repeatable (none by its author), weekly production.. Ombrée Zatlick is the name of the artist

Haven't listened to the whole piece, but enough to know that you are a good composer, but this style is not my cup of tea! I should talk; I used to write like that 34 years or so ago. I have simplified my style. On the other hand, the music seems to reflect the state of the world, THIS world at least, and without going into detail, I would say the problem with the world (plus ca change, plus se la meme chose) is that the lunatics are in charge of the asylum! 🤪 I wrote a Requiem in Bb Major, posted here in choral music, string orchestra. It is different than yours. I went old-school and mainly just doubled the SATB parts in the strings, though there are preludes and postludes, interludes, SOME figurations. It is modeled on the Mozart-Süssmayr Requiem in D minor, but it doesn't sound like Mozart, except in the occasional turn of phrase.

piano orchs.mp3 um (1).pdf

Well, I like this so far, halfway through. Starts impressionistic, then goes all poppy, like a well-composed film score. Only criticism I can think of right now is NEVER LET UP THE RHYTHM! Don't take that too literally...Mendelssohn was a great composer in his orchestral writing, but his piano music is lovely yet flawed: he tended to take one figuration and repeat it for the entire piece, and some of those figurations have been called "sugar icing" by the piano in his solo and chamber works, concertos...

OK, corrected the impossible chords; you think measure 107 is a jarring transition? You are correct! Bb major, F minor, Gb major, C major 7, and I wrenched it into dominant E major. Perhaps I was in a jarring mood that day! 🤪 Now I have to correct the darned manuscript. Yuck. I take pride in my manuscripts being neat with very few corrections, though I have been known to store them on the floor. Beethoven's apartment had manuscripts on the floor, copied out pages drying on furniture, and an unemptied chamber pot STORED UNDER THE PIANO! No wonder he was a better composer than me, or, well, most anybody.

haha yeah indeed they are.

Yes, ideas that I've brewed as well. I'm glad that the ideas are not lonely, here. lol I also just wanted to share this because c'mon... Why wouldn't I show these chords off for others to enjoy as well 😭 They're gorgeous, I think

Hey @Mooravioli! No doubt your piano prelude is good. And congrats on having your teacher playing it for you! It's a pleasure and honor for you! I had actually listened to this piece before your teacher played it haha. I remember I said that I wanted the trio section to be longer, and I think you do extend it in this version! I think the flow is better now! The harmony and texture is very interesting throughout, they certainly reflect a sense of escape from the time of anxiety now. I really like the b.37 section, even though it's light-hearted, it's easy to ignore the beautiful counterpoint there. I also like the reappearance of the first theme where you instead use the texture of from b.37 first, before recapitulating the lucid texture in b.108. Really enjoyable piece, thx for sharing!! Henry

Hey Kyle @UncleRed99! It clearly is captivating and promising "rough" draft! I like the majestic tone overall. I think after the climax in b.31, before going to a quieter section in b.34 you can have a transition instead of just a chord, but it's just a draft now so it's fine haha! I hope the contrasting section in b.34 longer and stay away from the F minor for a bit longer too. Also in the last adagio in b.51 I would add more movement and countermelodies to vary and contrast it with the Adagio beginning, like adding tremolos and some quaver movements between the chords like in b.53 and 58. Thx for sharing! Henry

Hi @UncleRed99! Clearly I forgot your original post so I will just treat this as a complete new one lol. I think so too, I enjoy this Japanese style music with a slight sadness but not too much. I feel like in b.51 the transition to a louder passage is a bit abrupt, maybe add a gradual transition with a volume crescendo before it? Because for me it's the only place I feel abrupt in the entire piece even though there are other spots with the tacit after a fermata. I feel like the trumpet melody in b.61-63 is too high in its register and will overpower the other instruments. Overpowering is ok but I think it doesn't fit your style here too much personally. And in b.53-57 there's an imitation between oboe and saxophone, but I think the oboe is overpowered by the saxophone so the imitation is not the most effective. And in b.94-95 I feel like the accompanying figure is given too much emphasis particularly with the 1st violin and trumpet. Maybe remove the trumpet? I sound nitpicky, but I do enjoy the piece! Thx for sharing. Henry

Thoughts on my current rough-drafted ideas / progress on a new symphony orchestral score I'm working on? This is a very rough draft. lol. The form isn't quite proper right this minute. Better transitions and more complex sections will be added in time. Thanks in advance 😉New(2).pdf New(2).mp3

Hi @Kvothe! If going for a stricter counterpoint, the clash of tritone in b.3 and 4 between B and F would not be permissible. The leap from C to A in the left hand in b.6-7 would not be permissible since it's a major 6th leap, rather than a minor 6th. And to smoothen the counterpoint, whenever after a leap use a step in the opposite direction, as the technique is used by Palestrina. Thx for sharing. Henry

-- Post moved to the Choral, Vocal Section--- Please, moderators can delete this post.

MY_MUSIC_013_20240216_043213_AudioVerb_1_054908265.mp3

Good luck with it😂

Hi to all. Just wanted to share this recent performance by professional harpsichordist Katarzyna Kowalik, of my work "The Sun Dappled Forest". The work was inspired by J.S. Bach and William Byrd; but I guess it also sounds a bit Halloweeny: so topical! Apologies for the low record level. (Please note the applause at the beginning and end is very loud by comparison!) Hope you enjoy.