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First, some negative considerations: What I’m a bit sad or disappointed of is the fact that you – together with two other submissions so far – have not meet the requirements of the competition, since the piece is too short than the requested 3 minutes. I don't think that was an unintentional mistake, but rather a sign of a certain laxity: “I can easily ignore these rules—it's just for fun, after all.” Yes, the competition is „just fun“ and the rules are not given from a higher authority. But if you are playing a game with some friends where you have negotiated some rules in advance, and somebody does not obey them, the „fun“ instantly decreases. With this in mind, you bring me as reviewer into the uncomfortable situation to be forced to break the rules, too, whenever I give you a review taking all (other) criteria into consideration and do not skip your piece due to disqualification. Now, coming to the music. Some other reviewers have noted that the piece „is not a fugue“. That is true – not only since it does not start with the subject in only one voice. But it doesn’t matter because the task of the competition was not to write fugues. Writing a „Chinese Fugue“ is „inherently impossible“ since, when using pentatonic harmonies you cannot apply the formal rules of a western fugue which are based on diatonic harmonies. So I think, the piece is an invention or a „fugato“ and the title could be changed to „Fuga“ Chinesen (with quotation marks around the word fugue) to avoid complaints by contrapuntal purists (like me 😀). I have taken a quick look at the score while listening and discovered at least the following entries of a subject and countersubject: Subject: mm. 1-8 (G Dizi) Subject: mm. 22-29 (Erhu) Subject: mm. 63-70 (G Dizi) Countersubject: mm. 1-5a (Erhu) Countersubject: mm. 31-35a (Guzheng) Countersubject: mm. 63-67a (Erhu) There are also some nice sequences (in mm. 47-52 and 53-63) which could be considered as fugal episodes and the last bars (from mm. 71-78) could be a coda. There are as well shorter motifs which are derived from the initial thematic material Melodies Themes Motives: There are distinctive themes in the different instruments which are organized in a counterpuntual technique. Harmony Chords Textures: Nice pentatonic harmonies and interesting textures. Form Development Structure Time: The development should have been continued in order to achieve the minimum required length for the piece. Originality Creativity: Well done. The piece is unique and distinctive between all submissions (so far) with its pentatonic harmonics. Score Presentation: The score is clean, however I would like to have some dynamic or articulation marks (so far they are applicable/possible for the respective instrument) Instrumentation Orchestration Playability: I’m not able to judge that since I’m not familiar with the instruments, but I would guess there are no problems. Execution of Given Challenge: The piece clearly depicted a – for me – exotic world, however it did not arise the imagination of a phoenix. Taste: I like the piece with its really Chinese mood. Melodies Themes Motives Harmony Chords Textures Form Development Structure Time Originality Creativity Score Presentation Instrumentation Orchestration Playability Execution of Given Challenge Taste 9 8 1 10 8 8 5 8 Average: 7.125

Here is my submission to the Landscapes event! -Unc

Alright... I'll admit. Not my best work, but it's got it's own charm, I feel. I didn't have a ton of time to dedicate to this challenge, this time around. Long story...... Just the mix of the level of intensity my life is right now, and the difficulty in finding inspiration / motive to write something for this, made this one very challenging for me. I perservered because I value what this piece can teach me, moving forward, and what it might teach others who come across it. Well, here it is. "Warmth". (Composition based on the photo attached on the score's title page! I will also attach a copy to this post.) I wanted to depict the feeling of looking upon a rural homestead, and the "warmth" it brings to those who may call a place like this their home. So this is the image I went with :) Warmth.pdf Warmth.mp3

Entry: Alishan Melodies Themes Motives Harmony Chords Textures Form Development Structure Time Originality Creativity Score Presentation Instrumentation Orchestration Playability Execution of Given Challenge Taste 10 10 10 10 10 7 10 10 Average Score: 9.6 Review: Score Presentation: There were no engraving errors with the given score. Instrumentation, Playability: Strings players need time to change between pizz and arco. The double stops in b 58 is not playable! The quadable stop is better mark pizz. The arco 16th notes could be played better as pizz? Execution: This piece exceeding expectations of challenge. Taste: I appreciate the composer understanding 20th century harmonic language within this composition. It is refreshing to hear modern classical music like this! I would hear piece like this! Creativity, Originality: Alishan was highly creative and original. Harmony and texture: The high sense of chromaticism is what makes this piece truly interesting. Strcuture: This is a tough one to nail down. I think the best way to describe to it is:ABA (I think). Motives: There are well crafted motives and themes through out the piece.

Hello Henry Ng Tsz Kiu, These minor seconds—or dissonances—are intentional; they serve as an emotional "sigh" effect and are meant to give the sound a melancholic quality. In measure 5, we have E and C, with a B above them. It is a Cmaj7 chord missing its fifth. A similar dynamic occurs in measure 18, where the friction between G and G# happens rapidly, creating that "sigh" effect once again. Whether or not it was successful is, of course, another matter. The reason it sounds so poor here is due to this MIDI recording; unfortunately, I do not play the piano myself. Think of it this way: if you separate a small child (the B) from its mother (the C) and take it to an unloved aunt (the A), the child feels a deep longing for its mother. That is what we are hearing. Try playing C-E-G-A-A, followed by D-F-B-A-A. When you reach the B, you will see exactly what I mean. However, some of the errors you noted here—such as the time signatures and rests—are merely formatting issues. Thank you for your helpful suggestions (translated via Google Translate.)

Thank you @Wieland Handke for the compliment. We are here to build each other up. That is why I ensure to continue to review as a member update their works here.

Thank you. But I don’t think we should take the reviews all that seriously. They’re mostly just opinions, and I, for one, don’t feel qualified to ‘judge’ anything. But I do think any feedback can be useful.

When I was looking at my submission thread today I was excited to see more than expected replies – after the reviews were coming in somewhat slowly in the last few days. The more I was surprised when I realized that a “battle” or a “rodeo” had broken out over my post! So I must first state the following disclaimer: I did not create the user D.V.Vanin to troll my own thread in order to have more replies, but however, thank you @D.V.Vanin for producing that amount of attention to my piece, LoL! 😉 Thanks to @Henry Ng Tsz Kiu and @PeterthePapercomPoser for wielding the sharp sword of forum etiquette to defend me against negative comments. But I must make it clear that I don’t take these personally or seriously. I’ve just seen, that D.V.Vanin has posted some short pieces to compare his compositions with mine. I will – after doing my work reviewing the submissions to the competition – give him feedback with a „counter review“ - in the way as I usually do: seriously, honestly and kindly. And thank you to all the „serious“ reviewers so far, @Kvothe , @Luis Hernández and @chopin for their reviews, I will come back to them later, individually.

First Movement Guitar Quartet-Rock Guitar Free Sheet Music by Robert C. Fox for Various Instruments | Noteflight

My Submission for the "Landscapes - Soundscapes" competition

Dear all, This is a short piece inspired by my trip last year with my girlfriend on a winter trip to Alishan at Taiwan, and we were visiting it in the afternoon. The photo is taken at the entrance of the Alishan visitor's zone. It is a place of high mountains with tall, spiritual trees, among which we travel with light railways and walked through the bridges. Being from a city with concretes, this jungle is particularly peaceful and you can always find the beauty of nature there. I have always been eager to write a piece as a diary of my visits, and it is a completely good time (the competition) for me to write one. Hope you all like it! HoYin Alishan for Flute Quintet.pdf

Jealousy : Is when you want someone to STOP what there doing Envy : is when you want to DO what there doing

That's sounds like an envy

First Movement Guitar Quartet-Rock Guitar Free Sheet Music by Robert C. Fox for Various Instruments | Noteflight 🤣

Hello This is a piece I really like and find fascinating. The composition is superb, and the way you break up the sections with what sound like interjections is really appealing. It’s also fantastic to see the techniques you use in the strings. The quotation from the hymn is brilliant. Just like Ives used to do.

Thanks Henry! So glad you like it 😀 Will definitely try your suggestion: it's a great idea. The other two movements are going to be very challenging to orchestrate, especially the third. I've already started on it, and it's a real beast!

Brotha Henry, I've been meaning to comment on this movement for a while, I apologize for the delay. This first movement is full of evocative and memorable themes, which intertwine as the piece progresses. In fact, I found myself humming the beginning "expressivo" theme during work. Your compositional method, including counterpoint and motivic development, reminds me of Brahms but I can see you are adding in your own "random pauses" to the mix. I would be careful these pauses don't interrupt the works organic flow, such as 6:45, which I found a tad out of style. However, I thought 6:55 flowed really well, so the contrast does it's job. Lots of imaginative figurations in the strings, all the while, maintaining support for the clarinet line. Nevertheless, this is definitely one of the darker pieces I've heard, I hope you are in a much better state now, Henry. If this is Yin, then I believe your sextet must be Yang.

I would like the"Nature is wild". please

Oh You want feedback on your MUSIC ?.....................I would start with the Science of a Melody.............that will help you make MUSIC https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/sciadv.adk0010

Dear Henry, Thank you very much for your kind words. I’m delighted that you enjoyed it. Haha, regarding your handwriting, what matters is that it is genuine and authentic. After all, Beethoven was never famous for the beauty of his manuscript scores, yet even from his handwriting one can perceive the uniqueness of his personality and the genius that he was. Best regards, Vasilis

thank you so much for your comment! may u tell me in what ways can i do better?

What about my music, man. I don't need you lecturing me about what melody is or not.

One of the most Famous Melody's in the world Baroque Concerto.mp3 Baroque Concerto.pdf Baroque Concerto.mid

Thanks for listening to the piece. I really appreciate it!

Thx Vasilis, I am happy you enjoy it! Henry