All Activity

Hello, thank you for listening, I really appreciate it! I view music as something living and fluid, much like flowing water. Even when the structure is crafted beneath the surface, I prefer the form to avoid feeling obvious or rigid upon first listen. My approach, therefore, focuses less on strict harmonic formulas and more on movement, texture, color, and the natural evolution of musical ideas. While traditional harmony and voice leading remain important to me, I treat them organically and flexibly rather than as strict academic exercises.

This is a great idea. I like what you have done, too. Personally I would use less pizzicato as its use in Mozart's time is more restrained.

Thanks. What is your theoretical approach to composition? Do you think in chords, voice leading, traditional harmony etc?

With respect, your reply reads like something generated by AI. And I really wouldn't be surprised if the music was in fact AI generated. It asks a good question, though: "Is it objectively correct that the piece is problematic because it sounds like a continuous mass of dense, abrasive chords without a clear melody?" I did not suggest that my position was objective. I made it clear that I was coming from a perspective influenced by personal taste and training. The atonal and textual messiness without clear direction or distinct character in this work is unlikely to become more than an intellectual curiosity that only you can only possibly understand. This is not objectively problematic, but when you consider the taste of your audience, it can become so if it does not align with broader aesthetic taste. A composer that does not need to care about that is surely privileged but not of much value to the experience of others. And this inadvertently circles back to your question: "[are] my composition skills are strong enough to work professionally as a composer for instrumental music". In the professional landscape, you will need to compose in accordance with other people's vision.

Very interesting stuff! I don't often hear people having a crack at renaissance music. I'd be interested to hear where you learned this art. I liked it a lot!

Nice ideas Henry! Nicely lyrical. I do find your voice leading strategies at times in need of work, particularly in the bass. But I recognize that your conceptual approach may ultimately differ from mine. I would suggest that for such long works, that you post each movement separately. It could improve your engagement with the piece overall, as most people I don't expect to watch beyond 5 minutes.

This piece is dedicated to the veterans, and to the countries that offered their support, who extended a helping hand to Korea during times of hardship—particularly the United States, as well as nations that provided assistance through the United Nations and NATO. The work was composed as an expression of gratitude for their sacrifice and support. Many listeners have mentioned that the piece comes across as a continuous mass of dense, abrasive chords without a clear melody, and that they find this difficult to engage with. I understand this reaction and recognize that such a texture can be challenging for some audiences. From my perspective, however, the absence of a single, dominant melodic line was an intentional compositional choice, rooted in the conceptual framework of the work. That said, I am open to the possibility that this decision may still present musical issues that I have overlooked. I would therefore appreciate your perspective on whether the perceived density and lack of a clear melody pose structural or expressive problems within the piece, independent of individual stylistic preference. Thank you very much for taking the time to share your thoughts. Thank you very much for your advice. Many of the people around me are not confident in their ability to judge music, so I truly needed the perspective of someone with a well-trained ear.

Thank you.

This is actually quite beautiful. Reminds me of ambient video game music - running through the valleys of Cyrodil slaying goblins and fighting back the hordes of the overlord.

Good day, I had a listen to your work. It would really help providing info on your inspiration, intentions etc. Evidently - at least from the title - this is program music. What is everlasting Hegemony? Regarding the music itself, it is of a medium that I do not understand and as such I am in no position to judge its quality. That said, from the perspective of my personal medium (tonal music/common practice) I struggle to hear anything memorable. The music sounds like a continuous mass of crunchy chords without much pause at all or distant melody. This is a problem for me at least. I prefer art with clarity and a relatable structure.

Hi all, A professional string quartet is visiting my home island and are wonderfully taking compositions from local artists to perform. It is such a rare opportunity for me, as someone who has never had my work performed in public. For this I adapted several pieces I have composed over the years for string quartet and to which I have made extensive revisions. Overall I am pleased with the music. One interesting thing I have been doing recently is utilizing AI to provide perspectives around the rule based system on which tonal music rests. I recognize that some of my understanding around certain rules could benefit from more flexibility and AI can really challenge my thinking. Although where it is terrible is in actual advice on voice leading in practice. For example, if you give it a passage to harmonize - even with a well crafted prompt with necessary context - it will often fail. I hope you all find the pieces enjoyable and please feel free to provide any comments as usual. A bit of baroque Fun!.mp3Staccatisimo.mp3A bit of baroque Fun!.pdfStaccatisimo.pdf

No worries， learning and exploring are already an important part of composing 😊 I hope you’ll keep the project in mind for the future.

I’d like to ask whether my composition skills are strong enough to work professionally as a composer for instrumental music. I don’t know how to use a DAW at all, so please exclude DAW-related skills from the evaluation criteria. I originally worked in manufacturing, but due to a lack of overall cognitive ability, I can no longer continue that work, so I’m trying to make money by composing instrumental music

Thank you! English is not also my first language.

Well, considering what’s available for voice-overs, it sounds great. It’s true that English isn’t my first language... I found the composition very fresh, and the text too.

Hi .............. I expect one of you Experts will know what this is called ? I heard it late last night on ClassicFM,& did quick Rendition this morning, But they didn't say who it was,.................Is it something from Dvořák ? Unknown Composition.mp3 UNKNOWN COMPOSER.pdf UNKNOWN COMPOSER.mid

Of course! Hope improvising goes well lol

Hey I had not checked here in a while because I assumed no one would respond. I originally had an improvisation attached but deleted it since I didn’t want anyone reviewing it without me responding. Thanks for the advice and responding to my post either way!

I’d appreciate any feedback/tips I’m trying to learn how to improvise in a romantic era style although right now my improvisations don’t have much variety. improv 3.mp3

Upon further reflection the staff have decided not to allow subsequent entries from the same composer in the competition. This is because it would give the said composer a higher chance of winning a badge/award. In the Christmas Music Event which was not a competition, this was allowed because there were no "winners" (either that or everyone was a winner LoL).

Updated score.

the mean of all the values.

How did you get 5.2?

A Public Information section on Lower Manhattan. IMPERIAL STATE.pdf IMPERIAL STATE.mid IMPERIAL STATE.pdf

@Colenbacher Hello I understand your question very well. And I also understand that the answers aren't exactly what you're looking for. Although I agree with them as well. I believe that rather than learning harmony from the Romantic period, what matters is learning the compositional techniques that the composers of this period introduced and used (not just in terms of harmony). It’s absolutely true that to understand this, you need to start by knowing what happened in earlier periods, at least from the Baroque through the Style Galant and Classicism. Because many Romantic techniques are reinventions (“recycled”) of all those earlier styles. I don’t think you’ll find specific sections on Romantic harmony in general treatises and books. I’ve had that curiosity, and interest as well. But I studied the Baroque and the Galant period quite extensively, above all. I even started much earlier with the cantus firmus. And that historical and chronological perspective has helped me immensely in understanding even contemporary music. With this, you’ll see that everything is a continuum; even periods that broke quite sharply with what came before (Impressionism, dodecaphonism) are the result of an evolution. So, just as I did with other periods, I sought out the sources myself and compiled a lot of information on this topic on my blog. First, I provided a general overview, which I’ve transcribed here, and then I analyzed techniques such as augmented chords and modulation, secondary subdominants, dominant chains, chromatic thirds, (traditional) linear techniques, irregular resolutions, and so on. Not to mention that Romanticism is a vast genre and that each composer, moreover, has their own peculiarities. Brahms has nothing in common with Chopin. And let’s not even get started on late Romanticism. Some words from my blog: CHARACTERISTICS OF THE ROMANTIC PERIOD *New forms: symphonic poem, song cycle, music drama, *Study of the folk-heritage in music and imitation of folk-like melodic simplicity, *Predilection for exotic effects through employment of foreign national coloring or the folkloristic heritage (Chopin, Tchaikovsky, the Russians) [Chopin's more than 50 mazurkas represent one of the earliest examples of overt nationalistic sentiments in music], *Break-up of stylistic unity but more individualism, *Higher interest in melody and color rather than harmony and form, longer melodies *Higher dissonances and a freer employment of them, * More use of dynamics and articulations, * Rubato, *A more innovative treatment of chromatic harmony, *Extensive use of diminished seventh chords, *Modulation to distant tonalities, *Use of relations by thirds, *Greater interest in modal techniques (flat seventh [common to many modes], flat second [Phrygian], augmented fourth [Lydian]), *Assimilation of older elements, especially the revival of polyphony and Baroque forms under the influence of JS Bach [Mendelssohn, Brahms], *Thematicism plays a more important role in a sonata movement than tonality, *Thematic metamorphosis: A programmatic approach to composition often associated thematic material with a character or idea. Changing circumstances or emotional states were represented by the transformation of the thematic material (as in Faust Symphony or Symphony Fantastique), *Cell development technique in nationalist music, (music cell = small and melodioc design that can be isolated) *Use of a cyclic device: Material from one movement recurs in another (a technique related to thematic metamorphosis, idee fixe and leitmotive) (Serenade for Strings by Tchaikovsky; Mendelssohn's Eb string quartet; Beethoven's Symphony No.9), *Manipulation of sonata form, including mosaic and additive structures. More organic treatment of the form, *Postludes in the Lieder (especially by Schumann), *Unity on a large scale: merging of separate movements into a single span (Liszt's Sonata in B minor), larger instrumentations, *Finishing a minor mode piece in major (from darkness to light): Egmont overture, Symphony No.5 & 9 , Piano Sonatas Opp.90 & 111, and the second act of Fidelio by Beethoven; Schumann's Fourth Symphony; Franck's Symphony in D minor; Brahms' s First Symphony. *Intense energy and passion, dramatic opera,