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Getting back into composition from a long hiatus, I decided to orchestrate a piano piece by Claude Debussy. The piece is a movement from his piano suite Estampes titled La Soireé dans Granade (Evening in Granada). I'm still not too familiar with Debussy's piano music as a whole, but this suite definitely piqued my interest in that genre. I wasn't aware at the time, but several high profiled figures have orchestrated this movement (and other movements of the suite), and I did avoid listening to them so I don't copy them. Link to the original piano composition: The audio quality is a little meh...this is the last piece I wrote before I switched out of Finale/Garritan to Dorico/NotePerformer. Any feedback is appreciated!

Thank you Henry for your review and observations. Indeed a compound meter in the time signature of the 1st sententia would have been a good alternative time signature. I will keep that in mind in future works.

Hi @luderart, The texture in these 3 Sententiae reminds me very much of the parallel organum, and I like the serious mood in it. For me the time signature of the 1st one may be marked in a compound meter so that the triplets signs can be replaced? Thx for sharing! Henry

Hey Pabio! Very nice canon! This one is more rhythmic and really moves the music forward. Thx for sharing! Henry

Hey Pabio! Very nice use of rests and contrary motion to prevent parallels! Since it’s all stepwise motion here, it really reminds me of Palestrina’s Ars Perfecta style. Thx for sharing! Henry

Hi @EnriqueMZ! Nice March! Maybe for me I would vary the rhythm a bit at the latter half, or change the accompaniment for bars after b.17 to dotted rhythm as well for a more exciting mood. Thx for sharing! Henry

Hi @Kiliminati! Nice little fantasy piece! Maybe you can change the 2nd violin to a viola or cello? Then you can have lower notes for the accompaniments. Thx for sharing! Henry

This is my "Three Sententiae for String Orchestra, Op. 354", an opus the composition of which extended over almost two years. It is my 56th opus consisting of sententiae, out of 70 opuses so far (as of July 1, 2025) (68 sets and 2 solitary, for a total of 225 individual sententiae). The composition of this set having started almost two years ago, I have since composed 14 more sets of sententiae! It is my fourth set of sententiae for string orchestra. I hope that you enjoy it. Here is the link to my previous set of sententiae for string orchestra: https://www.youngcomposers.com/t36499/two-sententiae-for-string-orchestra-op-309/

As stated in the title, this perpetual canon follows all diatonic intervals of the key of B-flat major, as every entry begins on a different degree of the major scale as a tonal transposition of the canon's theme. Since every voice enters while alternating between strong and weak beats as displaced accents, this canon could also be described as "per arsin et thesin", so to speak. Enjoy! YouTube video link:

Precisely because of the issues presented by the MuseScore 4 soundbanks I had to remove the cello's initial staccato. It made that single quarter note sound way too strong and became unwieldy when trying to get the playback functionalities to work properly. In any case, thank you kindly for all your feedback, including that which you gave for my other relatively recent compositions.

Hi @Vonias, I enjoyed your piece and I find it exciting. For the "atonal" part, I would say it is polytonal at most, at least it's what I perceive. The syncopation and asymmetric rhythms in this work, as @Henry Ng Tsz Kiu says, do remind me of Stravinsky, in a good way. And the vertical/ blocky, parallel writing too. The last part does surprise me with the tranquil, eerie vibe before the last blasting.

Thank you Henry!

Thanks!

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Thanks Henry! MuseScore makes contra sound extra realistic with that blowing sound.

That's probably 'cos I'm a little odd! 🤪 Glad you liked it though. Will try con sord, though I already have flautando at the end; but I guess I could use both together?

Hello The truth is that, although I love most pop music, when it comes to writing music, I have always done so “note by note” with orchestral instruments. But I have often heard short piano pieces where a base sound or harmonic cushion is added. Sometimes excessively so. But anyway, I wanted to try something very simple and add (in some parts) a couple of basic notes of harmony. I liked the result.

Hello This music sounds fantastic. Of course, I haven't looked at what modulations there are or how many, but I do think the transitions between them are very well done, which is quite important. As for modulations, which is a fascinating subject, a couple of comments: - There are dozens of ways to modulate, some simpler, others less obvious (and more subtle). I also think that depending on the style you write in, some make more sense than others. - Especially in a work of this magnitude, but in general, I think modulations should follow, or be part of, an overall plan of tension and release. Because modulating for the sake of modulating doesn't make sense either. There are some pop songs whose goal in modulating is “always” to increase tension, which modulate “downward.” However, they achieve their goal. This is a technique I want to analyze a little better. Thanks for sharing, I really enjoyed it.

I agree. There are many ways to generate emotion, or to try to... I don't think that a sense of calm is incompatible with resources that focus on musicality and phrasing. This is very evident in vocal music, even in the great pop performers. A very simple and effective example from Beethoven: there is a first bar, which is isolated (by the quarter note rest), there is a second bar that is identical and works the same way. And then, the two simply appear without the pause. Wow, a super-effective way to generate tension, dynamism, and phrasing without changing the basics. Charles Ives' The Unanswered Question is a fantastic example. The harmony couldn't be more static, but the melody (more or less dense in texture depending on the moment) does not conform to the divisions of the harmony. In fact, the tempo of the harmonic part is fixed (Largo) and that of the other parts changes.

Sorry for the technical title, I don't consider this music too technical, that's why I'm keeping it's original name in the file. However for the sake of sharing, this is more of an exercise. Lately I've been upset about the lack of modulations in my music, and so I decided to go to the edge of what I can write, so I could get more comfortable writing in this harmonic style. I generally prefer diatonic music, but love key changes, and would like to improve on making strong moments when keys are changing. This piece is generally in a a very easily felt tone center but there are moments, like page 6, which the motif keep reappearing in different tonal centers, forcing the music to adjust with it. This isn't my best music, the orchestration is fine, and it's not really refined or complex, but this was an important step for me.

Hello!! Today I would like to share my first prelude 😄 Hope you like it.

Hey Peter my boy! Since you have listed out your really detailed review in point form, I should reply by point form too! 1. That is called RUBATO man!!😜 2. That's what I love in Beethoven's music too haha! I think the muddy texture is what caused the next passage to be "confused" when your mind goes muddy! 3. I love it too! That same falling fourth motive is from the beginning of the whole sonata! I think I learn this kind of German sixth progressions from Brahms. 4. I love that too, I think I am inspired by b.108 in the 1st movement when I did the same there! 5. Well not only here, but also in point 11 I only have a 1-bar transition to another passage. I would say I want these two abrupt transitions to show how confused I was at that time, but maybe they did sound too abrupt. Though I liked the effect, as if I didn't I won't retain them haha! 6. It IS difficult to play, the fingerings there are very weird to play with, but for my beloved C# minor I HAVE NO CHOICE haha. 7. Yeah that Locrian inflection here and also in the blues section comes exactly from the opening of the second movement! 8. I like that too, as I find it a bit difficult to transit reasonably with the change of style! 9. Haha yeah that melody is from the falling fourth motive of the 1st movement. This passage is hard to play with in order to emphasize that falling fourth motive in between the crazy dotted rhythms. 10. Yup the juxtaposition shows how conflicted I was then. That question like phrase is more questioning myself as I always do in my whole life lol. 11. That sweet melody comes from nowhere lol, though it's combined with the first theme of the 2nd movement at the very coda in counterpoint. That theme was born when I was having a walk. Initially I doubted whether I should introduce a new theme in the development of a final movement of a Sonata, but I just couldn't discard it given how beautiful that was, so I just retained it. 12. Yeah I don't like having the right hand playing the melody all the time haha, especially after my chamber music training. 13. Haha yeah I understand, because that passage sounds unrelated to any existing material of the whole Sonata. Though that is the passage which gave me confidence back in composing and by composing that I knew I could write good music again. It's devilish hard to play as well! 14. Yup I was more conflicted there too so I introduced the juxtaposition of material AND tempo too. Just like the ending of the 1st mov of Bee's op.130. 15. It's not from the Sextet, but rather from the second movement of this Sonata with the pentatonicism. I even quote that theme here too! 16. Yup I was conflicted whether to end the piece in a more peaceful way or tragic way, but this is my answer as I couldn't lie to myself and forced a fake Picardy 3rd ending as in many Romantic Sonatas. Thx for your review! Henry

Hey @Mooravioli! I never mind you taking long for replying, given that you finally do reply haha! Truly appreciate it! Thx for your repeated listenings! Yup you said all I thought in the piece. Well you are right to observe that the random pauses interrupt the flow, because that's my intention. For me the blues are just escape lands of Utopia that needed to be interrupted by the real reality particularly in the recap section when I was already more awakened than in the exposition! I realized it was futile to escape imaginarily. Haha I actually love the bluesian Fx! Thx! Yeah all the anguish and pain worths after I finish my Sextet, it's a once-in-lifetime to have completed it in this perfect (I think) way. Thank you! Henry

Hi @Alex Weidmann! Love your orchestration especially that contrabassoon. I think adding con sordino for the strings will make another timbre for the quiet sound. Thx for sharing! Henry