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I finally present to you a movement from my big variations project that I've had brewing since early 2024! Emboldened by the success of my "Deck the Halls" Variations I sought out more popular themes that I could write variations on. Originally I only intended to write variations on the Returner's March, but it soon grew out of all proportion when I started noticing all the little motivic relations between different themes so I had to include more. This is meant as a hybrid variations fantasy, medley, and mash-up of the themes that you can listen to here: The original themes were written by the great Nobuo Uematsu so my variations retain a certain Japanese flavor. In fact the first half of this Scherzo is subtitled "Asiatic". The Scherzo proper doesn't start until 6:01. I welcome any of your suggestions, critiques, comments or just observations. Thanks for listening and I hope you enjoy! P.S.: I'd like to thank my friends @chopin, @Henry Ng Tsz Kiu, @Thatguy v2.0 and @gaspard for their time, advice, and support throughout the composition process!

This is the fourth and final movement of my Violin Sonata in B flat major, commissioned by and dedicated to Arjuna Clark (lately Archie) @expert21. This movement is in Variation form which is my first attempt on the form in a movement, though I already use quite some variations techniques in my old pieces. I choose the form because rather than another narrative sonata form movement, a variation movement exploring the possiblities of the ARJUNA motive is much more appropriate for me. Again, thx to @Thatguy v2.0 for making the audio. I try for some strict procedure in each of the variation, as I use Prime and Inversion form of the ARJUNA motive for the 1st half of a variation, then Retrograde, Retrograde-Inversion and Prime form of the ARJUNA motive for the 2nd half of a variation. Even though the motive itself is short and easy enough to achieve this kind of treatment, still I wanna use them for coherence. Because of this, this one is probably the hardest movement in this Sonata to write with. Here is the YT video and pdf scores of the movement: Violin Sonata in B-flat major 4th mov.pdf Here is the structure of the movement: 0:00 Thema: Allegretto Commodo. A rather simple and easy-going theme for later variations. 1:16 Variation I: Allegretto con moto: A funny variation. Introduces G-flat major for the 1st time in the movement. In the second half, each two bar phrase is the retrograde of the two bar phrase corresonding to the first half, e.g. b.26-27 correspond to b.17-18. 2:13 Variation II: Allegro con energico. A variation heavily inspired by the 2nd movement of Beethoven's Razumovsky Quartet no.1, which is also in the same key. End of the 1st part and begins 2nd part with variations begins in different keys. 3:03 Variation III: Andante Comtemplativo. A variation begins in D major and makes chordal usage of the ARJUNA motive. Briefly reintroduces the 2nd movement theme in 4:04. Ends with a dark transition to C sharp minor. 5:08 Variation IV: Adagio Doloroso. A variation begins in C sharp minor. I make use of the Beethoven op.135 theme again as in the 3rd movement, but this time in minor mode and all sorts of dissonances, since it reflects the dark mood I was having then. The use of ARJUNA motive is saturated here; I even use all four forms of the motive together in b.110. Ends in Picardy third and modulates to the next variation. 6:44 Variation V: Andantino con moto e tranquillo. A variation begins in G-flat major and modulates through D major before returning to tonic B-flat major. I quote a lot of pentatonics and quartals here to show the influence of my String Sextet. 8:10 Variation VI: Fugato e Coda: Allegro Vivace, con brio e energico. Even though it 's a cliche to end a variation in a fugato, I still use it here nonetheless. The fugue subject makes use of the prime and inversion form of ARJUNA motive, while the countersubject the retrograde and inversion of the motive. The episodes also make use of the motives too. I even quoted my Clarinet Quintet main theme in 8:47. Waltz rhythm gradually returns and polyphonic texture changed to a homophonic one, just like the ending of Beethoven's op.110 Sonata. More affirmations of the ARJUNA motive comes and ends the music in a high energetic way. I quite enjoy the ending not to lie. Thx for listening and hopefully you will leave some comments here! Henry P.S. Here are the previous movements posted on YC forum: 1st Mov: 2nd Mov: 3rd Mov:

Hi all! As the Halloween season creeps closer, I decided to produce a small, ultra-short film rooted in my love of the holiday. A couple years ago I produced a similar short featuring some of these same characters, which I did also share on here. This is a pseudo-sequel to that video as well. I would love to hear your thoughts, feedback, and such! I did submit this to a local film festival and will hear back soon on if my submission was accepted. It was fun trying to play with some different things sonically, especially with the introduction of the theremin into the mix. While trying to go from an almost cartoony sound and look at the beginning, to a more sinister one at the end. Hope you enjoy the watch/listen!

hi been working on this piece for a month now, almost straight after "Your Reality," and around the release of Deltarune's Chapter 3+4. i was super inspired by the new osts so i decided to make a "theme and variations" piece from one of them. you could see it as the next step in my "actually learning orchestration journey," after making an arrangement, i guess this time (unlike the previous variations piece), i've divided the variations into three parts. the piece is halfway done in DAW, so i've started to make the score. also, when i do so, i usually polish and look for parts that I can optimize at the same time. the score currently contains only the introduction and the theme since that's the only progress that I've made with scoring. instrumentation : 3(III=pic).3(III=corA).3(III=bc).2 - 4.3.3.1 - timp.perc:glsp/xyl/2toms/sus.cymb/cyms/tgl/tamb - strings lemme know what ya think and feedbacks are always appreciated! OST:

Man the woodwinds writing on this is insane, heck I think the woodwinds are the spotlight of this movement (and the horns too). You've managed to really use all of the family's characteristics to their fullest. Love the canon woodwinds-only section on b.42 for contrast, followed immediately by another color contrast on b.58 by the string quartet and the horn for pedal tones. It's really dense with the variety of themes playing counter-points with each other. The harmonies are so colorful, also really like the transitions between the variations. Random things I've noticed: brass fanfare interruptions on b.228 are from the beginning (b.17), the upward fourths figure from the cellos on b.72 gets a lot of variations after this as foreground (starting b.89), middleground (tremolo strings from b.101), background (b.97), and cadence (b.86 violins, b.126-127 clarinets and oboes, b.135 strings, b.142-145 strings), figure from b.81 by string and oboes gets variated on b.166 (love this section) and b.258, the arpeggiated power chord figure on the harp gets used a lot until the end. Overall, I really like it. Thanks for recommending me your piece! This really motivates and inspires me to continue my own symphonic variation.

I loved every bit of this! And you know, I couldn't place it before but the first half of this piece I get A Link To The Past vibes. Not so much the intro (which is awesome), but once we get to 1:18 or so. Then the second half of the piece sounds more like FF territory. Overall I like how you keep this pretty much in key, but at the same time are able to keep it harmonically interesting. You also seamlessly merged these variations into one big movement, despite their different mood changes. The biggest mood changes to my ears seemed to happen towards the later sections (and of course when you change it up to the Scherzo). But another notable change was around 10:30, which sounds like a waltz to me. This is a very cool section! I also feel like you ended with a romantic flair, which to me, is another big mood shift!

Although microtonal, this piece was intended to be a little more palatable harmonically. I use 1/6th and 1/3rd tones so I guess technically it's 36 tet. The microtonal adjustments were only applied to the underlying harmony rather than the melodic voices so it could also be considered poly-microtonal (12 tet and 36 tet together). But I consider the microtonality in this to be really "lite", but let me know what you think! I also kinda was thinking of this as a VGM track rather than a concert-piece although I guess it didn't really end up that way. I'd appreciate any of your suggestions, comments, critiques or just observations. Thanks for listening! Edit: I've included a version of the piece with syntonic commas instead of 1/3rd and 1/6th flats/sharps. This should better approximate justly tuned 3rds in this piece. Also - my comments about the piece being in 36tet no longer apply in this version (#2).

Hey music maestros! Just wanted to send a shameless plug for an album I've posted on You Tube. It's a Planet Suite for the modern age. Was going to call it "The Exoplanet Suite"; but that name's already taken apparently! Likes and subscribes would be very much appreciated, as they really help me with the dreaded You Tube algorithm! I think all the tracks have been posted here before; but I've remastered them with vibrant new stereo mixes. Hopefully they work together as a suite? (N.B. The first track has been rewritten according to Peter's advice about staccato strings.) Alex

Thank you very much for your comments! It's the first time I've really got any really good, substantial musical feedback on my music, and it means a lot to me. It is very motivating, so it really makes me want to make more! I often compose by improvising (I'm used to improvising in a jazz/fusion) parts/themes, either using a piano or flute sound, and then edit, change instruments, and adding harmony, voices. To get away from a certain predictability when I improvise, I recently sometimes experiment with pitch-class sets, or some of the messiaen-modes. Most of Eight Crows in a Tree was based on octatonic (diminished scale) melody and harmony, with some parts with polytonality, but not in a strict sense. I might use it as a starting point, and then edit it so it sound better for me. And yes, there might very well be parts that are un-playable, as I have never written for any real instruments. I'll have to be careful about that. And yes, I knew the glissandi wasn't sounding 100% natural, but I tried something else, but came back to this, as I thought maybe in a future version of noteperformer/dorico it will sound better. Also about the pitched percussion - I like to use the melodic percussion to emphasize rhythms, if I sometimes use 7/8 or similar. I can see that you, PeterthePapercomPoser, are interested in Japanese music, as you use some for your variations, they sound great by the way! I'm also very interested in Japanese music, the use of harmony can be interesting and complex, while keeping it very approachable at the same time.

Hello @stigbn25 and welcome to the forum! The Purple Fields - I like how sparsely orchestrated and motivically streamlined this piece is! And even all the different percussion instruments all have unique, exposed and important roles in the music. Some of the quick pizzicato figures are almost borderline unplayable at that speed, unless you instruct the string orchestra to play the instruments like a guitar (or on two alternating double stopped strings). The ending felt like a cliffhanger. Blue Jelly - I love the glissandi although they sound a bit artificial or like they're played by a synth. This one is a bit more unusual harmonically than Purple Fields. This is also rhythmically quite creative in how some of the grooves are constructed. Also sparsely orchestrated which makes for a more easy-listening experience dominated more by purely essential phrases. The ending in this one feels more conclusive although also avoids any kind of cliche. Eight Crows in a Tree - the mood of this one from the get go sounds much darker and menacing. Your focus on solo individual lines makes the moments where you orchestrate dyads/triads and more harmonically developed sections more meaningful. Some parts of this sound longing. Your characteristic use of pitched percussion makes a return here. Using all the strings doubled in octaves also makes for a particularly strong melodic effect. I love the ending chord! If I'm not mistaken it's just an E - G dyad with the G also in the bass. Very cool tone-painting there with that last chord. I think overall I can understand why you called these "Symphonic Fantasies". They're very free and through-composed formally speaking. This allows you to explore sounds in an unencumbered way. I actually have a project that I just finished that I also call a Symphonic Fantasy although it's a bit more of variations piece on pre-existing themes not composed by me. Thanks for sharing!

Hello Everybody, It has been another long while since I've posted but I've definitely been composing during my time away. This is a work written for a 2-week composition festival I attended, lots of great opportunities and people when I was there. The festival is called the "ICEBERG Institute"(https://www.icebergnewmusic.com/about) if you're interested. Anyways, hope to hear your thoughts on this piece in regards to harmony, melody and rhythm. I am trying to work in a new(jazz?) idiom and I'm not sure how it sounds to others. Thank you for the support

Could be for a game or a movie idk. maybe this fits more in a movie. This is in piano but I hope you can imagine it as an orchestral cinematic piece like I do. Just not really experienced in arranging orchestral intruments. Maybe Ill do it in the future. I think this is considered a scottish or irish style correct me if i'm wrong. Would love to hear your thoughts. https://on.soundcloud.com/8rUORnL2KJFhPd1P1h The mistakes in the start are intentional.

Hello my friends. Im new here . My friend Henry told me about this forum so im glad that i am here with you . Here a bagatelle that i want to share. Bagatelle in B major. I hope you like it https://youtu.be/oIjmE8spNak?si=nf4Rw0C4RrNsjRYM Here my youtube channel so you can check all my compositions. https://www.youtube.com/@VasilisMichael87 Thank you very much

Bravo! What a pleasure to come back to take a look at the forum and find a whole beautiful sonata ready for a wonderful listen. Thanks, @Henry Ng Tsz Kiu As usual I wish I jotted down notes to articulate a nice meaningful helpful constructive and honest critique, but I haven't, so here's my superficial impressions. Wow! Dancing letters, and bird calls, and Beethoven quotes and spirit, and pentatonicisms, and random pauses, and self-citations, and myriad more things, all packaged in an incredibly cohesive and consistent dialogue that both stays within the confines of classical forms and pushes the envelope. At the same time?!? how do you do this? With mastery and an uncanny passion for c sharp minor, I guess? There are so many bits and parts that I loved (the andantino variation, the way the second movement - that to me started meh - grew on me maybe especially with the wonderful g flat section, the smartness of the scherzo, the interesting comfort of the first movement, where first and second theme look so alike, and yet are so different...), and not a lot that I did not enjoy (I remember a forte section in the second movement that seemed to me was compromising the balance of the movement, something in the general architecture of scherzo that did not persuade me, except that the middle section makes anything forgiven). Speaking of the mid section of the scherzo, that is such an interesting way to stay within the form, and yet - but with elegance and taste - step outside of it, a little self-referential joke about musical forms themselves, smart but also elegant and pretty to listen to, cerebral but lovely to the ear. Bravo! It is a real joy to listen to this, thanks again!

I might as well publicize the Google sheet since you're not the first to mention it: Scherzo Index

Yo Peter! Sorry I have been late to the party, due to laziness lol. Although I have listened to your excerpts tons of times, this is the first time I listen to a movement in full and with score. I must say, it sounds even more fascinating with a score at hand! I thoroughly enjoy this even though I have zero exposure to FF world, thx to my strict mum (time to blame your mum for a miserable childhood when you fail yourself in your real life lol!) I cannot and will not distinguish those 8 themes haha, just like Wanger's Leitmotifs which I can never remember their originals when they reappear at all lol. My most familiar theme is probably the Terra's theme because it usually starts a variation in imitation. I think this one really fits for a Scherzo. It sounds like an adventure and joyous wanderings but there is dark power underneath though not very apparent at the moment I guess. Btw, what are the short forms for the code of each of the 8 themes in the rehersal markings? The whole orchestration for me is fascinating and I will for sure steal something from here to my orchestration variations on your themes lol. lemme just take note of some spots I like: Beginning: I love all those imitations for the Terra Theme, it sounds like each team member is following the team's footstep into a journey to fxxk off the monster or final big boss, and the stretto treatment of the imitation gives excitement right at the beginning. The marching rhythm underneath with Timpani, Tuba, Cello and Double Bass is a pattern I should steal, though I may use add a bass drum to the snare drum as well. I also love both the Dorian C# and Phyrgian F natural in your themes as it really adds the folkore colour in the work. b.21 R Var.3: Love the very low register oboe, sounds dark to me. Since I'm also using harps in writing your variation, will you also follow the performance practice to the pedals the harp is using at the moment? You know what, I always get headached when I need to check whether the pedal notes of the harp is right. b.42 ES: Love the wind sextet setting, and then the string quartet plus horn setting. Sad the weird Musecore string sound sample which ruins the melody by always sliding ludicrously! b.72 FP Var.2: Love you start introducing the polyrhythm in flute in b.81, which will be used later for climax. Also, I really love the parallel fifth bass in b.89 as it sounds so prefectly disturbing! b.97 EA: I absolutely love the buildup here with both the tempo acceleration, tremolo, shorter and closer notes and more dissonances. I like the cilmax in b.117 esp. with the electric bass. Though, will it be great to add some brass here as well? It sounds a bit thin for a fff dynamic here for me personally. b.117 Scherzo beginning: I love the beginning. Though maybe for me I would also add a harp and a piano playing the low E here for that particular timbre, if there's not cost adding them haha. The new theme sound so peaceful, but the BD theme sounds greatly weird haha. I love the tremolo beneath and also your modulation to other keys here in b.170, since the music more or less stays in the tonal centre E for couple of minutes and it's the right time to add new things into it. And that G-Bb reinterpreted as G-A# to F#-B in flute, wow. b.180 L Var.3: Nice counterpoint between winds and horn themes even I forget where do the themes come from at all, and nice clash in b.183. b.196 FA: I really love the modulations here towards the hexatonic keys, they don't sound cliche as in many film music. The harmonic colour here is fascinating! Though, I may add a cresc. to ffffffff before the rests in b.207 and 211. b.218 AS Var.1: Nice relaxation! Nice imitation throughout as well. The polyrhythm from b.81 reappears as well. And that goddamn modulation to Db major in b.258!! It sounds so magical and refreshed after all those sharp key areas! But, it's so short!!!! And ruined immediately by the Kafka theme. Love the outburst of hextaonic G# minor and F minor at the end. It sounds unfinished which it should be for there are movements to follow. I remember Peter has an entire excel spreadsheet for all the themes he uses in each of the variation LoL!!!!!!!!!!!! Honestly I didn't remember any details in it due to my lazy nature lol. Very enjoyable! Looking forward to your other movements!! Henry

Symphonic Fantasy... is there a way to add "final" to that somehow? Or would that be cheesy lol Wow, I love this so much. It really felt like a story was being told. Not necessarily the story of the game, but one you wrote with all it's themes. There just seemed to be great care in when and how variations were played out. I'm no orchestrator, but your orchestration seemed spot on and colorful, full of craftsmanship and creativity. I really liked the section of just winds, or the moments of trem strings. Even though you have cadences and breaks in the music, it never felt like it was dragging or boring. Your writing really had a sense of blurriness with collage-type textures when you wanted it too, and then was bold and clear during other times. I just love the diversity with instrumentation, dynamics, range, color, you name it (maybe techniques too?). The bass guitar and synth were really cool additions, and helps set your music apart in it's style and persona. I'm not sure about all the themes, but one thing I thought about was that the themes weren't always introduced in a stately way. Wasn't a big deal, but for instance with as much motivic exploration you did with Terra's theme, I kept waiting for it to be played with the 3rd 16th note in that motif to be played on beat 1. You had such a good lead up for it, but maybe that's just a style-choice-difference we have. Your path gave it more of a fantasy vibe, which I guess is fitting for a Final Fantasy piece, eh? 😛 I didn't see it, but it would be cool if you referenced all the rehearsal marks to we could see what you were going for too! I'm to know how you organized 8 themes into a cohesive quagmire woven so well. Awesome music! I loved the build up to the Kefka moment at the end. I think it's always wise to save one of the coolest moments for the end; it makes me want to listen to the whole piece with a relisten just to get to that part again. Well done Peter, this was great! Are there more movements for the future? I think it stands alone, but you probably have so many options with variations you could keep going haha

Hey everyone, I wrote a short work based on a particular rocking-up-and-down figuration that I liked while improvising. I guess it's a little bit like an étude w/ respect to technique but I also thought the almost perpetuum-mobile right hand gave it a somewhat toccata-esque feel as well. Hope you find it interesting; and if you have any suggestions/critiques/general comments I'd enjoy reading them!

The basic framework for this canon has been in the works for more than a month now, as the technique I employed in the latest one in order to have all voices enter in every diatonic transposition of the same motif turned out to be contrapuntally insufficient. This time, in order to account for more viable ranges both in instrumental and choral settigs, I reduced the number of voices to 6, even though the core parameters still remain: every voice enters one fifth below the previous one, and instead of diatonic transpositions being treated as though in the same key, every transposition is essentially a real answer throughout, with the integrity of the main theme's melodic intervals kept intact. This entire setup (alongside certain variations when it comes to the disposition and order of entry of each voice so as to accommodate for the instrumental and vocal ranges of the woodwinds and the choir respectively) gives rise to a distinctly chromatic environment of constant modulation leading to a 2nd iteration of the same canon one tritone higher, at which point it keeps rising to meet the octave above and every voice alternates a divisi to prevent the melodies from climbing even higher and thus, yielding a perpetual canon (with a coda at the end for good measure). Lastly, the lyrics in Latin sung by the choir are intended as placeholders with thematic and allegorical significance towards the spirit of the canon itself: "Rosea surgit aurora, Sol fulget in caelo - Aurea cadens vesper stellarum tegit noctem", which would roughly translate to "Dawn rises rosy, the Sun shines in the sky. Evening falls golden, covering the night in stars." Not profound by any means, but simple enough to reflect the perpetual motion of the canon as an allegory for the unending passage of time. YouTube video link:

Hi @Fugax Contrapunctus! Very cool idea! I actually do something like this harmonically speaking in my Variations on "Deck the Halls" for Piano and Orchestra. I cycle through the whole circle of 5ths twice over before returning back to the home key, although it's not a canon. Very effective orchestration here, starting with just strings, adding woodwinds and then introducing the choir - very multi-dimensional approach to a simple repeating canonic structure. Thanks for sharing!

Hey @Uhor! Thanks to you sharing this composition I realized we're both in the same early music server! I like how you create a rich but oddly calm soundscape in the beginning, only for it to turn more and more menacing as the piece progresses. At first you introduce the night, and the moon. Then the sun rises and creates desolation, even though it is also the giver of life. Your music seems to be a celebration of mostly diatonic dissonance. I like the brass chordal scalar runs up and down around 8:30ish. The music builds through a slow accelerando increasing the momentum. But it doesn't lead to a climax but instead dissipates back down. Around 14ish the music arrives at a big sustained dissonant chord. But it's not overly dissonant, retaining some pan-diatonicism, with the ebb and flow of passing solo Trumpet scales and Trombone counterpoint. Very interesting soundscape - thanks for sharing!

Hi all .... Here's composition that I began a few years back; however, I really never finished to my satisfaction. So he's my latest version .... all comments/criticisms/suggestions as well pleasantries are welcome. Mark

Gotta say, because my first listen is with 4 movements already available, I thoroughly enjoy listening to all of em! They all feel very connected, of course with the cyclical motif and all, and with the general simple and singing violin style, which in my opinion, you did achieve. You managed to retain and save the lightness of it until the end where it gets a bit heavier, and concluded the whole piece. Overall, goated violin sonata frfr 🗣️💯💯🔥🔥

Dear young composers, This is an enhanced score version of the famous and brutally silent masterpiece “4 Minutes and 33 Seconds” by the (should have stayed graphic artist but unfortunately became) music composer John Cage. Should you know the original score you can see that the score has been minimized to only two bars at 1.758 BPM in order to reduce the environment footprint of the score should you want to print it. Moreover, the performance is thus silent since no-one hear the pages turning anymore. Since the audience usually takes an important part in this music, it has its own part in this version. Initially I thought it would have been Wonderfull to set the key to F-Flat Minor all the way but since most audiences are reluctant to read such a difficult key setting I decide instead to have it in C-Flat for the first bar and then create a sparkling modulation at the second bar and go F-Sharp. When you will listen to it if you still can listen to music you will see the difference. To all of you score writing lovers I wish you a Wonderfull reading and listening. In DAW We Trust

I like your "Holy Spirit" but I think the explanatory note at the beginning is a bit too much. You ask about professional looking scores? To look professional, assume professionalism on the part of your musicians. You might write easy parts that can be put together without a lot of rehearsal time, but any choir should understand a simple "stagger breaths throughout" without further explanation on your part. The conductor/director can explain what that means if any choir members are very new to singing. I'm not sure about the direction to take this piece out of time like Gregorian chant. The accompaniment is very metrical, except for the first few bars, and as such will impose a strict rhythm on the singers. Did you just mean for that instruction to apply to the first few bars? If so, then indicate where strict tempo resumes. If you meant for the whole piece to be a bit loose-y goose-y then a direction for "rubato" here and there may better achieve what you are looking for while keeping accompanist, conductor, and choir together. Cheers! Sounds nice!

This is my 200th work, and i find incredible that i managed to come this far in sucha small time. For my 200th work i decided to make my bread and butter, Galliards! This is for Crumhorn consort, Recorder consort, Rackett, Bassoon, Percussion and Harpsichord. Enjoy! ❤️

Hi! This is the third movement of my Violin Sonata in B flat major, commissioned by and dedicated to Arjuna Clark @expert21. It's a Scherzo not only feature a lot of the ARJUNA motive, but also some references on Beethoven and my friend Peter's themes. I find this movement really funny! It's set in F major and have a modulatory end, as both suggested by Arjuna. The audio is again made by @Thatguy v2.0. Here is the score and YT video of the movement: Violin Sonata in B-flat major 3rd mov.pdf 0:00 Scherzo Proper. Use a lot of ARJUNA motive right from the start. First big change is a modulation to A flat major, then a random pause in 0:35, which is a technique I love to use ever since I was accused of having used it in my 3rd Piano Sonata lol. The music then modulates to E major, where I play with @PeterthePapercomPoser’s theme of his Postulde in Suite for Strings. This acts at some kinds of advertisement as I would be using this theme in my next composition. It ends firmly in F major, but then modulates unexpectedly in D-flat major. 1:22 Trio. As you can see from the tempo marking of "Largo molto very ultra religioso", you know it's a joke. I play with Beethoven's theme in his op.135 slow movement here, even though personally I worship this piece and his late quartets A LOT. I have it juxtaposed with the quick scherzo ARJUNA passages for funny montage effect. At the end I just quote the awakening call from Beethoven's op.110 Piano Sonata 3rd movement, again as a joke, as a wake up call for nothing here. 2:39 Repetition of Scherzo Proper. Though at the end it rather modulates to B-flat major, the global tonic major of the piece, to achieve an attaca to the final movement of the work. Here are the previous movements posted on YC forum: 1st movement: 2nd movement: Here are the references for the movement: Peter’s Theme: Beethoven’s op.135 slow movement theme: Hope you enjoy and leave some comments! Henry

I've concocted yet another short microtonal experiment, this time inspired by @Henry Ng Tsz Kiu's Violin Sonata he wrote recently for his friend @expert21. I wanted to continue this with a B section in another key/meter before returning to the A material, but it ended up sounding pretty conclusive to me at the end. But let me know what you think! Maybe I'll make another movement? I would appreciate any comments, suggestions, critiques or just observations you may have! This is entirely in 24 tet. Thanks for listening!

Thanks for your reply! Here's what measure 29 should look like if the beats were aligned properly according to the correct placement of strong and weak beats in your piece: It makes a very small and barely noticeable difference in the recording. But, especially if you ever gave this to real performers, it would bother a performer to read the music feeling like the strong and weak beats are in the wrong places in relation to the bar lines. In 4/4 beats 1 and 3 are strong beats and beats 2 and 4 are weak, but here you in measure 29 you had them switched. But sometimes composers do do this deliberately as in Tchaikovsky's Symphony No. 4 Pizzicato Ostinato or Stravinsky's Last Piano Etude (in F#) from his 4 Etudes for Piano. I hope this clears up any confusion! Thanks for asking.

Hi all! These are the three inner movements of my new piano partita. There is also an introductory movement and a final, stylized gigue. I had some difficulties in exporting a MIDI rendering for those two movements, so they are not included here. There are strong thematic and sectional connections across each movement, so they do make a little less sense this way than they would in full context. Just bear that in mind while listening. I'd love any thoughts on the music, the piece is for a good friend of mine and I'd like to give it to them in tip-top shape! PARTITA 2-4.pdf

Hey Mooravioli, I like your piece. The harmony is weird and complex. I think for this kind of music the danger is making the harmony too unconventional, which makes the piece hard to listen to. A lot of people that experiment, do it too much. You don't: you keep the listener hooked and curious, and know how to tell a story through chords. Another thing that helps is your use of melodic motives. Really nice! I especially like the resolution and ending from bar 195 onwards. Consider using a tenor saxophone instead of alto, it better suits the melodies you've written. Low notes on sax are often harsh and unpredictable, writing a little higher in the instruments range can give a nicer sound/more freedom to the player to choose the right sound. You can also definitely explore the vibraphone's abilities more. Remember that professionals can play four notes at once! Listen to some bebop vibe players for reference. Also, five sharps (or four for tenor)? why would you do that to anyone? If you raise everything a semitone (Eb major, concert pitch), your players will thank you. As for the genre - this isn't jazz. I would probably call it contemporary classical. If you want to write jazz, listen to the music. If you'd like to write in any style, you need to be familiar with that music. Of course that shouldn't discourage you from writing this music at all! It sounds cool, and that is what matters. I just wanted to say, if you call this jazz and show it to a jazz musician, they will look at you like "🙂 that is really ~interesting~ jazz 🙂". For improvisation, your best bet is to write chord symbols and let one player completely free, like in traditional jazz songs, because that is what players are used to. Saying 'feel free to improvise' and 'improvise less' is very vague, and may not give the effect you want. What you could say is 'feel free to embellish' or something, if that's what you had in mind. In general: if you don't want someone to play the written notes, don't write the notes...

I am a violinist and a former orchestra player, so my advise should be realistic. I think most of the slurs you marked on this score is appropriate and practical, given most of the lines are in pianissimo or pianississimo. One useful thing to know is that, 1) if the part you are writing is not the main melody that do not need to be that is not that pronounced, and; 2) if there happens to be a decrescendo leading to a p or pp, then the string player is able to play the passage as slow as possible on the same stroke and the bow is treated as infinitely long. That may seem ridiculous, but that's the case. You play the "feeling" there. Tl;dr, 4-5 bar is totally possible with above prerequisite. One reason behind this playing style is that, it requires good technique to make the bow change unnoticeable. Due to the structure of bow, there is more tension at the bottom than at the bow tip. That will mean a natural decrescendo playing down bow (from bottom to tip) assuming a constant pressure applied. The reverse happens too, where a natural crescendo will occur playing upbow. So if there are any bow changes, the shift from cresc. to descrec. might be audible. While experienced players may control the pressure to mitigate the effect, they avoid changing bow unless the same phase really require 2 bows to project with expressiveness. Therefore, most of the cases, we keep it done in one single stroke for the above situations.

Okay making this post is a pretty impulsive decision and I hope I'm not intruding, I discovered this place today. In summary: I'm 15 years old, and I've been trying my hand at composing for around a year and a half now. I've written a handful of pieces I'm proud of, mostly for string orchestra. I'm a former violin player turned french horn, but I would consider myself having a much better understanding of strings than wind instruments (when it comes to composing). In my free time I'm also writing a book that is currently in the revision stages, and the plot of that inspired my newest piece. This is my first time truly writing for a full(er) symphony ensemble (there are missing parts right now, like tuba, that may never get added because I tend to write for sound, not playability, though if anyone has tips for that please please send them my way!!) and I'm trying to really develop my style and just improve my composing overall. Right now I am struggling with not exactly how to end this piece, but more of how to get there. It starts with mostly percussion to set the vibe, followed by an explosive entrance of the rest of the ensemble (0:57), then a softer melody (1:49) (there's more but I'm listing this for context). To end the piece, I intend to write just cellos playing that softer melody introduced earlier (in a different key I believe) with the recurring chimes over the top and probably other various percussion sprinkled in there (with attention on just the cellos). The melody will end and the piece will conclude like it started, with just percussion and a final chime hit. However, I have no clue what to do to get there. The attached recording ends with a callback to that earlier melody, but from there I've tried probably five different versions, none of which I like. My goal was to write one final "heroic" melody with a minor twinge to achieve the proper mood effect, but I ended up adding brass over the last string part at 4:39, so maybe that could be the height of the piece instead? I do really like that part. If anyone has any thoughts, any comments on anything in the piece, tips for compositional work, structural work, anything at all really, please let me know! It can be as long or as short as you like, I just would like help. I've never posted my music online before, know barebones music theory at best, and have a horrible ear for this kind of thing. Thank you in advance!! trial 2 incomplete.mp3

This is the second movement of my Violin Sonata in B flat major, commissioned by and dedicated to Arjuna Clark @expert21. It's a slow movement marked "A scene by a stream", as suggested by my dedicatee Arjuna. I chase for simplcity here and I really wanna let the violin sing here, and I think I succeed. I freaking love the opening melody! The use of ARJUNA motive is more sparing as I have to give it away to the beautiful main melody! The melody was inspired when I was having a walk through the beautiful scene of Golden Trumpet Tree! The audio is again made by @Thatguy v2.0! Here is the pdf and YT video of the movement: Violin Sonata in B-flat major 2nd mov.pdf This movement is simple, only in ternary form. Here is the structure of the movement: 0:00 1st Part. The melody is quite beautiful for me, even though it sounds like the main melody in Chopin's Grande Polonaise Brillante, and in the same key, which I realized only after finishing this much later. The piano accompaniment represents the stream. In 1:02 Piano takes turn to play the main melody and violin the countermelody. 1:57 2nd part. I reached my usual contemplative mood in the middle section. Then I was awoken by the hummings of Asian Koel in 2:19. That bird is very common in HK which many people find their hummings disturbing but I actually love. 3:43 3rd Part. First begins a false recapitulation in wrong key G-flat major, then a real recap in tonic key in 4:21, with the main melody gets along with the Asian Koel motive. I personally really love the climax in 5:00! 5:13 Coda. A little coda reminds me the coda of Chopin's Nocturne in E flat major, op.9 no.2. Here is the 1st movement's post on YC: P.S. Here is the sound of Asian Koel: And here are some pictures I have taken that day: Hope you enjoy and feel free to comment! Henry

So a few things: Firstly, this isn't really very similar to the style of John Williams at all. But of course, John Williams is an absolute master; he'd already been composing 40 years before his first film score. Writing a piece in his style is no small feat. As for your mix issues, I'm not really hearing a problem with the overall levels on my end atm, but there are definite balance issues. Some of these are due to musescore/musesounds which right now are notoriously unbalanced and have limited ways of fixing that, but some can't be. What you could do is put the tracks in logic and automate volume to help them out and send them in to a new reverb. However, some of the other issues are related to orchestration and sample limitations. For example, you have, as a lot of modern composers do, all these big block chords with a melody over them. Bar 20 is a good example. Firstly, you have the trombones and celesta eating up a ton of the frequency spectrum by playing these huge chords, but then you ALSO have the trumpets coming in three-part harmony AND a String Melody in three octaves with the cellos taking the lowest octave. And everything there is playing mezzo piano. That's a recipe for mud, even in a live context I'm afraid. Then, in bar 22 onward, you still have trombone footballs, but now they are accompanied by absolutely massive harp chords. While that is happening, you have different things happening between bassoons + horns, violins, etc. Another issue is that the bass is entirely footballs in the piece, which does not give it any breathing room and becomes rather exhausting to the ear. "Melody + Chords" style Chord pads that have become popular in film music are actually generally considered bad practice not only because they're boring to play, but because the strings, low brass, and choir are basically the only ones good at playing them and these are large ensembles that take up tons of room in the frequency spectrum and stereo field. So you see beginners give this big, five-voice string harmony with a lonely oboe melody on top and then wonder why it's so hard to make the melody stand out even if the strings are at Piano. It's because the oboe is totally surrounded and your ear will focus on whatever line is thickest (the chords). If try to thicken the woodwind line, you're now competing for space with the strings. However, unlike samples, live orchestras have almost infinite dynamic range, and not only that, but they can stay at one dynamic range and still have a lot of modulation in the sound, which is something samples can't do. So chord pads with samples tend to just sound bad. With these pads mocked up with samples, you're always going to fighting the fact that your chords seem like they just can't play quietly enough, and if they can, the timbre is bad because you can't modulate the sound without screwing up the dynamics. TL;DR: You can fix some issues by loading it into a DAW, but the main problem is the writing/orchestration and samples suck at chord pads.

I guess the point is not that there shouldn't be repeats, but that they should still serve to move the narrative forward. Da capo aria? The first time the performer introduces the material, the second time they are encouraged to make it their own with ornaments or other small changes. But for this exercise, the structure of what you were doing with tritones and scales is firm enough that there isn't much room for experimentation or nuance when it's played through again. Welcome to the forums! And I disagree! If you're alive, you are getting exposed to new musical ideas and influences which are sure to keep you growing. Cheers.

I've been studying counterpoint for years now, learned mainly from Fux's gradus and developed a solid understanding of species counterpoint. That said, one quick analysis of this first movement will reveal deviations from the rules presented in that book. Accented passing notes, leaping from dissonances, and the occasional unprepared chord in second inversion, that one consecutive fifth... I'm well aware of the rules broken and the liberties I have taken when it came time to make the transition from species exercises to actual composition. Despite that, i'm very proud with what I ended up with. There's plenty that I wish to improve, and hopefully you'll get to hear the results of my efforts in the following 2 movements, as well as in everything that will be released following the completion of this sonata. Youtube link with sidescrolling score:

A few weeks ago I already posted this on related forums, and received some very detailed responses which pointed me to rework the dynamics, chords, tempo and key signatures. Now I feel like I'm much closer to having a polished and release ready version (it's just a hobby project for me though). I'm sure there's still a lot of stuff in there that looks / sounds amateurish, which may or may not have to remain depending on the effort I'd have to invest to fix it. But to get a general impression on how much this transcription / arrangement is still lacking, I'd like to have some final feedback, in case I'm allowed to ask for that over here (specifically looking for a community specialised in composing now). The score can be found here: https://musescore.com/user/103380388/scores/25823476 It's supposed to be an arrangement to the following track: Paint the Pictures I know I've taken a few liberties and it's not a 1:1 transcription, but I feel the changes were necessary to make everything work out more smoothly on piano. What I'm mostly worried still, would be: - key signatures: I received feedback before, that the original doesn't use F#'s everywhere, and so I decided to not use a 'default' key signature at all except for the bridge. I just added the sharps to each F individually where I deemed them necessary. I'm not sure if this is fine, though? Like, is it a good style to change key signature 'just' for the bridge? - playability: I removed / moved some notes to avoid ninth intervals, which would be unplayable by the vast majority of pianists. Now I still have parts that require you to 'jump' much of the bass clef up and down in quick succession to hit octaves though... Are these fine and should I keep them, or are they unnecessarily difficult and I should just keep the root notes? - dissonances: I feel like the last few bars of the bridge sound dissonant and annoying after a few listens. However, the original is kind of the same... Now, I increased harmony near the bridges end by using more complex chords / triads, which bother me because they seem to bring in the dissonances. Is this just a midi playback issue, and these triads in the upper treble clef area should be 'more simple' as they are at the beginning of the bridge (where treble clef chords consist of 1-2 notes max), or are they fine and I should keep them? - chorus: There are two chorus segments, and in the first one I intentionally omitted the octaves to reserve a more powerful effect for the second one. Now, does the first chorus sound too 'weak' to you, or would you keep it as is? - of course any additional critic / feedback is fine as well with me Thanks!

I think the microtones in this case make the soundtrack more dramatic, which makes sense if this is for a lava cave. Also, nice use of repetition, adding to the ominous atmosphere. Fun melody from the electric guitar that would work well in an RPG. The only thing I may add is that, if this is going to repeat or loop for a game, maybe consider an instrument that isn't as harsh on the ears...although it probably depends on the sound samples you go for.

But I'm thinking about it! It will probably be clearer that I copy here a translation of the text. It is not easy to read the translation on the Youtube video on the fly. SOLO DE LUNE (after Jules Laforgue) I smoke, sprawled under the sky, On the roof of the stagecoach. My body jolts, my soul is dancing, Like some Ariel. No honey, no bitterness — my soul is dancing. O roads, hills, smoke and valleys, My dear soul — let’s recall a few things. — Her eyes said: “Do you understand? Why don’t you understand?” — O cool woods along the road, O shawl of sadness, Every soul listens a little, And my life must seem lovely! This stagecoach roof Feels like something enchanted. — Her eyes blinked: “Do you understand? Why don’t you understand?” — O moon solo, You defy my pen. O stars, you’re almost frightening, You’re all here! every one! O how brief this hour is! If only there were a way To keep its soul for the autumn to come. — Ah! Why didn’t I fall at your knees? I would have been the model husband — Like the rustle of your dress is the model of all rustles.

Microtones work a lot better with strings because it just makes it sounds like the performers are slurring their notes. Funny how the whole piece is this eerie mood (bec of the microtones), but then you end in a major key. I love the part from 0:44 to 0:47. It's beautiful to my ears! Well done, you're nailing microtones in a way that makes the listening a fun experience.

Thank you so much! It’s truly rewarding to feel heard — even in the smallest details — especially when working in French, which isn’t always the easiest language to share online. I’m really glad it resonated with you. Laforgue offers us a message of lost love — cruel, universal, and timeless.

Haha, you’re absolutely right — it would definitely save me a fair amount of pencil lead! The reason I generally avoid using key signatures is that I don’t want to feel boxed into a tonal framework while composing. I need to be able to escape at any moment. (Even though in this case, the harmony remains fairly traditional — if slightly wobbly at times…) I’m also a bit wary of giving the performer the “harmonic solution” upfront — sometimes there are several, and it’s up to them to choose what feels most appropriate. So yes, I tend to approach the page as a blank, open space. Most of my manuscripts are working drafts anyway — I really should take the time to clean them up. And when I do, using key signatures might actually be a sensible option. 😉 As for the reference to Dichterliebe — thank you! That cycle has been with me forever… It’s sort of my singer’s Bible, you know. So yes, there may well be echoes of it in what I write — intentional or not. The coda of Dichterliebe is such a marvel — a very strange and beautiful thing — like a page gently closing, a consolation, the dream-kiss of a beloved. We are, after all, speaking of bitterness and love… so of course, we’re already halfway into that world. In any case, thank you for your listening and your advice.

Hi @Henry Ng Tsz Kiu! Wonderful and simple use of secondary dominants and classic sequences. The melodicity of the piece is also more defined and the pastorale nature of it is more solidified with the birdsong allusions. But it has its Sturm und Drang moments to it as well as the occasional random pauses before the birdsong gets its solo moment which is really a great way to emphasize that aspect of the composition. You underline the birdsong by exposing it in solo relief - very clever. Lately every piece I've heard from you has been getting better and better. And imo this whole sonata is an even more substantial achievement than your sextet! Great job and thanks for sharing!

Hello @Churchcantor and welcome to the forum! I've noticed that you posted a large number of your pieces already, sometimes commenting on your own topics multiple times. There's a few reasons why you should avoid doing that. 1) Posting too many works in a short time tends to overwhelm the members and reviewers on the site and they might not pay as much attention to your work as if you posted one work at a time. 2) Commenting on your own topic before anyone else has had a chance to reply also makes it look like people have already replied to your work in the "List of works with few reviews". If a piece has more than 5 reviews it gets removed from the list even if all the replies are just you replying to your own topic. This piece has a very clever name given that it explores the use of parallel tritones! Cool idea! I think calling it an "experimental etude" is a really good description! But some etudes, besides being exercises in some kind of theoretical construct (in this case the parallel tritones and also some surprising use of polyrhythm) also manage to be musical and entertaining. What with all the heavy chords and copious use of repeats this piece gets really tiresome to listen to even once (I also can't identify a reason why the repeats should be there). I can't identify a melody or some kind of musical hook to get me to tune into it on more than a surface level. There's also no dynamic contrast or balance between different elements of the composition, some of which could be more important than others. It's a cool experiment though! Thanks for sharing.

Well, I meant I like YOUR compositions, but I like OP too! Anything Classical and minimalistic. with craft that is not so obvious!

New here, and 56, so not a "young" composer, but I'm liking your music.

Hello @NicholasG! I think @Marius_ already got many good points and I'm not going to repeat what s/he said. You should be proud of it. Your orchestration and mood portrayal is very mature as a 16 year old and I like many of them. Your motivic usage is lovely too. I really like the ending starting from b.93, good preparation to it and nice rhythmic variety. Maybe for me you can also add more varieties in the harmony as well, since most of the passages are more diatonic and less modulatory and dissonance. Thx for sharing! Henry

Hey Nicholas, I like your piece a lot! It sounds epic, and you take your time with each theme, which makes it sound coherent and easy to listen to. I don't have any experience writing for large ensembles, so I thought I'd only give feedback on your brass writing (I play the trumpet myself). First of all, in bar 21 consider raising the second trumpet an octave. That will make it easier for the first trumpet to hit his note: it is easier to play when being 'carried' by the rest of the section - and that two-octave gap is to large to give that effect. (As written it will sound like a solo instead of team work.) My teacher used to say: 'Trumpet players are surfers. We surf on sound.' At certain points in the score you write divisi for the trumpets, horns and first trombone - but you assigned three players to each part (in the preface)!! Which of the two voices should get two players? Either split up in three parts or make a note in their score, telling them what to do. But also consider that your brass section is humongous (A dozen players on trumpet and horn): You can change the parts to avoid all divisi. E.g. after bar 102 you could give the trumpets the root and fifth and the horns the root and third. In Musescore this will sound just the same, but when played by a real orchestra all voicings sound distinctly different. Not having divisi also is less confusing - especially if your players don't get (many) rehearsals. Btw that 1.5 octave jump in bar 106, first trumpet, looks really scary... Lastly, from that same bar 106 your trumpets and horns are playing fortissimo - which basically means 'as loud as possible'. Therefore the four (!) crescendo's you write later in the part won't have any effect... Either tell them to take back before each crescendo, or don't write them at all. That'll conclude my oddly-specific-feedback : ) . I should tell you again - I'm no pro at all, and your writing already is really good. Don't take this as harsh criticism: I'm just better at pointing out imperfections than giving elaborate compliments :)). I really enjoyed listening to your piece! Kind regards, Marius

Hello @Valerio DallaRagione, Welcome here! I only listened to the very opening of your piano concerto, but I already felt mystical, trance-like, Egyptian vibes. You sure do seem like a really ambitious composer, and it really shows. Keep it up! ~Frank