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Hello dear fellow composers. This poem (1886) is part of Laforgue’s Imitation of Our Lady the Moon. Here the Moon is no longer a muse or confidante, but becomes the star of farewell and forgetting, sealing human hopes in silence and nothingness. I truly believe that this cycle reflects a part of Laforgue’s own biography — that of a young poet caught in an impossible, broken love story, one almost erased from history, save perhaps for the initial of a name glimpsed in his correspondence. At least, that is the conviction I had while reading these poems. And so here is the end of my cycle: a piece deliberately sparse, rarefied, silent. It is also, perhaps, a farewell to Laforgue — for now. Time has come for me to explore new paths (and I have been kindly reminded more than once that I am probably composing with a delay of about 120 years…). I can only hope that these pieces may nevertheless have found some resonance with you. This is one of my most sincere works, born from a curious overlapping of states of mind with Laforgue. And I believe — to confess under the cover of anonymity — that one is never truly safe from falling secretly in love, even at my age. Perhaps this is what makes the kinship so troubling.

Hey Alex! First of all great job working at orchestrations. I saw you’ve done a number of them, and as someone newer to composing I think they’re a high quality way to practice and grow. I myself do arrangements of pop songs for Pep Band, which is a very similar process, so I get the concept. I think you’ve done a high quality job in many areas. You’ve got the piece generally laid out, with variations in timbre. The repetition had a semi-lulling effect, yet there was also variation to keep up interest. You’ve got generally nice timbre choices and pairings. I can tell you have a composer’s intuition:) It was a pleasant piece to listen to overall, so you didn’t do terribly:) To provide what I can to hopefully help you take it to the next level, I listened to your piece several times & a recording on YouTube of someone playing the piano version. In my opinion & sense, the original piece edges on a little too repetitive, but it does gain traction at about measure 8 when things start feeling developmental. It does have a kind of lulling effect though, so I think he achieved his purpose, but in my preference I wouldn’t encourage the composition to have any more length or repetition. Here’s my understanding of the original: it seems to actually have two melodies going on simultaneously, playing on each other the whole time, with the other notes providing warmth & fullness. He does a 4 bar A theme twice, then changes to the relative major on a big chord. I liked how the pianist did a little rubato at the transition, because otherwise it would just sound like a major sudden change with no warning, which would feel offputting here. Then he has a 4 bar cascading, what feels like an almost inversion of the previous, repeated (similar to the beginning). It feels like a reprise, concluding & transitioning. That section has large moving chords on the downbeats, and can kind of feel like the ending music of a movie scene. Then he has a iii chord, which I thought he was going to modulate to that key, but he continued developing for 4 bars ending on the B (V of E again). But he goes into a CM7 chord with the melody for 4 bars, the bVI no 5th, which to me feels minor. It ends on a B chord with cascading notes that feels like a cadence, into the final section. It’s an 8 bar near restatement of the A theme, which feels relieving and longed for. Then it ends on the iv, with sudden long chords, which to me just makes me question if whether the child fell asleep or not. Relative to your composition, and recognizing you’ve already done a good job and my comments are just trying to help you get that last 10% to make it pop, I think your timbre changes felt simultaneously too much and too little. At first I didn’t know what to comment, but I think you almost tried to apply film score, quick drastic timbre changes to a slow, lullaby-like, repetitive piece. I think if you were more clear & distinct about your timbre changes, especially using them on the 8 (or less often the 4) bar marks & to mark harmonic changes where he has them, that would help encourage the natural cadence of the piece. My two favorite timbres you used were the low woodwinds with clarinet melody, and the string ensemble. I also think the horn melody was a nice additional change, but it was much brighter & more poignant than the other timbres, so I think it would fit more on the 2nd set of 8 bars, or other more in-your-face moments. Whatever you do, keep the melody on one instrument through the phrase instead of changing so often. The second thing that would help would be the transitions. Ryan Leach on YouTube has a great video on writing transitions: I think both introducing newer elements earlier, and utilizing the more prominent changes (like the large, slow, cascading chords at m.8) in a prominent way will both make the sections fit more together like a natural puzzle. The last minor thing would be trying to make the upper & lower melodies equally as present, with the harmonies quieter behind. It’s a small thing that would make a big difference in this piece, but I think the flute was too loud, and I lost the lower melody over time. Great job, and please let me know if these helped at all. Happy composing!

Hello my dear composers. Here my latest composition .6 Dances for piano . I hope you like it

We just want you to reply something related to the posted music, so you don't need to twist our views, thanks. Henry

Wow, there are some really colorful moments here! I love 4:00 - 5:00, it's like you treat the orchestra as a percussion instrument 🙂 Very very cool! Love the big unanticipated chord at 8:30 too. Aw, lame, but I get it. I've been there, we are our own worst critics. I would have submitted anyway, it is quite good to me. Your score looks great too. I think the big changes you would want to do are better left alone, as you've done. Save those ideas for the next one. You can sit there and tinker with orchestra pieces forever, no shame in letting it be as is. Watch your levels in the mix, you have a few spots where I hear distortion, but that's an easy fix. Around the 9 min mark is an example. I think it's brass? Lovely piece, thanks for sharing! I've heard your music a few times now, I dig your style.

Movement 1 - Just commenting on the guitar. - must show fingering and hand positions with notation. There are several moments where I had to try and figure out things, and when I did, sometimes the chords worked but felt awkward. I write tablature with notation, it helps and I don't have to show positions and fingerings. Sometimes I'll write fingering if it's weird. - in general, the guitar strumming sounds very parallel 5th heavy, to me it clashes with the string writing. Parallel octaves and fifths don't sound bad on guitar, but they just jump out in the midi. Maybe it's just that, dunno. Some of the chords could have smoother voice leading, it seems like you were rooted with open chords. - bar 2, last chord doesn't work (mistake?) - bar 8, why not have the pedal A? - bars 13-16, you do this a few times, but check the voices. You tend to drop or add voices freely between chords, and it gives a choppiness to me - bar 18, why the different Bb shape? - bar 49, first chord sounds out of place - bars 75-77, voices again - bars 85-87, because my hands are too big, I can't play that C barre chord on the A string (my finger mutes the high e), I have to play in on the E. When I got to bar 87, it took a minute to realize I couldn't play it there and had to be on the A string. I would've omitted the top note if I were the performer. Just an example of why positions in the notation are very helpful. - bar 90, let any of these ring? - bar 99, impossible chord - bar 107, last chord sounds out of place, it's a jarring transition That's all that popped out at me, hopefully this helps your writing!

When @Henry Ng Tsz Kiu first joined, he posted his clarinet quintet, it's like an hour long... and it wasn't until SIX weeks later that he got someone to give legitimate feedback, and all that while he listened to nearly everyone's music and posted quality advice. It seems unbelievable, but like literally everyone lol. No one even cared to reciprocate all his generosity and FREE labor for weeks and weeks, and it wasn't until @Omicronrg9 gave him quite possibly the greatest most in depth review I've ever seen. From that, I got to know Henry and Daniel better, and eventually @PeterthePapercomPoser, @chopin, and I all started conversing on discord. It's cool how you can meet people from all over the world with like-minded passions, and we still chat here and there on discord. I'm thankful for the community, for the friendships. But this happens because we're all actively engaged with each other's music. We're interested in helping each other out, getting to know each other, etc. Now whenever I see any of their new music posted, I'm quick to notice and excited to share a thought or two. Mostly because I just WANT to, but also because I know they'll do the same for me. Even if I never post music anywhere else, I know the YC bros will at least check it out. You seem young, get to know some people first! A lot of people here are in their teens and twenties, and they'll be more eager to share thoughts with a familiar username than a foreign one. You'll fit right in. And until then, poke around the forums too! There's TONS of cool music here. TONS of great composers roam this forum, even if some only come by occasionally, so don't be afraid to reach out 🙂 People will get around to your post, it's usually not as instant as you (or I) would like. I write song lyrics, but not much else as far as words. Keep posting more music too, because the more cool pieces people interested in your question can sift through, the better chance you'll have.

Hey Markus, I haven't seen you in a while, glad to hear you're still writing 🙂 I love these kinds of posts. It's really cool to hear your problem, then for me to try it out and mess around on it. Thanks for posting your thought process, as I can start with yours and see where that takes me. One idea I had was to let the clarinet be a pedal point for the E7. I had F for the "Dm" chord measure, but it didn't sound good to me. I liked the absence of the clarinet here, so maybe keep it simple if this thought leads you somewhere. For me, it helps to see the entire 4 bar phrase as E7. I know that one spot is tricky, but it just seems like a big cadence to Am (Also, this whole transition from Bb to F is wonderful and very smooth. Is it Am - C7 - F? I like the iii - V7 - I movement). If I look at it as E7 with a bunch of chromatics, it's easier to think about the clarinet. I came up with this pretty quick, I'm sure the notes could be tinkered with. I don't remember, but little rhythmic motifs you may have used could go well with the clarinet, I just came up with something simple. Oh, and our music player sucks lol. It's hard to go to a certain spot within a piece, so I think I've heard the first minute or so several times 😄 Hopefully some of these thoughts are useful 🙂 Great stuff, keep us updated! P.S. The bassoon starts on B nat. right?

Here is one of my favorite sonatas in binary form, inspired by the colossal Scarlatti, who is also the reason I started composing music systematically over the past two years. It’s a blend of Scarlatti’s style but also includes elements from other classical composers. A very playful sonata with quite a few unexpected modulations that make it even more humorous… I hope you enjoy it.

Not yet, but if you're interested we could get something going again. All for fun of course 🙂 Have anything in mind? I'll link this to the chatbox if others may be interested. I will say that it was a bit draining to be a judge, but I'd be up for simple easy topics for short pieces just to see if there would be interest. I personally would write something along those lines.

Hello everyone! I composed a waltz for piano during the weekend. I wanted it to be "easy" to play so I composed it with an accompaniment that does not need jumps or the use of the pedal. It is still hard to play for me, so, while I practice, I leave it here with my initial live performance until I can play it better (it would sound awful with midi). My main concerns is always with the form, as I am not sure how do transition best between sections, when to repeat things or let them go, etc. So any feedback about that is more than welcome. The piece is in the form ABCBA. A is the main theme in A minor, which is repeated at the end. It is a frantic and agitated theme (and needs to be played rubato). B is a modulatory section and needs to be played without rubato and with the melody "singing". It is based on a long chromatic descending bass line so it is highly chromatic and there might be many compositional mistakes in this section. While it is the easiest section, I have troubles played it beautifully. You can listen to the only time I played it as well as I wanted in 2:01 from the audio. C is a simple lyrical theme in A major. The audio is really bad, it is based on different recordings so the quality of the sound changes a little. When I practice everything and have a finalized score and audio rendition I will update it! Hope you like it and any feedback is more than welcome! Thank you!

In an effort to actually get something done, I challenged myself to write and record a little piece in two hours; behold the result! The recording definitely got put off until the end. It's pretty out of tune/bad quality, but, I hope, bearable to listen to 🙂 Any and all feedback is greatly appreciated!

I love the work you do with the subtitles, thanks for making your music more accessible to us non-French speakers. The music is hauntingly beautiful, you're a wonderful craftsman and performer. I usually just listen to your music for enjoyment rather than critique, and even though I don't always comment, I'm always a listener. Thanks for sharing this!

Hey @UncleRed99! Glad to see/hear that you've finally moved on to a new piece! I think the proper name for a string quintet + piano combination would be "Piano Sextet". Traditionally for example, a duet of Violin and Cello with Piano is called a "Piano Trio", a trio of Violin, Viola and Cello with Piano would be a "Piano Quartet" and a quartet of 2 Violins, Viola, Cello with Piano would be a "Piano Quintet". So I'm just extrapolating that this would be a "Piano Sextet" based on those naming conventions. I'll address a few things that bothered me about the score before actually talking about the music: There's a few things to note here. First, when writing pizzicato strings, you don't need to add a staccato marking for the pizzicato. It's redundant considering that pizzicato is already a very percussive and separated effect. Also, you have the Bartok pizzicato at mf, followed by a regular pizzicato at forte. That doesn't really make sense considering that Bartok pizzicato is achieved by snapping the string as hard as possible so that it hits the fingerboard. The Bartok pizzicato would naturally have to be louder than the regular pizzicato just by the nature of the effect. Also, there's a special symbol for Bartok pizzicato that string players recognize: I think it would be more concise to use this symbol. Here you have the indication to play legato contradicted by the separated 8th notes. If you want the player to cancel their pizzicato playing and return to bowing you can put "arco" or "ord.". Now about the music. The first thing I noticed is that this is a very quiet piece. I had to listen to it on my Bluetooth speaker to really hear it better. But I think the problem is also that when the piano is playing the melody alone without the support of the strings, the piano melody is often simply inaudible above the accompaniment. Especially the grace notes are lost because they go by so quickly. The way to counteract that is to of course use MS Basic soundfonts for the piano so you can bring out the melody in high relief by using higher velocity values for those notes (which you can edit in the "properties" tab). Unfortunately, the Musesounds samples don't currently respond to velocity changes so you'd be forced to use the MS Basic soundfont for piano. But imo (since I do this all the time) I think the clarity of the melodic line is to me a much more sought after commodity in music than the supposedly "better" sounding Musesound sample. But that might be just me. Overall, I like the melancholy vibe of the piece! The only thing that bothers me is that the key changes seem to be inserted into the piece just for their own sake. And the modulations should be led by the melody for them to make audible sense and create a more breathtaking effect. Thanks for sharing!

Hello again, my dear friends, Here is another piece I wrote yesterday. Music of the moment. It’s one of those inspirations where you sit at the piano and it just comes out all at once, and I must say I truly loved this particular piece. Very Schubert-like, as always, but I believe I’ve also added my own touch. I hope you enjoy it.

Hello again my friends. Here is my piano sonata dedicated to my favourite composer Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. I tried my best to imitate and capture the style . I hope you appreciate it

1. A minor. Again, just like the string quartet one, this one is very Mozart. I find a great use of grace notes (acciaturas) here. In the opening, you have the two hands play parallel, just like in Chopin's Scherzo No.3 . I see that after that, you had an immediate F Major Part. And then my favourite part is the syncopation with grace notes part. I think that this contains a lot of great ideas. 2. A major. The transition makes a lot of sense. e, f sharp, e part at the start is great, and very Mozart-like. The double-thirds runs seem fun to play! The left hand parts are very good. I think it is wrong at bar 44 to be in minor key, as that you haven't notated a natural sign. Overall, very good use of the second voice. 3. F major. Really waltzy. Bar 50 has a sharped C, which is a very smart choice. D minor is also a brilliant transition. I like the way it is intense from bar 56, and how it is in A minor, and transitions back to F major at bar 60. It feels magical in a way. Very great. 4. C# Major. Nice Introduction here. A major is something I like personally. The transitions are incredibly nice. It is smart to go back to the original key. Nice piece. 5. G Minor. Sorry for being offline for some time. Anyways, very jazzy opening and ending, with nice transitions to different keys, as always very elegant. I like the tension in the end. Nice use of dissonance. 6. G Minor. March-like Finale! Very cool. I like how you used Bb Minor stuff too! Anyways, I also like the staccatissimo texture! Overrall, 9 out of 10. Be happy! This is great, and you have a lot of potential. To improve, maybe write longer music and develop ideas. Keep composing! -TristantheTristan

Hello again. I had posted my minuets for string quartet in another topic, and after a suggestion from peterpapercomposer, I’m now creating a separate topic just for them. As I mentioned in a previous topic, I am mainly a composer for piano, but I equally love orchestral music and chamber music. Chamber music in particular is my favorite genre. It’s just that, as a pianist, I had never really sat down to work with other instruments, since in the past I never had ambitions to become a composer. The desire to compose came about two years ago. I’ve made two attempts writing for other instruments, and I can say it’s quite a good effort. For now, I don’t have a cleaner score. I’ll post the video now, and at some point I’ll edit it and add a clearer score. Thank you again. Edit: I forgot to mention that both of them are once again in a classical, Mozart-like style.

Based on the same core concept as the last two canons, this one took roughly under four hours to complete (as time seems to fly once I finally get inspired) and is intended to incapsulate the essential technique employed in these more recent compositions with a greater measure of brevity and conciseness involved, for perhaps three minutes of the same nonstop iterations (as was the case in the previous one) may have turned out quite a bit too repetitive, I regret. YouTube video link:

Minuet 1 I find this piece of music very appealing to my ears, especially the part from bar 4 to bar 7. It is very smart of you to write that area. I am completely impressed by this amazing composition, though I believe you should write subito to these bars as well. I really like that it is Allegro but feels like Allegretto, which is slightly slower. I see that you might have taken inspiration from Mozart's Rondo Alla Turca from his 11th Sonata. This because from bar 15-17 you have that thing for the Violencello. All of the four instruments work well together, which is another area of this composition that is impressive. You also have a very original idea. Lastly, you have a clear idea of the main theme, which is a rare talent found in few people. Minuet 2 Another very Mozart-like minuet. I can clearly hear the main theme in C major. I see you really sudden notes, which are marked fz. Again, your Violoncello is doing an important job. I really like the small A minor bit, with the subito thing. This time Allegro is actually Allegro (lol). I think that Ternary Form does in fact fit in well! Sadly, I feel like that there are too many sudden notes. I am afraid of getting a heart attack from this. Otherwise, it is very good, and I believe you have a lot of talent, potential, and hard work when it comes to composing. As I said, before, I am incredibly impressed.

Well, me: can't play piano at all! Well, a simple thing like that Chopin E Minor prelude or the accompaniment to Schumann's Ich Grolle Nicht aus Dichterliebe, 1840 I could play if I practiced for a few hours, but it still wouldn't be very good. I guess the best instrument I play is Electric Bass, and I'm far from the best!

Damn, five measures or so is enough to tell me you know already how to write for strings. I could probably teach you something about double-stops and chords, but not much else. As the Germans say, Kein Problem! I'll listen to the rest later. You are a fine Neoclassical composer.

I love Beethovens violin concerto. Actually is my favourite violin concerto. 🙂 Ok I'll post my 2 minuets here if you want to check and let me know .

Sure, post one! Even MY favorite composer, Beethoven, could not always write perfectly for violin, so of course I can't either. His violin concerto is a masterpiece, but has too many scales and arpeggios.

And you say you love chamber music but are scared because you feel you are unfamiliar with the instruments as compared to piano, which you play very well and tastefully? I could teach you to write for violin in an afternoon, with both of us sharing a few beers! Guitar is harder, but I keep writing guitar music anyway.

Thank you so much my dear friend. I'm so glad that you like it 🙏

Good Lord, but you can write a waltz, a good one I mean! Highlight of my morning so far.

I have borrowed a motif from my Ice Cave VGM track that I published not long ago. This time I applied a microtonal inflection to the motif (in 24 TET). The environment would require the player to go cave-diving during this music. I tried to make the piece sound watery through the use of Alto Flute and a low Vibraphone (played by Lumatone) ostinato. The idea that prompted the creation of this track was to layer on top of each other heterophonically or polyphonically different microtonal variations of the same motif. Let me know what you think and whether I've succeeded! I welcome any of your comments, suggestions, critiques, or just observations. Thanks for listening!

Fun thing I arranged today. I've been working on learning new solo guitar pieces, and recently have been learning some of my favorites from the classical/concert realm. This isn't the most popular of Mr. Sibelius' work, as it's a cold funeral march type of thing, but I love it. I couldn't find a guitar version, so I dabbled at my own. I might record this at some point when I can stop screwing up measure 12 😄

Thank you so much for your wonderful words and your appreciation of my music. Yes, I consider myself a composer mainly for the piano, although I truly love orchestral music, and especially chamber music. Chamber music is my favorite... I just don’t feel familiar enough with the other instruments, although I have written a divertimento for winds and two minuets for string quartet. For a first attempt, it was quite a respectable effort, and I would definitely like to continue and write music for more instruments—it’s just that, at this point in my life, I don’t have enough free time to achieve that. I have also played Chopin’s mazurkas and polonaises in my repertoire, but I haven’t yet happened to compose something similar, although I would very much like to, and I thank you for pointing it out.

Hi again @Vasilis Michael! I love this little set of waltzes! And I like how you composed them to be played one after another. They're both Chopinesque and perhaps Schubertian or Schumannesque too. I love the chromaticism! No. 5 is perhaps my favorite of the bunch with it's chromatically descending harmonies. I wonder if you've ever tried your hand at a polonaise or mazurka? But also, from what I've seen of your YouTube channel you consider yourself, like Chopin, a composer primarily for the piano. Maybe you could explore composing some chamber works or even works for orchestra? Thanks for sharing these gems!

Edited the melody a bit for some more interest and movement

Hey @GospelPiano12! I think starting out with a really simple phrase like this is a great way to start! In my own experience, I've always relied on being able to come up with variations of the main melodic idea that my piece is based on, and in the case of a concerto type of piece, virtuosic variations. Even if your ultimate form isn't going to be a theme and variations, being able to pre-compose various different versions of your main theme will get you far in terms of giving you the ideas you need to put the piece together. So, what you have here is a really great simple idea that you can easily subject to virtuosic variations by inserting notes in between the melody notes you already have: This could also potentially lead to the formation of ostinati or repeating accompanimental figures which can give your piece some rhythmic drive! Also, since you're writing a concerto for a wind instrument, it's important to remember to give your soloist choice places to breathe. Most of my own concerto type works have been for piano and orchestra. I've written things for Violin and Piano or Violin and Harpsichord, but they were short (and the former, microtonal). I think you can, if you want, use this thread as a place to bounce your ideas off of the community as you make progress. If you're comfortable I can make suggestions like this periodically. I always have more ideas for more variations! Like they said in the movie "Blazing Saddles" - "My mind is a .. a raging torrent! Flooded with rivulets of thought .. cascading into a waterfall of creative alternatives!" LoL

Another ragtime piece from me. This one I'd really love to hear any thoughts on; I'm not really sure about a few passages and transitions and I'm trying to decide whether to revise it. Are there moments that sound awkward (in a bad way) to you?

VARIATION TROIS (3), is fully scored. very "tutti" variation, lots of moving parts. On the beginning bars, I contrasted the woodwinds from the previous variation with strings only.

Hey @UncleRed99! Nice Brass Quintet! Definitely an ensemble I should write something for in the future considering I played Trumpet and French Horn. I think my favorite measures in this piece are 16 and 44 because in those measures you abandon the chordal approach to the music where it sounds like the music is just an elaborate but slow (I mean a slow harmonic rhythm) chord progression. Overall measures 12 - 16 and 40 - 44 are the most awesome to me, with a unique approach to melody, rhythm and scoring (I especially like how you create a natural delay effect where the 2nd Trumpet imitates the 1st at a delay of a 16th note. Where there's room for improvement is something I already touched on above: the harmonic rhythm seems like it's usually one or two chords per measure. You don't necessarily need more chords or anything, just varying the harmonic rhythm to different note values could be enough. And you could also have built some kind of accompanimental ostinato to kind of set down a cool groove underneath the melody to create a banger. I also feel like there isn't really a long leading song-like melody that really sticks in my head that I remember easily after listening to this. I've listened to this piece a few times while writing this review and somehow I still feel this way about it. Perhaps there are what you might consider melodies but they're just not unified enough or self-similar enough to really stick in my head? Or maybe I just have fringe expectations about this? Or perhaps they're interspersed too much with passages that are dominated by too many long notes and chords that don't seem to create a melodic impression for the listener? That's my impression. Thanks for sharing!

Hello to all . Here 2 of my albumblatt pieces . Very short pieces . I hope you like it

I found this piece in an old notebook. I had originally scored it for 2 Clarinets and an Oboe and Bassoon. But after checking the Bass Clarinet range and finding that it had the same range as Bassoon, I rearranged it for Clarinet Quartet and finished it. The variations are as follows: 0:40 - I - Stack 1:18 - II - Leapfrog 1:54 - III - Siciliana 2:51 - IV - Lilt 3:38 - V - Waltz 4:39 - VI - Lilt 2 5:12 - VII - Scherzo 6:07 - VIII - Fugue 6:50 - IX - Synthesis 7:17 - X - Coda I've been told that the piece is a bit monotonous (I guess that's always a problem to contend with in variations pieces - making the variations different enough from each other to sustain interest). But let me know what you think! I welcome any of your suggestions, comments, critiques or observations. Thanks for listening!

Nice. Looking forward to the live version

Thanks! Just classical guitar patch with noteperformer I initially thought I would have to do that, but I started out with just reading the piano sheet music and trying to arrange the larger range of notes within the confines of a fretboard and ran with it. It's the original key, but I'm not completely sold on how I had to go high in measure 13 on the Bb chord. I'd love the Bb to be the lowest note, so maybe my low E. Then it's in C#m which is cool but eh we'll see. Interesting take, I could see that! Check out the original, it's much more somber and just overall better lol. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0R14whYG0k8 ❤️

This is the third and final movement of my Piano Sonata no.3 in C-sharp minor. It’s probably the most perplexing movement of music I have ever composed. For me it’s a struggle between Beethovenian heaviness (Es muss sein!) v.s. Unbearable lightness of blues (trying to imitate the style). Even though the first and second movement of the same Sonata has been commented as “random” before, I believe this one the most random of all haha. I once challenged myself whether to keep the eclecticism of the movement or not, but decided to leave it unchanged since all the styles were what I was thinking of and feeling at the moment. Here are the previous movements posted on YC before: 1st mov: 2nd mov: Piano Sonata no.3 in C-sharp minor 3rd mov.pdf The structure of the movement is a bit weird for me. It’s in Sonata form but the exposition and recapitulation never leave tonic key C-sharp minor at all, as the contrast of the 1st and 2nd subject is not achieved by key, but by style. In fact I only realized I was going for a Sonata form only when I almost finished the development section. Here is the structure of the movement: 0:00 Exposition, 1st Subject, 1st Theme: The falling fourth motive attacks immediately at the start of the movement in a passionate fashion, reminding himself of the pain he suffered after the more serene 2nd mov. It cools down in 0:31 and even keeps denying (or rather me denying my own sadness) by German sixth harmonic progressions, instead of normal dominant-tonic progression. 0:59 Exposition, 1st Subject, 2nd Theme: A deliberately repressed theme consisting of the inversion of a fourth, i.e. fifth, later gets more agitated with the Chopin Revolutionary Etude like L.H. accompaniment. It keeps on boiling until reaching the transition. I got crazy there thus I wanna try escaping… 2:28 Exposition, 2nd Subject: This section is made of 12 bar blues elements, thx to Arjuna’s @expert21 suggestion, although I already originally wanted some nihilistic jazz elements to contrast with the heavier 1st Subject. The pattern is repeated thrice, first just the “accompaniment”, then with the falling fourth motive theme added, and lastly an “electric-guitar-like” melody thx to of course my buddy Vince @Thatguy v2.0, as I won’t ever try to write something in jazz without his piano preludes. The locrian melody of course is a quotation from the 2nd mov opening! 3:46 Development, 1st Part: The opening falling fourth motive attacks again and modulates to keys I didn’t where it would go when composing lol, and finally reaches C# Locrian which confuses even me! It ends with a bridge of the locrian in L.H. quoting a little of the blues theme to the next part. 4:48 Development, 2nd Part: This part first develops the 2nd theme of 1st subject, then ends in confusion again. Suddenly a new theme emerges in the distant E-flat major and repeats again in relative major E major in a more passionate manner, until it boils down to a marvellously passionate retransition in 6:39 which I believe is the most beautiful section of the entire movement. It’s by composing this passage that I knew my creative power had finally come back. The passage ends in a desolation which leads back to the recap. 7:17 Recapitulation, 1st Subject, 1st part: A weird section. I finally could not refuse to admit my sadness by having a normal dominant-tonic progression, but still tried to escape by quoting the reminiscence of the blues themes like in a film montage jump cut in a Godard style (or, Stravinskian juxtaposition). 8:40 Recapitulation, 1st Subject, 2nd part: The 2nd theme of the expo 1st subject reappears in the L.H., and then a beautiful variation which I was probably laughing at myself for my weakness. The music goes on and gets more agitated until going to the 2nd subject. 9:32 Recapitulation, 2nd Subject: The previous “light-hearted” blues theme is transformed to an enraged Rachmanioffian roar. It subsequently cools down and tries to go for hope in the coda. 10:18 Coda, 1st Part: I tried to find peace by quoting the beautiful theme in the development plus 2nd mov’s 1st theme in counterpoint, repeat twice, 1st time in major and 2nd time pentatonic. The Locrian theme in the exposition is then transformed to a pentatonic plus the blue note of flattened sixth, signifying my attempt to find peace… 11:16 Coda, 2nd Part: However it’s futile. I realized that my sadness could not be “transcended”, at least not here, and finally realized my pain. The heavy falling fourth motive keeps attacking, and finally I was able to make a simple dominant-tonic chord progression to admit my pain, when the question is laid unanswered from the beginning of the entire sonata. The movement and the whole Sonata ended in utter desolation, as I had no energy anymore to fight as in the 1st mov and 2rd mov, nor create an imaginary utopia for myself as in 2nd mov and 3rd mov… The movement was primarily composed from Dec 2024 to Jan 2025, under a state of depression and confusion, due to what I had suffered in my full time job. I struggled a lot whether I should have a happy or sad ending for the whole sonata, but my mind gave me the answer. I could not pretend to be happy or hopeful at that time by forcing a meaningless Picardy-3rd at the end as in many of the Romantic Sonatas or pieces. I had to admit my sadness then. Paradoxically by doing that, I left all the negatives here so I had the 200% positiveness for my Sextet, which is my best piece and probably the most optimistic piece I ever composed. I tried my best at playing the movement already despite some slips haha. Hope you enjoy the movement and even go back to the 1st movement to listen to the whole Sonata! Thank you for listening,and possibly reading through this and commenting!!!!! Btw, here's Vince Preludes which inspire me: Prelude no.7: Prelude no.9: Prelude no.3: Henry

You know, I kept meaning to comment on this, and then life got busy. Whoops! Thanks for the kind words, buddy. I'm happy to have gotten to know you, and your music has influenced mine as well. 🙂 I've listened to this a few times since you've posted. It's probably not a surprise to know that this is my favorite piece of yours. The sonata as a whole is so addicting to listen to, it kind of checks all my boxes as far as just plain old good enjoyable music. Your playing is outrageously fiery in this too! I love it. You're such a passionate player, and I can hear the grit and wrath, and also the softness and pensive yearning. At first I wasn't sure how all the vastly different themes blended together, but in the end I think it works. I like the sort of confusion in the form too. The transitions seemed iffy in some spots, but when I think about it, it's kind of cool that you smoothly blend some transitions, yet others are sudden complete shifts. To me it actually helps with figuring out how to mix and match your themes, adding to the jaunty diversity of it all. The nihilistically scherzo part is so friggin cool! I love all the bluesy parts, and it's a fresh take to a familiar style for my ears. It sounds like you gave sophistication and elegance to a naturally rough around the edges kind of music. Love it 🙂 This was wonderful, Henry, and I and I'm sure many others love hearing what you present here. I'm continually impressed with your work ethic and motivation to present your music in the best way you can. Your piano playing is admirable, and many others including myself look up to your compositional talent and enormous heart. Thanks for sharing Henry!

Hey Vince! Wonderful piece! And the production/rendering of the guitar is pretty good too! Regarding your arrangement - is this in the original key? I'm just thinking that it might make it easier to play if you transposed it to a key more common for guitar literature such as E minor or A minor. Have you thought about that? Nice French 6th chord you have there in measure 12 and 16. Funny though - it doesn't sound like a funeral march to me at all - there are plenty of hopeful moments. Perhaps a bit of melancholy mixed in. It almost sounds like it could be a slow and stately Renaissance dance. I really enjoyed this and I'm looking forward to hearing a live version performed by you! Thanks for sharing!

It's a fun theme, and I think you do a good job at keeping things interesting despite working with just one theme. The first variation is FIRE. Your other variations leading to the fugue are good, but as other people have said, there's a lot of repetition. But you know what, that's ok because it led you to writing the fugue variation. And the fugue is by far the most powerful writing of this piece, which makes the whole darn thing worth listening to. In fact, the fugue with your last variation + coda make the last 2 minutes or so incredibly powerful.

I am playing a slightly simplified version of the blue Danube waltz on the violin, and the peace requires me to switch from pizz to Arco quite a lot actually, and I was just wondering, how on earth should I hold the bow if I have to keep pizz-in and then take a quick rest and then quickly go to Arco again? Should I do it with the index finger or the middle? Or is there an easy strategy anybody knows? Thanks!😊

Sure, man. Good luck with future music!

Wow, this is amazing! I think this style definitely suits you, and I really like hearing that you had the chance to work with the performers. It's great you got such a nice recording, but the knowledge you've gained is invaluable. Wonderful work, buddy 🙂

This was a lot to digest, but I liked it! I have to admit, it took a few listens to grasp everything going on, but there's no denying your talent with composition. It's wonderful. I feel like I've asked but I can't remember... do you play piano? It seems very difficult in some areas, and although that's not bad, I just wonder if this could be executed how you intend. What I love about your music is how fresh your ideas are. I guess I'm speaking of your music in general instead of just this piece, but it's a pattern I've noticed. Something I would be mindful of is to me you really teeter the balance of too many ideas and developing existing ones. I think your balance works, but sometimes I wish you would strip down the amount of new musical material you write within a piece and develop more. Maybe you do this and I don't always hear it, or maybe it has to do with how complex your music gets. I just get lost sometimes listening, and it might help. It's not necessarily your language, btw. For instance, right before :30 we're hit with a ritard... but I was just getting into the rhythms! Now at :47 or so, there's another change of pace... all that drive we had lost again. You could argue that is the effect you're going for, but it's just an example of what I mean. However, I'm reminded of Debussy pissing off his professors because he didn't develop his music the "right" way. I do like your free flowing jazzy way of writing, I think it's a really vibrant way to approach form. I personally just need my ears to rest a little when listening to your music. It's like, your flavor of cheese is great for nachos, just don't drown them! The score looks amazing to me, bar 92 D# should be Eb was the only thing that caught my eye. I'm excited to hear the other pieces in the suite, hopefully it isn't too long before you continue them!