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Here was my topic for the Secret Santa event: "I'll keep this topic simple -and fairly abstract. One of the things, in my music, that I often write about is life and death. So, the topic that I choose will be within this abstract area: life, mortality, death, rebirth, lessons learned in life, philosophy of life." Wasn't sure whether or not to include the author, so I'll abstain for now, but I hope you enjoy the piece... though it is admittedly very theoretical.

Hello! Here is my submission for the Secret Santa composing event organized by @Jean Szulc and @Left Unexplained. It's titled "Left Unspoken," it's scored for piano trio, and it was inspired by my Secret Santa topic: the word mamihlapinatapei, from @TheCluelessClariney. In their own words: My piece comes in fairly short at just under 4:00. It is structured as a simple A-B-A format, with one more contemporary-sounding section sandwiched between two more CPE-sounding sections. I hope the theme comes across in the interplay between the violin and cello, particularly at the end. Made with MuseScore 3. As always, all criticisms and suggestions are welcome. Thanks for listening. 🙂

Hello fellow musicians. Yesterday I composed a little nocturne (actually the 2nd one of my set of "Small piano compositions"), for a good friend of mine. I did my best to respect the idiom of this type of composition. I hope you'll enjoy, I would be glad to know your thoughts about it ! 🙂

I think part of the problem is that the critic on the internet is not actually in a position of authority or teacher in relation to you. If you were in a classroom setting, you would be completely unsurprised when an assignment came back graded, "Nice job! B+" and then had a bit of red ink pointing out things that could have been better. The whole point of school is the assumption that we're not there yet, and our teachers are experienced guides on the path to growth. But on the internet, there's no vetting system, so it's hard to know if you should take criticism seriously, or push back. Is the reviewer much more experienced than you, about the same, or actually much less? Is their comment difficult to understand because they are a level above you in ability, or are they just saying something that makes no sense? Are they actually trying to be helpful, or are they an internet troll? Without knowing the qualifications of the person on the other end of the comment, and without some system that vets them and tosses out people who are just jerks, it's really hard to know what to do with feedback. And yet, here we all are, because the internet gives us access to feedback that CAN be much more helpful than what we get from friends and family, and that helps us grow faster so we have access to better teachers and other future resources. If in doubt, you can always say, "thanks for your thoughts," and wait to see if the next commenter pushes back against something you feel isn't justified, or agrees with it. That may give you a truer picture of how people are seeing your work. (I have a hard time with feedback too, so I sympathize).

Screw them, lol! If what they said had any value, they would find nicer ways of saying it. (Although I am sorry what they said was hurtful.) I would suggest that the source of your anger is not external at all, though that is where you direct it. Our mind is equipped with these filters, you see. The only things that "get to us" are the things that fit through our filters in the first place. You probably place(d) a great deal of your self-worth in your creations (who wouldn't?), and constantly worried that they really were terrible. So what the critics said may or may not have been true—it really doesn't matter—but it certainly validated what you were afraid to admit all along. That was the filter your mind had set up, and now those are the kinds of things that anger you the most. Why? Because you're afraid it's true. If your creations are terrible then you are terrible, and that's no way to live. But since you still draw breath, there is still hope. Harsh critics—and critics, in general—present logical arguments (I hope), but just because their conclusions are correct doesn't mean their foundational assumptions were. And even if they are 100% objectively correct, music is an artform, not a science. It is a means of expressing yourself. It is subjective. The same is true of literature. People will have different opinions of your works and some may deliver those opinions harshly, as you well know. BUT... in the end, these are your expressions of your inner self. They can't be attacked except you allow them to be. So accept that people will have different opinions and move on. Acknowledge that they might be onto something or don't. Either way, there is no need to defend yourself. Because nobody is attacking you. Psychological fears take a long time to get over—sometimes a lifetime—so don't lose heart if you keep coming up against this hurdle. You write good stuff because you're a good person, and that should be enough. 🙂

Sigh. I see this as your greatest problem. I complimented your piece very nicely, yet you did not thank me for taking the time to listen, or even for praising your work. No, you spent 100 words defending a single sentence in which I clearly state my findings as opinion, not fact. It's difficult for me to see things from your perspective. I truly don't know what you want us reviewers to say. I understand you put a lot of time and effort into creating your stuff—we all do, and that's why forums such as this exist, to provide a sense of community. If anyone will be able to empathize what it's like to slave over a piece for hours, days, weeks, or years, it's us. So we put our stuff out here for the enjoyment—and criticism—of those who are best able to give that: fellow composers. I, for one, expect folks to find something wrong with my stuff, and I enjoy hearing how different people perceive things differently. If someone doesn't come back with at least one thing they were bothered by, I question whether they actually listened to it in the first place. But there's a small part of me I keep around, and that's the part of me that has to be willing to accept that my stuff isn't all that great. Sometimes (or maybe all the time), despite my best efforts, I write something that sucks. That's why feedback is important to me, both the good and the bad. It helps train my intuition, to help me say, "Oh, that sounded like a good idea last time, only several people said this. So I'll adjust, do it a little differently." That's how we become better composers. Not by reading more books. Not by studying harder. But by training our intuition—and that requires the feedback of others. (Reading books and studying are very important; please don't misunderstand me. Books and studying by themselves, though, make for a good theorist, and not necessarily a good composer.) We have to be vulnerable. No way around it. I get that the way feedback is framed can determine how useful it is. I myself have left forums before when I thought the feedback was consistently unduly harsh or egotistical. Here, though, I haven't sensed that. I'm sorry if you feel it is. I can't speak for everyone, but my feedback is genuinely intended to be helpful. It would seem your assumption is that we automatically dislike your works and, by extension, yourself, but that's not true at all. I'd love to see a change in your outlook, shifting from defensive to more receptive. I think you'll find your fellow composers (and friends, if you'll have us) have a lot of great advice to offer once we know our words won't be deflected the second they hit the screen. However, that all begins with you. 🙂 Again, I want to reiterate that you did a great job on this piece. I hope you keep it up!

This is a delightful composition! The melodic line is very stable and easy to follow and the harmony is classically inspired, but with some nice surprises! I love your use of chromaticism. Great work! 😄

Dang, this is really cool. Very well done. Dark and dramatic. Damn, that chord at 3:49 is really powerful. The piece as a whole does such a great job balancing the buildups with the climaxes, rendering the climaxes all the more powerful when they do arrive. I hope you'll finish it and post the whole thing once it's complete -- not that I think it needs much more; maybe just a coda to wrap it all up. Again, great job.

Very intriguing and dramatic. I don't know if it's a limitation of the performer, but I think some timbral counterpoint might do this work a lot of justice (especially with the inverted tritone motif), since a lot of the low and high ends of the volume spectrum seem to be stratified in terms of texture, but the entire thing progresses very naturally.

Sounds like a live recording... very nice! Your style once again shines through with this piece: soft touches with plenty of space between carefully selected chords (or note clusters), and an overall feeling of contemplativeness—with some surprises sprinkled in so the listener is still kept guessing. And, of course, your handle on the theory behind it is nothing short of "masterful" (pun intended). Unfortunately, the music didn't quite put me in a frame of mind that smacked of damned angels, but that's probably on me. It was an abstract topic and you produced an abstract work to match, so you did your job—and an exceptional job at that! Love hearing your stuff, and thanks again for all you do for the site. I can't imagine pursuing a master's degree leaves much time for charitable advice-giving on a music forum for amateurs, but you make it work. 🙂

As with everything you write, this work almost literally sings with emotionality. The dialogue you establish between violin and cello especially, but even among all three soloists, is organically interwoven, and I can feel the unspoken words swell in my heart as I listen. The chord progressions are equally moving; I may or may not have teared up listening to this. 😭You sustain the feeling of longing throughout the work without generating boredom. I mean... top-notch stuff, Noah! That is a great word btw. Wish it were shorter and more pronounceable, lol.

This is a piece of music that I would love to come on the radio when I'm driving by myself, very late at night. I think a lot of the theory is beyond my powers, but there were a lot of interesting moments, and I felt like I could follow the development of the primary figures throughout. Plus, unlike me, you clearly know how to write a proper harp part. Well done!

This is a piece i made in my free time, i was experimenting with different instruments and forms, as such it's more of an educational composition. Any critique feedback appreciated. youtube link:

Thank you for the reply, ironically i am a piano player, but i struggled with the piano the most in this piece, i found it hard to really bring out the melodic nature of it when accompanied with the cello and oboe, that is something i need to work on for sure.

You fit a good range of mood and texture into such a short piece. I liked the interaction between the clarinet and the cello.They juggled the melodic line nicely. Also, you have a nice and unique use of harmony. My critiques will are: 1. It sounded like you had two unique themes (one at the very begining, and then at the Allegro in measure 9) it would be nice to hear more development on one or both of those themes, because they could be very strong melodies. They do stop rather abruptly. 2. The section in the middle where the piano takes over with the 16th note runs, it sound a bit empty with the clarinet and cello just sorta stopping. You could probably add in some pizzicato with the cello or staccato with the clarinet, to back up the piano just as the piano backs up the clarinet and cello. But those are just my thoughts, take them as you will. Very nice piece overall and I look forward to hearing more!

Life is a grey area. Black and white thinking may be good for an equation or a scientific discovery, but music is not a formula, an algorithm. You have to be able to see the grey within yourself. The grey within the "rules". I know it hurts hearing people tell you things you don't want to hear, especially when it's done in a more aggressive manner. But I believe what these people are trying to tell you is that music isn't something that you can know, something definable. There is something else that is far more meaningful than conceptual, methodical, mathematical thinking. You can gain more access into your unconscious through rigorous study and practice, but the fact of the matter is that music is a translation rather than a calculation. Instead of making something that completely "makes sense" or "follows the rules", you should try to discover a part of you that wants to be free rather than chained to an egoic notion of "right and wrong". That's how to know music, to know god, to know freedom. just my 2¢.

Very interesting work. It's admirable that the cello lines permeate all manners of the texture, from low to high regardless. And while I think it might be beneficial to fill in the half notes at C with a little more counterpoint, it does sound very song-like in nature, especially with all the syncopations in the main motives.