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I'll start off by just telling you my absolute favorite thing about this music of yours. This piece is just so... Peter. No matter what I have to say that's critical, a lot of it I've said before. I'm not the arbiter of musical correctness, I'm just some dude that is offering advice because I like your music and I like you. AND, I feel like you've considered that in your writing, and it shows for sure. But I love that you do things that you know I'm going to say could be different, but that's what makes this your music and not mine. There's no good or bad, this is clearly fantastic. There's nothing that you did "wrong", you just did it the way you want to do it. And, as the great Henry would say, I fxckingly love it. So with that out of the way, this is TRASH. Just kidding, of course. Like I said, this is wonderful, and obviously your most accomplished work. I feel like there's no debate in that, and you'd probably agree. You started this ten years ago, eh? No wonder your piece is better than mine 😛 Alright, all jokes aside (yes I know they're not funny, GOSH), I really did enjoy this. I'm pretty astounded by your attention to detail to the color of this. Despite having instrumentation that we would expect, you explore various ways to color the music that made it unmistakable for which holiday your music is about. Forget the obvious theme, this had Christmas written all over it. The charisma of your orchestral palette here was genuine and festive. You've also gotten leaps and bounds better at mixing your music. You've taken full advantage of the progress of musescore, and the meticulousness in the mix creates a full and grand sound. Kudos to you for taking the advice of ACO or anyone else that has anything to offer for production value; that humility will take your skills far. You don't have the old version up anymore, but from what I remember the levels you adjusted helped create a smooth listening experience. Nothing jumped out at me as being jarring or out of place, so your polishing did justice. My qualms are the usual, but to a lesser degree. With such an iconic and well known theme, I would've hoped for more variation in the pitches themselves. With this being 15 minutes long, there was lots of room to disguise the theme more, and to be fair, you did do that. At around 7:00, you lightened up the orchestra which was nice, and the waltz to the piano cadenza was a great treat. Maybe a bit more before the 7:00 mark I guess is my point. But then again, I don't really believe that, because you seemed like you had an undertone of form beneath the variations. I heard this more in sections, and my favorite part was the waltz moment. It was just fun! It was like a traditional T and V, but you had continuity between some variations, and then bold cadenzas to end others. I really like that style, and I think it takes the T and V form to a more unique level that you can be creative with. Plus, it helps keep it seamless to the listener, rather than us counting the variations as they come. Your theme evolves throughout, and it had an organic quality to it. It never got stale or dull. Maybe a bit overwhelming at times with the busyness in spots, but nothing that I'd amend or change. This music rings you, and you should be immensely proud. Well done there Peter, you sure are quite the comPoser.

Short story time So, I was GOING to do acoustic, but the action on my guitar smoked a J and got real high over the last few years. I didn't want to take it in to a luthier because I have the horizontal crack of doom creeping it's way to the bridge and I'm scared. It's 20 years old but it's my baby and yeah I need a new acoustic. So then I decided to use electric, but my amp is at the drummer-of-the-dumbo-band-I'm-in's house. That's like, an hour away, you know? So there I was, just a good ole' sm57 with no amp, a guitar that's not perfect so I won't play it (at least for recording), and I'm pretty sure I had a pimple on my nose as a grown postpubescent man. Well, I have Ableton. The amp's on it are wack, and I haven't delved into the wiry realm of guitar plugins. I went through a grueling slog of research and discovery about this mysterious and foreign dilemma, and ultimately, after a sweaty agonizing 7 minute video, I made progress. Then... get this... I spent ANOTHER FIVE WHOLE MINUTES downloading the required free plugins from sites that draped an anxiety-induced curtain over my precious little heart. I made it. Whew. They're alright, the free plugins. I still prefer mics and amps, and I still prefer having someone that isn't a complete dunce such as myself to record me. But if you want to have fun with that stuff, the free routes seem like a good place to start. For me, but for you too. That's right, Peter. I'm tired of imagining your poor guitar under a tumultuous mound of PetertheProcrastinatingPracticer's dead skin cells. DUST, son. I'm talking about DUST on your guitar. It craves and desires to be played. It's 2024 now, time to get pickin and grinnin. Then you can of course save up with your newfound passion of the guitar and get an electric. Then you can get a new computer. Then you can get an updated DAW. And THEN, you can get some free plugins. Oh yeah, and thanks for listening to my song. My dog's name is Beau, I also have his brother Max (same litter). I'm glad you liked the gunk, grime, slime, saliva part. I'm proud of the alliteration, then rhyme, then different alliteration. Having fun with the words and all that.

I wrote an arrangement of "The First Noel" for a string quartet I started working on this piece thinking very SATB, very chordal - but as I worked on it, I tried to think of the harmonies in terms of "lines" instead of just chords and I played around with the ranges of the strings. - I am not the best at writing viola parts, so there are some missing sections - if you have any ideas for harmonies let me know - I have looked at the score too long to notice any part-writing errors, so if you spot any, please point them out - I plan to keep working on this, but I think this is a good length for the piece - not TOO long, but long enough for the music to move and expand

Festive greetings all! I wrote this piece last week for solo piano. The score is still in a very primitive state, and has all sorts of problems I've not tidied up yet. (I blame Dorico!) There's even a flat that somehow floated away from the note it was attached to (in Bar 16). Not quite sure how to handle the enharmonic spelling issues, as it's a very chromatic piece. Think maybe my F sharps would all be better written as G flats? Or most of them anyway. Not sure what to do with the D sharps though? I may insert an extra passage at some point; but haven't quite decided yet.

So... Seeing @PeterthePapercomPoser a.k.a PeterthePitifulcomPoser and @Thatguy v2.0a.k.a VincetheVeryVindictivebutnotValiant having their fight, I was enjoying my popcorn aside. But then I saw that Peter’s badge for this year Christmans event is so beautiful… it allured me to write my own Christmas music! This piece is really a joking fugue which uses Jingle Bell and Vince‘s “How the Shopper Stole Christmas” as the subjects to form a double fugue: (We all know Jingle Bell right...)(It’s great to escape from the pressure of the 6 voice fugue of the Sextet Second movement LoL….) I know Vince hates fugue, so I deliberately manipulate his theme with all sorts of fugal techniques to troll him muahahaha!!! I also include some quotations including my own throughout the piece haha. I dedicate the piece to him since I have trolled him haha! However, the more I compose this one it appears to me less of a joke… Joking Fugue on Jingle Bell and my Friend’s Theme Final.pdf Here's the structure of the piece: 00:02 Jingle Bell Section. Includes troll stretto, troll inversion and troll retrograde. Crushed by the Hammer at the end… And we need some help with the “festive mood”. 02:10 Shopper Section: Includes troll stretto, troll inversion and troll retrograde (the same LoL). The bell is repaired at 04:03 so the Jingle Bell theme returns to combine with the shopper theme but appears in minor. Some interesting polyrhythms happen there too, maybe Vince’s prelude style secretly invades. Tension building (but still have time to quote my own work LoL) for the… 05:28 Overly-Triumphant return of the theme which quotes the texture of the Emperor Concerto, another counterpoint of both themes and ends in a learned way LoL! Thx to Vince for this perfect audio! I think there are no tears here this time @chopin and no random pauses anymore I think. Hope you all enjoy this one and Christmas! Henry

Hi henry, I admit that I haven't read all of the comments reviewing your piece, but I completely agree with the idea that the Beethovenian atmosphere is a success here. I don't know Beethoven well enough to probably be able to understand the subtleties (or references) associated with the style, but I enjoyed it greatly. I also didn't know you were such an accomplished performer! Here are some passages that I particularly appreciated in your piece: - The 2nd theme of 2nd subject (1:20), loved this more cantabile passage - 2:20 : I love the 3 hands effect! - 2:45 god this passage is probably my favorite of the movement. The harmonic progression as well as the more peaceful and "romantic" (in the first sense of the term) dimension of it makes it delightful. - 3: 11 : I dont know if this is wanted, but the theme reminded me of Moszkowski's E major concerto in that particular moment. I also adore the accompaniament (which sounds quite Mendelssohnian). - 3:30 : Love the texture of the RH - 5:50 : so much harmonic tension, it's dramatic - 7:25 I'm not a fan of the 3 closing chords, but I understand it totally in that context! These are my little remarks. I loved. It's totally consistent in my opinion. I do not necessarily feel legitimate in making other criticisms because for me this piece is perfectly coherent. Looking forward to hearing the next movements. Thank you Henry !

Both sound great in that gallant style.

The harp has its own characteristics that require certain types of writing. On the one hand, it is not possible to change accidentals with total freedom, because it implies a change of pedals. On the other hand, on the harp each hand uses 4 fingers (not five) so the rapid successions are usually divided between both hands. Anyway, there is a lot of information and the best thing to do is to watch videos on the subject. And even better to see scores for harp.

A little Christmas piece that I wrote yesterday to add to the three that I posted last year: Like the others, it's only about a minute long and is intentionally a fairly simple arrangement.

Yeah.....but............. As I listen to this again, the velocity of your notes are way to high. I forgot about this, and I should have lowered them. When I import midis, for some reason mf in my DAW is like 70/100. I'll drop them. I'll keep that in mind for next time. I'm also hearing subtle "cracks" in the audio in some spots. I don't know why I didn't hear it before. ANYWAY It was really cool to hear this again. I sometimes forget how good you are haha. My favorite parts are when you took both themes and intertwined them. It reminded me of Shostakovich. My favorite parts of his music are when he does this so effortlessly and skillfully, and your music in that aspect is no different. You have such a great talent for it, so I'm excited to hear what you have in store for us with your upcoming sextet movement. 🙂 I've shared other thoughts on this piece I've had with you, and you're clearly not only an accomplished composer (so far!), but a great person to know. As I've said numerous times by now but never get tired of saying, you're a fantastic composer and musician, and it's only outshined by your strength of character and by the weight of your heart. Hope your holidays were great, and I'm excited to hear what you have in store for us for 2024!

Hey there! Very cool take on the Christmas event. I love the jazzzzzzzzzzyness of all of this. Very interesting harmony and rhythms throughout. Personally would have loved a change in the piano like bar 66 a bit sooner, but it was still great. The drums added A LOT to me, but it felt like they were off at times from the piano. I'm not really a jazz guy, so maybe I just don't "get" it, but the color of the drums you used goes so well with the piano. As far as the enharmonic issues go, I agree with @Henry Ng Tsz Kiu. Depending on if it's functional harmony or not might give you more insight on how to spell the chords. I guess overall I would say think about what the chord is, not necessarily what key you're in (F# doesn't always have to be F#, it could be Gb depending on the chord and what it's doing). I'm no master of all that, but... For instance, here I would put a D nat on the bar after the dotted half notes in the right hand. A reminder is nice when we saw Db, D#, and D nat within a few bars. Maybe sharps would work better since it's chromatic going up? Also, think about what your chords are, even if they're non-functional. If you know what it is, maybe you could go up in a parallel motion? Maybe you're just looking at one voice, and that's going up like the Eb here. All in all though, this was a joy to hear as I go through all of the great Christmas pieces this year. Part of why I love the Christmas event on YC is the diversity of music offered. There's no restriction, or guide, or right way to do it. You get to be creative and play to your strengths...or perhaps even challenge yourself when you don't. It's all in good fun, and your piece was one of the more fun ones for me to hear. Thanks for sharing 🙂

Great work here! Did you ever update this? I'm commenting on the one I hear, but let me know if you continue pursuing this. That's not necessarily bad, you thinking chordal with this. I'm sure you learned a lot with this piece, and being focused on, let's say the range, is really beneficial to your growth. Just think, you wrote a fun Christmas piece, and you now are more knowledgeable about the ranges of strings. Maybe write another piece... forget form. Write a string piece again, but this time think about another aspect. Maybe string technique for this one. It can still be chordal. I've found that when I'm thinking too much, it's really hard to write. Make more music, and just improve a little bit each time. You don't have to write a symphony next just because you're aware of string ranges more. You don't even have to add an instrument for your next piece; in fact, you could take one away. The First Noel is one I really enjoy, more so than a bunch of the more famous Christmas songs. I'm just saying you couldn't have done wrong with me for this piece, I really enjoyed it. Thanks for sharing this, it was fun and a pleasure to hear.

A piece I wrote for Christmas. This is my submission for the Christmas event. The lyrics roughly translate to 'A boy is born for us, and a son is given to us, upon whose shoulders authority will be, and his name will be called "The Great Counselor Angel". Sing to the lord a new song for he has done miracles.' I focused on making something beautiful with all those dissonances and chromaticism. I think it's worked to some success and I'm fairly happy with it. Thanks to Fugax Contrapunctus and Ivan1791 for being the source of discovery of the wonderful app Cantamus. Unfortunately, it doesn't like my ritardandi or the caesura at the end and it mispronounced 'super' but it is significantly better hearing the lyrics and I'm NOT going to sing it myself.

Christmas Fragments.mp3 Hi All, first submission here albeit a unserious, light-hearted one (and a rushed one too). I wrote three variations on Christmas carols and named them fragments cause I didn't have the time and motivation to apply the whole ideas onto the whole carols (plus that could get boring). Instead I composed part of it as an 'aha' moment while exploring how melodies fit so perfectly to existing melodies. Christmas Couple - I have always unironically think joy to the world fits more to The Marriage of Figaro overture, so here it is. Christmas Cadenza - Well self evident (?), the rhythm fits so well even though not the same key. Recording is by musescore so the trills are kinda noisy lol Christmas Counterpoint - Basically a quodlibet, with bad counterpoint. I'm still learning counterpoint (especially tonal or more than two voices) so I put together melodies of carols / pop songs as many as I can (I counted 11) while maintaining some harmony and try not to violate basic counterpoint principles I've learnt (which I'm sure I violated a few). The result seems like a mess but hey at least I had a blast writing it. Hope y'all will have a laugh!

mine is for early keyboard instruments and it’s very rare to see slurs in this context but they do happen every now and then. because the style is generally a lot more articulated than later keyboard styles, i think the slurs are there more to group the notes rather than to demand legato. i only included slurs in the first couple measures to indicate that the notes of the jig rhythm should be grouped together thereafter

Hi @Gabriel Carlisle! I like the delicate and glistening piano texture you introduce in the beginning (and cool delay effect as well). There is lots of space in the instrumentation/orchestration - everything is clear and nothing is too thick. I like that - often beginners over-orchestrate their tracks - sometimes, less is more. I think as far as setting an ambiance for a certain location within a game, this track is spot on. It gets more intense when the percussion comes in. Great job and thanks for sharing!

Hi! This is a short fantasy I wrote for Christmas. I came to know of this event only a few days ago, and I've been quite busy, so I only had time to create a short three movement work spanning only 3 minutes and 20 seconds. The playback quality is not the best, and I apologise for the lack of dynamic variety. I'll be posting a much better and well-developed work next Christmas! I'll also be posting other works of mine that I'm working on when I'm done with them. Hope you guys can comment on those and help me improve! (P.S. This is my first work that I've posted on this forum and it's based on a recent trip of mine where I got to see snow. It's fully programmatic but I'll leave you guys to figure out and interpret the meaning by yourselves!)

Here's mine. Very rough, apologies. It's three variations on the Christmas song "God Rest Ye Merry Assorted Genders". The last one is sort of upside down as far as possible. There was going to be a full orchestral 4th but it's a bit chaotic here what with work and things, so it ends a bit abruptly.