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anyways, this is a tone poem that is performed like any other concert piece. The piece itself is pretty long and every act spans from 18 to 30 minutes each. It should be performed like an opera or a ballet, despite there being no acting or dancing involved. instrumentation notes There are three oboes in total. All three double on bass oboe in the first movement. • The first clarinet part has two players: • One playing the upper line. • One playing the lower line, doubling on piccolo clarinet in the first movement. • Throughout the piece, both oboes and clarinets will need to switch back to their primary instruments at various points. This is act one out of four and I am still revising them so I could put them on here anyways here are the performance notes: The act opens with Prelude to the Heart, hinting at the emotional turmoil ahead. Ross’s theme, The Solitude of Ross, explores his quiet longing, while The Jesters (Tobias and Percival) add lighthearted moments of friendship. The arrival of Aldric, The Manipulator, disrupts Ross’s world, introducing him as the antagonist who plays mind games with Ross. Meanwhile, The Council of Shadows represents the complicated dynamics of Ross’s social group. Orson, The Disruptor, causes further tension, while The Mocking Wind symbolizes the cruelty Ross faces. However, it’s Selene, The Light in the Mist, who captures his heart, leading to a deep emotional connection in The First Glance.Ross’s feelings intensify in Eclipsed by Desire as he falls deeper in love. In the midst of his growing affection, The Gathering brings subtle tensions to the surface, and The Quiet Northern Winds reflect Ross’s inner turmoil.The turning point comes with The Shadows of Mockery, as Malcom and his followers begin to torment Ross, leading to The Great Deception—a moment of cruel betrayal. Ross retreats into Reflections in Silence, contemplating his situation, while at the Spring ball intensifies the emotional conflict. The act closes with Florence’s introduction as The Siren’s Call, adding another layer of complication to Ross’s feelings for Selene.

Peter i have to say that : ............Your "Analysis & Documentation" of various composers here, is always presented & Displayed in a Professional manner, thats very similar in style to Most Magazines & TV Documentaries.

Hey @Fruit hunter! Very interesting music! I think when writing a programmatic work like this, it is important to be able to involve the audience more in the story that you want to convey with the music. In other words, you want to give the audience an idea of what it is that they should be listening for. I can see in your score that you are working with thematic leitmotifs. As a casual first-time listener to this work I find those themes hard to pick out and hear. Perhaps, you could give the listener an introduction to each melody in isolation and associate it clearly in the audience's mind with the character you want it to represent? Maybe you already do that and I'm just missing it or not getting it? One thing that certainly seems to be the strength of the composition is the orchestration though! Thanks for sharing!

Hi @BipolarComposer! I like the mood you set here! It's like a mix of music from the classic videogame "Metroid" and a bit of Elliot Goldenthal. The latter half is quite different from the beginning which sets a menacing but mysterious mood. But the end is like a release. I like it a lot! Thanks for sharing. I hope you don't end up removing it sometime in the future - it deserves to be heard by the community! Also, to encourage more participation and interaction between you and the people who might listen and review your work you could give a ❤️ or a 🏆 as a reaction to our reviews! And btw - Happy Easter!

Here is my 3rd and latest composition. It is a tone poem based on a poem by the first european female author, Sapho. I hope you like it and I would like some feedback. Here is the poem "Hymn to Aphrodite" in English. Iridescent-throned Aphrodite, deathless Child of Zeus, wile-weaver, I now implore you, Don’t–I beg you, Lady–with pains and torments Crush down my spirit, But before if ever you’ve heard my pleadings Then return, as once when you left your father’s Golden house; you yoked to your shining car your Wing-whirring sparrows; Skimming down the paths of the sky’s bright ether On they brought you over the earth’s black bosom, Swiftly–then you stood with a sudden brilliance, Goddess,before me;Deathless face alight with your smile, you asked me What I suffered, who was my cause of anguish, What would ease the pain of my frantic mind, and Why had I called you To my side: “And whom should Persuasion summon Here, to soothe the sting of your passion this time? Who is now abusing you, Sappho? Who is Treating you cruelly? Now she runs away, but she’ll soon pursue you; Gifts she now rejects–soon enough she’ll give them; Now she doesn’t love you, but soon her heart will Burn, though unwilling. “Come to me once more, and abate my torment; Take the bitter care from my mind, and give me All I long for; Lady, in all my battles Fight as my comrade.

This is a piece following condensed sonata form written after finally defeating writers block for a few weeks. It was inspired by a bunch of forgotten about, cracked, ancient (possibly Roman) tombstones that lie on the side of a path in southern Spain, most of them were used for building two hundred years ago, but some lie there abandoned, peeking through the dried grass While I plan to revise it, it will not be in the near future, and it is finished how it is. I would appreciate feedback of any sort Here follows a guided analysis Introduction: b1-10 A monophonic chant presenting the main motif of the piece (ascending fourth), followed by the presentation of the ostinato for the first theme, which contains the second motif (three stepwise descending notes) Exposition: First Theme: b11-26 In Eb Phrygian Dorian, based on the shape of the opening chant, but also including motif two in the melody Transition: b27-34 Modulation from db to Bb Second Theme: b35-53 In Bb Acoustic, focusing in motif two but also including motif one Development: b54-92 Begins in E minor as a transformation of theme 1 in the lower register, with motif 1 serving as the accompaniment, it quickly gains harmonic instability and turns into transformation of theme 2 in A# minor, that turns into a restatement of the opening chant, but in C# minor, working as a false recapitulation. Instead of turning into a recapitulation of theme one, it goes back to the texture of the beginning of the development, but gains harmonic instability and serves as a way to lead back to the recapitulation Recapitulation: Second Theme: b93-108 In Eb acoustic, now triumphant Transition: b109-118 Reaches db minor and develops motif 1 mostly in its rhythmical shape, modulation back to Eb Phrygian Dorian First Theme: b119-128 Eb Phrygian Dorian, funeral-like and devoid of ornamentation Coda: b129-132 Opening chant, quoting Debussy’s Brouillards Thank you in advance Manuel

I like it sounds nice. Definitely a large contrast between the first part and kind of follows the structure of ABA. At “ritmico” the crash cymbals would sound better if they were choked. with the audio The slower parts were not really as clear and sounded kind of muddy and blurry, but that was probably a playback thing. Nice work with the low brass and the feature with that.

You're welcome! And thanks for your reactions and interaction! Perhaps you'd be interested in reading this particular post in the "Why I compose music on paper" thread? In that post I also reveal my own struggles with mental health and bipolar disorder. Would you be interested in this topic? What keeps you from reviewing more works?

Alex, Thanks for listening ... and more so .... thank you for referring me to Hindemith's "Mathis De Maler". What a beautiful work! I will listen to it a few times more ... so much to appreciate in its orchestration and thematic development. Mark

Because I’m a little crazy sometimes and feel embarrassed by what I write. Sorry. I’ve brought it back.

Short piece I wrote for quartet

Thank you for the comments. My intention was for it to be simple, and song like. Sort of like a “pop song” for string quartet. Where it’s kind of bouncy and joyful throughout, with very little complication. I also love ending on anything that isn’t the tonic. It leaves a sense of mystery.

Thank you for your comments. It’s an unfortunate side effect of my mental health, that I go through some serious imposter syndrome moments, and believe that nothing I create is of any worth. It’s then that I delete, as I’m embarrassed by the pieces. It also impacts my commenting, as I feel I have nothing of worth to say.

Well Done Fruit hunter...........youve got what it takes......... Its obvious to me that you : THINK like a CONDUCTOR.

Hey @BipolarComposer! I like some of the ideas you present in this piece! I think my favorite is the following pizzicato idea that recurs throughout the piece: As a whole I think the piece has a sort of ordinary type of beauty. It's not trying to impress or be spectacular - it's just chugging along with ordinary seeming material and pedestrian harmony, but it's beautiful nonetheless. I like how it doesn't end on the tonic chord but instead on the subdominant. That's one of my favorite kinds of endings to a piece of music that I often employ in my own compositions! Now that I quickly peruse the score I notice that the whole piece manages to almost completely stay diatonic to C major throughout! No problem with that - and you do throw in the occasional # in there. Thanks for sharing!

Hello everyone, I’d like to share my new piano sonata, "Rebirth". This is a single-movement large-scale work that follows sonata form, incorporating smaller inner sections and a fugue in the development section. I tried to build a thematic transformation throughout. I finished it some time ago, but last week I finally got around to inputting the notes into the software (it was actually written on paper in pencil, though). One day, I’d love to dedicate a month or so to detailed performance work on this piece and make a real recording. Anyway, for now, I would appreciate any outside opinions and suggestions, points of view, etc. Why I wrote this piece The main reason I wrote it was simply a strong desire to compose something substantial for solo piano, using some contemporary compositional approaches while mixing them with traditional techniques to create a coherent storytelling experience through music. I would love to hear your feedback on the composition, structure, and, especially, emotional impact. I am especially curious to know if my ideas work on paper. Any thoughts or constructive criticism would be greatly appreciated! P.S. I added time-codes with some Structure indications to the video on YouTube. I hope it helps in some way! Thank you for your time and attention, Dima

Hello @Dima Kravets and welcome to the forum! This piece has been sitting on the forum for quite a while without any responses so I decided to give it a go! From the get-go it seems to display a high level of sophistication that I can't hope to delve into and understand fully with one casual listen. For a piece that starts with a series of seemingly atonal chords and returns to them throughout, it does seem to be quite unified. And the piece as a whole does not seem to be atonal or gratingly and deliberately dissonant. Which is a nice breath of fresh air! I love the tasteful changes in key and complex but comprehensible rhythms. There seem to be some motives and the pianism is full of clear textures. The chords are never muddy. The only thing that I observe that could perhaps be improved is that the more important lines can be brought out more in high relief to create a clearer hierarchy of importance between the different lines. Sometimes the texture is polyphonic and the lines are all equally important. But in other places the top note should clearly be the more important element but it is sometimes a bit buried in the texture. That's my only critique. But I don't know what software you're using and how easy it is to do that. In Musescore I have to use velocity values to offset the foreground and background elements. The sonata seems to get more harmonically interesting and crunchy towards the end. Thanks for sharing!

henry ng, this here is a wonderful work. Thank you for giving me a preview of this work before posting. I feel you have taken a lot of inspiration from native themes and folklore of HK; this is a promising new direction in your style as a composer. I love the tranquility of the atmosphere, juxtaposition of the neapolitan harmony, and usage of 4ths and 2nds. I have to agree with darachmiad that the main melody is quite catchy, a little bit bluesy too. Sort of reminds me of music from my home country, but perhaps because I am homesick too. Barely have anything to critique, looking forward to hearing more works. I truly think you are now building your own 1. originality 2. style and 3. uniqueness.

Nice work, which I forgot to listen to. For this type of work I like the harpsichord sound better. The initial theme or subject is quite “catchy”. I think the second theme comes in at measure 32? I was pleasantly surprised by the “cadenza arpeggiata”, I think it also has a role of a more rested section. And it sounds chromatic. When talking about Double Fugue, I understand that there are two subjects. I suppose you can work by exposing them separately, or sequentially. Is it also possible to then overlay one on top of the other? Best regards.

I was asked to add score so this time I will do it properly

Hello @BipolarComposer! 1. Mania - this certainly creates a sense of unease. I like the occasional breaks from the driving rhythms of the beginning like at 0:30 (although the snare drum seems a bit unnecessary here). At the end you seem to go all-out balls-to-the-walls with the strings and ostinato (1:26). 2. Paranoia - I love how creepy this starts! You create quite the delicate, quiet and paranoid atmosphere here with the flute, strings, and pitched percussion. The bassoon melody near the end is great too. 3. Disordered Thinking - The shuffle-like rhythm of this movement is especially fitting to depicting this disordered thinking. The snare drum is perfect for that. And the seemingly aimless phrases on the oboe and clarinet add to the vibe. Thanks for sharing!

Hi @BipolarComposer, this is really good! I like all of the tense dissonant textures. This really conveys a sense of internal struggle, as is one is slowly losing their sanity. I particularly liked the cool flute texture around 2:30, and the foreboding English horn melody immediately afterwards. The celesta before 6:00 is also really cool. The rhythmic elements you introduce around 7:30 is a welcome contrast, and the subsequent buildup to the end is very intense and effective. Thanks for sharing! If you happen to have a score it would be great to take a dropper dive into this. I’ll also try to listen to the second track when I have a chance.

Hi @BipolarComposer, The beginning is really tricky, as I think it’s in C sharp minor but no! The persistent minor 2nds may be the reason why the piece is called “Futility”? Thx for sharing. Henry

Score please ...