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Good morning, my dear friends! I’m happy to present to you once again my latest work, Binary Sonata No. 28. It is personally one of my favourite sonatas, and I hope you will enjoy it as much as I do!

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Hi Vasilis! It was indeed very pleasant to listen to. I do enjoy a lot these works "alla Scarlatti". The whole work seems to have been crafted with great care, both engraving-wise and musically speaking. It breathes, and does it very well in my humble opinion. I believe I have not listened to other binary sonatas of yours; this is probably, or as far as I remember, my first one, but you got a new subscriber! P.S: Pianoteq9 is great. Kind regards, Daniel–Ø.

Hi Thatguy. I like the contrast between the arpeggiated chords and the almost solo voice passage. Both of them combined act as the structural pillar of the piece in my opinion, and you make good use of them. It may be true the midi doesn't do it justice. Engraving-wise I'd suggest putting these wide arpeggios in small notes so it's even clearer where the molto rubato acts and where the piece gets a bit more rigourus in tempo. I don't quite get the switching between Db and C#. Why is that? That aside, the prelude works for me but it wasn't my cup of tea compared to other preludes I've listened from your list. It's soft indeed and pleasant to my ears, especially the middle section in which the (1) seems to wander around chords. How many preludes are left? Or are they not gonna have a set end? Best regards!

I do have to admit the general textural density remains quite staunchly homophonic-sounding for quite a good few passages, mostly in the developmental section. As with my previous motet, the main focus here was once again textual intelligibility, so in order to break that lack of variety in note values and durations across voices I would need to add in new passages or modify the existing ones by pruning the underlying counterpoint to accommodate for longer values, which at this point seems... somewhat unfeasible, to put it lightly. I could have added an Amen section at the end but after repeating the same incipit in the stretti and then following up with a Da Capo al Fine at the very end, I doubt it would have made much structural sense compared to, say, placing it right after the "Qui vivis et regnas in saecula saeculorum" phrase where it is normally expected to be ennunciated. Nevertheless, pondering your suggestions has made me realize that the underlying structure was not calculated thoroughly enough, and even if it does have a clearer sense of direction, structural integrity, Fortspinnung, etc. than most of my other compositions by my usually fairly chaotic standards, it still falls short in the end. Had you not pointed out the textural flaws I might not have considered the whole absent Amen tangent. Thank you kindly for bringing these points forth.

Dear Daniel, Thank you so much for your kind words and for taking the time to listen to my sonata. I’m truly glad you enjoyed it! Interestingly, this sonata was completed in just a few hours. It was one of those special moments when inspiration takes the lead and the music seems to find its own way onto the page. If you ever find the time to explore my other Binary Sonatas, I would be absolutely delighted. I would be very happy to hear your thoughts and impressions, as your opinion would mean a great deal to me. Regarding Pianoteq 9, it is actually one of the things that helps inspire me as well. It is incredible to have such a plugin at home — in my opinion, it is the ultimate piano emulator! I have purchased almost all of its available piano models and have spent a great deal of time studying them, particularly the fortepianos, which I absolutely adore. I have also made several recordings using fortepianos, which you are very welcome to listen to on my channel if you ever feel curious. Thank you again for your kindness and support. I’m very happy to welcome you as a new subscriber! Warm regards, Vasilis

Hi Martynas. Harmony-wise, then, it works, but I suppose you'd like it less straight-forward. There are, again, countless ways of achieving a more rich sound harmony-wise. And that is something you'll only get through practice, trial & error, and studying other compositions and harmony/counterpoint books. Some rough advise, as there are many "what ifs" that can arise: Treat the bass as a melody with its own idiosyncrasy if you want more movement there. Treat differently the the bass (tempo 1) and the middle voices of the accompaniment (tempo 2, 3, generally). Mind chord inversions. If you don't want to add a lot of richness but you still want to make this a bit less plain in the accompaniment voices, well thought chord inversions can do the work. Using octaves in the bass, again well applied, could result in a more convincing result, too. And that'd be it, without getting much into details. Best regards.

For the chamber + electronics direction you mentioned, here are three specific starting points: Kaija Saariaho — Petals. Cello with optional electronics: reverberation and quarter-tone shifts above and below the cello. Look for a performance with electronics, since it can also be played without them. https://ressources.ircam.fr/en/work/petals Pierre Boulez — Anthèmes 2. Solo violin with live electronics that transform and extend the violin sound and move it around the room. Make sure it's the second version; that's the one with electronics. https://www.universaledition.com/en/Works/Anthemes-2/P0006667 Jonathan Harvey — Mortuos Plango, Vivos Voco. This one is entirely electronic, built from a boy's voice and the tenor bell of Winchester Cathedral. The composer's note explains how the bell's partials provide the pitch material and how voice and bell transform into each other. https://www.fabermusic.com/music/mortuos-plango-vivos-voco-1154 Those give you a few different ways into it: a cello with processing, a violin interacting with live electronics, and a piece made from transformed recordings.

Thanks! Glad to hear another potential working on these prompts besides just me and @Luis Hernández ! I don't know if I'll be looking to expand pre-existing pieces that I wrote based on the Persichetti exercises. I think once I sift through the whole book and do exercises from every chapter, I will start the book again at the beginning and comb the exercises for potential prompts that could be utilized to write longer, more substantial works. I still don't know if these exercises are conducive to longer form works honestly. But I am also amassing my own google doc with prompt ideas inspired by these that I could use in the future to write more music, so who knows! Thanks for your comment!

This is super cool! I love the Persichetti book and have done a lot of these exercises in the past. Really nicely done. I personally think you did a great job with the inverted canon - very impressive to keep it in pure canon the entire piece. I wonder that if expanded, it would be interesting to change the distance of the canon the same time you change the modes used. The effect of having multiple articulations (slurred to staccato eighth notes) happening simultaneously is a fun touch.

Thanks for listening and leaving a nice comment. I don’t write in score and I’m really slow at doing it afterwards. I recently finished my first opera and I’m in the process of putting it down into score. So, possibly at some point I’ll upload this one.

Here my new waltz hope you like it i would like for harmony Waltz.mp3 Waltz.pdf

There is certainly nothing wrong with making intelligibility of the text your primary concern, and letting that place some restrictions on how you set it. The church actually prescribed that approach at certain times historically when they felt that composers were having great musical fun, but no one could understand the mass. Thinking about an amen for works like this is a great idea!

haha thanks your translator makes a lot of sense and I was always wondering if other people did stuff like this, and yes ,your translator works

Hiiiii Firstly, this is not 'cute' lol. I realized you definitely thought of the Rachmaninoff Moments-Musicaux for the start, that famous one Lugansky is famous for playing. (E minor one). You also used the polonaise rhythm. Nice. Next, this piece is overly forte-based, there is not enough quiet. Also, bar 39 is very good. I love that progression, but liszt would do something like Sfz there, and then the run down it starts slow but then speeds up all the way to A Tempo. Additionally, your themes and ideas are very restricted, if that's the right word, by the lack of interesting dynamics. Moreover, as someone with perfect pitch, you can really change the ending key signature as you are in 3 sharps while i heard Bb Minor (5 flats) and G minor (2 flats) I would say this has some potential, if you extended it and vary ideas, but for now, it is not performable, and even if it is playable and some distinction, it wouldn't be the best pianist experience. Good luck! -TristanTheTristan

Thank you so much, my dear friend! ❤️ I must admit that I haven’t listened to Clementi extensively, although I have heard some of his sonatas that I found truly distinctive and beautiful. The composers who have shaped me the most, and who have had the deepest influence on my musical language, are primarily Mozart, Beethoven, and Schubert. As for being called Mr. Schubert, I can hardly imagine a more honourable compliment. Schubert is a composer I hold incredibly close to my heart, and to have my music bring him to someone’s mind is deeply moving to me. I could hardly ask for a greater compliment. ❤️ Scarlatti, however, occupies a very special place in my musical life. He was the one who gave me the courage and freedom to explore the binary form in my own way. When I first discovered his sonatas and began studying them, it was almost as if I had seen the light. Discovering his music was a truly defining moment for me. I was overwhelmed by the sheer genius of his writing and by how astonishingly far ahead of his time he seemed to me. His music opened up a whole new world of possibilities, and I began to realise just how much could be expressed within such a concise form. I sometimes wonder whether, had I never discovered Scarlatti, I would have become a composer at all. Through my binary sonatas, I feel that I can express myself with complete freedom, bringing together all the musical elements, influences, and sensibilities that define me. I have always felt that the binary form is somewhat underrated. Despite its apparent simplicity and relatively small scale, it offers enormous possibilities for exploration. Within this framework, a composer can push boundaries, experiment with harmony, develop unexpected transitions, and discover new musical horizons in countless different ways. For me, bringing together all these influences within the binary form has gradually become a personal creative approach, as well as a motivation to explore my own musical voice ever more deeply. Scarlatti gave me the freedom to begin this journey, but the journey itself has become my own. I don’t want merely to imitate the composers I admire; I want everything I have absorbed from their music to become part of something genuinely personal. Ultimately, my hope is that when someone listens to one of my binary sonatas, they can recognise a distinct musical personality and feel that, despite all these influences, the music belongs unmistakably to me. That there is something in it that makes them think: this is truly Vasilis. Thank you again for listening so attentively and for such a thoughtful and generous comment. It means a great deal to me! And being called Mr. Schubert will always remain one of the greatest compliments I could receive. ❤️

I've taken to another exercise from Chapter 8 of Persichetti's "20th Century Harmony" - "Compound and Mirror Harmony". This time I've chosen Exercise 7 - "Move a chamber group through several mirror chords where the reflective harmony is generated by the same tone and by different tones." In this case he is referring to using symmetrically invertible scales just like in Exercise 8 which I already did. In that exercise I built the respective mirror scales on the same tone (C) so in this exercise I sought to build the mirror scales on different tones only. I also created an inverted canon at a 10th and a quarter note between the Oboes and Bassoons. I used the following chart from the book to simplify the exercise for myself (so I used E Mixolydian in the Oboes and C Aeolian in the Bassoons). At one point I switch the Oboes to Ionian and Bassoons to Phrygian, just like in Exercise 8, but this isn't accompanied by key signature changes. Thanks for reading and for listening! I would appreciate any of your suggestions, comments, critiques or observations! Persichetti Exercise 8 - 7.mp3 Persichetti Exercise 8 - 7.pdf

Thanks for sharing! Just to clarify for myself and others who may view this post, are you looking for comments of any kind?

When did I speak? 🤪

We meet again @Vasilis Michael or should say: Mr. Schubert. ❤️ While it says it sonata, the overall does not follow what we think in that sense. That is why there is the clarification: binary. Binary implies AB. We must ask this follow up question; How did manage write a Binary sonata? Rather easily. Muzio Clemeti wrote plenty of these. However, what I am impressive this time is the dramatic pause after the TR zone that leads up MC. I did not expect to hear that in early classical sonata(binary) form. To me, that is something that Haydn or Mozart would do. As @Henry Ng Tsz Kiu noted this does sound like Scarlatti. But I am extended the olive branch further and saying Clemeti, too. Late barque and early classical sonatas are rare to hear. It is refreshing to hear.

You do an excellent job here of exploring interesting harmonic ideas and making each line its own interesting melody. I wonder how this would sound with some longer note values as either a pedal in the bass or a slowly ascending or descending line to break up the texture a bit? (This would get your text out of sync between parts and less easily understandable, so maybe that's not something you want to explore). If you have a minute, could you add the full text and translation to your original post to help us all keep track as we listen without needing to open an extra browser window of our own and toggle back and forth? This sounds great, and looks like it would be interesting to sing!

Hello @Lithl , Someone introduced to me George Crumb recently...he has this fun piece he wrote for his dogs. The best part is the end, where I guess I'm spoiling a bit, as he ends it with a spoken word - "bad dog!". There is another one called Echoes of Time and the River. His scores are beautiful and almost like a work of art themselves. He also uses the instruments in more unique ways. Not totally my cup of tea personally, but can definitely appreciate the genius behind his stuff. So there ya go, hopefully this is avant garde enough for ya :)

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