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http://ericwhitacre.com/blog/advice-for-the-emerging-composer-competitions This is by far most useful article about composition competitions I have ever read. I am actually "luckier" than my famous contemporaree since I have actually won a few composition competitions in my career but who's career is more successful at the moment? ;) I am wondering how you fellow composers feel about composition competitions and why would you actually attend one. Many thanks for your answers! Yours Crt S. V.

This is a good question! Needless to say, that I would not compose if I would not get inspiration from the masters! Sometimes it starts off with a look in the scores of a certain piece I liked, then it continues with some little changes, e. g. I take a melody from the masters and rewrite it or I use a harmonic progression I found in one of the masters' works. Sometimes, good genuine ideas emerge from that process. Sometimes, I just try to compose "in the spirit" of a particular piece or well-known composer, e.g. in the spirit of Scott Joplin and Jelly-Roll Morton, or Chopin, or Mozart. Often, these attempts fail, but even then I often end up with some ideas I can use in other pieces. I hope this provides an answer to your question, although I couldn't really name specific pieces.

I find many of his minor key works to be very good. I think it's a shame that he didn't write more. I think I heard somewhere that he liked writing in major keys because it made minor key development sections more interesting.

no it's exceptionally good because of the music lol

ya kv 491 and 595 are best, 450 is gud, 453 has a really nice slow movement. 503 would better be called a symphony for piano and orchestra imo they're not as good as the requiem though

I actually love his 20th piano concerto, I just haven't listened to enough piano concertos to have a list of favorite composers in that category.

Thank you, I will keep that in mind.

We have, they just all suck.

I was finalist once too. But I think that is not saying only something about the prefernces of the jury. Albeit it a rather subjective choice by the jury, it serves as a sample survey of what professionals think of it. For me, as someone that did not went to a conservatory, that kind of input is very very valuable, albeit subjective.

I guess I might as well answer my own question: Symphonies: Beethoven, Mahler, Tchaikovsky String Quartets: Beethoven, Mendelssohn, Schubert Piano Chamber Music: Brahms, Dvorak, Schubert Overtures: Beethoven, Mendelssohn, Tchaikovsky Violin Concertos: Goldmark, Mendelssohn, Sibelius Viola Concertos: Bartok, Hindemith Cello Concertos: Dvorak, Elgar Piano solos: Debussy, Rachmaninoff, Ravel, Schubert Overall favorite: ...... probably Tchaikovsky, but it's hard to pick.

Actually, a period is a higher level of organization than a phrase, not a special kind of phrase. Levels are: Section, period, phrase, semi-phrase, motif. In some pieces, section and period might merge, or phrases can't be divided clearly into semi-phrases... Types of phrase: Mostly two, defined by the cadences (inconclusive phrases, acting as questions, and conclusive ones, or answers). Cadences are what you need in order to write phrases in a tonality. Balance is a matter of the particular style. A classical period would be made up of two phrases, highly symmetrical (say, four bars). First phrase, inconclusive, with slow or static harmonic motion (few chord changes), and second phrase conclusive with active harmonic rhythm (lots of chord changes). Baroque and Romantic phrases and periods can have their own particularities. Of course, phrases do not need to be 4 bars long, and periods do not need to have two equal lenght, symmetrical phrases; also they can have more phrases than just two. As per rhythm, question and answer might share similar motives (both rhythmic and melodic); the most extreme case would be when they are identical except for the ending, or they can be contrasting. A link with some explanations examples. Very basic stuff, but it might help: http://www.teoria.com/tutorials/forms/phrases-periods.php