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A maximum-cheese, power metal tune I composed as a battle theme for an indie game. Let me know what you think.

Oh, so you can write for woodwinds. Where was this guy in the Sea Symphony? This piece... phenomenal! So much movement, so much emotion, so much Mendelssohn. Either you've listened to a lot of his music, or he has been reborn as you. Either way, this was some fantastic orchestral writing right here. I do have a couple of suggestions. You might have a look at some orchestral scores to get a better feel for how the woodwinds are typically scored. Most orchestras have two or three wind players to each instrument (the same goes for brass), and they'll often write divisi passages for them, or notate them as a2 if both parts are playing in unison. Nothing a little research can't fix! Also, transpose. That trumpet is playing some awfully high notes... not sure if playing a high C# (B natural untransposed) is feasible with such soft dynamics during the menuet section. Also, the arco/pizz fiasco strikes again. You know what to do. 😉 But overall I was overwhelmed. I loved how you brought back the menuet passage and used the other theme (or its variation) as counterpoint. You seem to have a good mind for hearing how things will sound with the different voices of the orchestra—and that is a rare gift, indeed. I find your music quite refreshing. Please, keep making more!

Well, I love your attitude and wish you the best of luck!

To be honest, I don't normally listen to pieces longer than 2 or 3 minutes posted on here, but I had to listen to yours the entire way through! You didn't rely heavily on key and time signature changes to drive your piece (a common practice among modern composers, it seems), and for that I congratulate you heartily! The thematic development was handled expertly, and I loved the way you repeated the motifs with the various timbres of the orchestra. Through the crashing waves and pulsing currents, I caught some echoes of Mendelssohn—perhaps an influence of yours? If you're up for some advice... please read on. The woodwinds. For whatever reason, new-to-the-scene orchestral composers don't seem to know what to do with them. (Trust me, I'm right there with you.) Or it's probably more accurate to say that we know better what to do with the string and brass sections, which largely carried the melodies/harmonies in your piece. I noticed that when you did use winds, they almost always doubled what was happening in the string/brass section. Forgive the pun, but that will drown them out. While I'm composing, I have to stop after each phrase to see if I've "left out the woodwinds again." You might find that practice useful, as well. So how do you use woodwinds? Remember that they're very versatile and they have a wide range of beautiful timbres the other sections can only dream of having. A solo passage with any of the main winds (flute, oboe, clarinet, bassoon) can be a very effective way of developing your themes—and sending chills down your listeners' spines. During tutti passages (where leaving the woodwinds out just seems inconsiderate) you might think about having the woodwind section play alternate rhythms from the rest of the orchestra. For example, if the tutti passage is mostly half or quarter notes, have the woodwinds play some counterpoint in eight or sixteenth notes. Nothing too "out there," or you'll ruin the effect, but I think you'll find it really thickens the passage. If you do choose to keep the woodwinds in the same rhythm structure, at least minimize how much doubling they'll be doing. Give them cool harmonies of their own! Don't forget to post a transposed score on here. It's a simple button click with Sibelius, and I'm sure was just an oversight on your part. The horn and trumpet parts were pushing the limits of their upper registers, but still seemed very playable. (I must say, as a violist, I would like to have see more viola-driven melodies—but, hey, we're used to being overlooked. 😂) Sorry for all the wordiness in my criticisms—makes it seem like I hated the piece. I actually really, really enjoyed it, and I think you show tons of promise as an orchestral writer. You're obviously very gifted at writing music that connects with the human soul (mine, at least). I look forward to watching your distinct musical voice develop and hearing more of what you've written!

I would say that the first triad of any mode represents its "tonic," which I put in quotes because they don't always get there with a ii-V-I cadence or a subdominet-dominant cadence. But they are tonal centers nonetheless.