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my performance of the piece isn't perfect yet, but I hope it's not that big a deal, looking forward to hearing your opinions 🙂

On repeated listening this piece coheres more for me, with the link between the introduction and the main theme being more apparent. I think this piece would really benefit from being orchestrated into a kind of symphonic movement, since all the empty space in the beginning could be filled up giving (for me at least) a better impression. Harmonically the piece seems too simple and that makes it sound happy go lucky. There are some tricks you could have used to set the major mode melody in a more romantic way (imo) such as using as many minor chords from the key as possible (such as ii, iii, vi and vii). Throwing in mode mixtures could also have enhanced that (such as iv and v). You could also change things up by not starting on the tonic or by setting as many of the melody notes as chord extensions as possible (which is something you do in the 2nd movement). I do have to say that I liked your 2nd movement much better than the 1st as I thought it was more romantic. Thanks for sharing! Peter

yay, more sonatas! my favourite genre! I can't find much fault at all, perhaps the piano itself lol sounds a bit copper-y I hope you are able to find refuge 🙂

This is so gorgeous! I love it! It may be short, but it is such a joyful listen. I can imagine lovers in a field of flowers...perhaps a montage of their love! Or...just the end of a beautiful day with memories and dreams of the fun times had, and those yet to come.

Your atmosphere is consistently so rich and immersive! I agree with the visuals Henry has pointed out. I can imagine as the title fades in above the menu and scenes of the vastness of space play behind the screen as it waits for me to hit a button or key to start.

A splendid orchestration! I can hear your experience of mocking up the Nutcracker March coming through in your woodwind writing at meas. 56 - 58. This march isn't overly stately and dignified - it's rather sweet and quaint. One little critique I have is that your resolution of your phrase at meas. 10 seems a bit repetitive. I mean like, I would have tried to resolve the phrase in some different way given that you already had a C# to B appoggiatura at meas. 4 and then you repeat those same notes again in meas. 10 & 12. That's just a personal pet peeve I guess - and it's not like it could be changed or anything at this point. This music makes me think of the movie "Up" for some reason. I feel like it has the same character as that soundtrack (don't ask me how I haven't seen that movie in forever LoL). Thanks for sharing! Peter

Greetings. It has been a while since I posted something on this forum. I didn't get to review compositions by other members lately due to being busy with my studies, and I'm sorry for that. Anyway, a few weeks ago, I decided to write a theme and variations for the piano. This was my first time writing music with this structure, but it was not because I lacked inspiration. I took it as an exercise to boost my creativity and improve my composition skills. This eight-minute-long piano piece, written in E-flat major, is one of my major works. It consists of a theme, five variations, and a short finale. These variations are based on a simple theme I created, which I finished within a few hours. On average, each section took me a day to complete. One difficulty I faced when writing this composition was to keep the material interesting while not being too distant from the theme. Here is the breakdown of the structure of this composition: Main theme (E-flat major, Maestoso, 6/8): It's an operatic yet simple theme, which opens forte and Maestoso. 1st variation (E-flat major, 6/8): This variation is a berceuse with grace-note embellishments in the melody and frequent hand-crossing. 2nd variation (E-flat major, Più mosso, 6/8): This playful variation features sixteenth-note figurations in the right-hand part. 3rd variation (A-flat major, Sostenuto, 6/8): This variation is a serenade and the slowest among the five variations. This variation ends with a long pause, marking the beginning of the fast section towards the finale. 4th variation (E-flat major, Vivace, 6/8): This variation is partly inspired by the third movement of Beethoven's fifth piano concerto. This fast section demands virtuosity and contains a short cadenza passage. 5th variation (E-flat major, 2/4): This variation is an étude featuring rapid triplets in the right-hand part. This section is the shortest among all variations, lasting under a minute. Finale (E-flat major, Presto, 6/8): The finale opens with tremolos and a horn-like passage restating the main theme, followed by a reprise of the fourth variation at a much quicker tempo, quickly concluding the piece. Let me know what you think about this piece. I hope you'll enjoy it! Carl Koh Wei Hao P.S. The audio was generated on MuseScore 2.3.2.

Wow - great job overall! There is much variety here never losing the interest of this listener. There is ample harmonic contrast, especially in the variation in Ab which diverged from the original harmonic underpinning of the theme. What I miss is some variations that diverge from the 8-bar phrase structure or mess with more metric changes. I also didn't see much of an attempt to construct new melodies that diverged from the overall jovial atmosphere of the whole piece - although I guess that's a matter of the personal taste of this listener. Presumably you intended this to be a showpiece/concert-piece and I think it's perfect for that venue! Great job and thanks for sharing! Peter

here’s my other variation. It’s supposed to be in a “space battle” style and is definitely supposed to be orchestrated but as i haven’t done any orchestrating in quite a while i don’t feel confident about doing it myself.