Leaderboard

Finished it! https://www.youngcomposers.com/t50554/donc-ce-sera-par-un-clair-jour-d%C3%A9t%C3%A9/

Hi Henry! As @chopin says, the intro is catchy yet solemn and wonderful. In the progression building up even further from 1:58, it feels as though something is surging forward—it is sad that this isn't a live recording. The structure itself is well-composed, and the transitions are smooth. Around 5:00, a vivid scene of live musicians performing came to mind—starting with a solo performer and then adding instruments one after another. The entire piece maintains a consistent structure, drawing the listener deep into its worldview. The clarinet solo around 14:31 is also a personal favorite. After the busy dialogue between the instruments up to that point, it shifts into a quiet solo, and then from 15:13, it connects to the final development, returning to the origin of the piece—a great finale. How many movements do you plan to create? I thought it would be great if a file where we can listen to everything all at once were uploaded someday. Well done, I enjoyed listening! Best, Lithl.

18th Century theoriest, Johann Mattheson, discusses the importance of imitation in counterpoint. He contrasts this with "melody and accompaniment", in which the melody is simply supported with corresponding harmony. He states that without imitation, music sounds "wooden". It is imitation that brings music to life through dialogue, the reason being that: we relate to musical dialogue like our own social world. Obviously, our social experiences are not singular but at least bi-directional. The usefulness of imitation extends beyond its aesthetic appeal; it is also a critical tool for developing a musical idea. From personal experience, producing a convincing dialogue/conversation in my own writing helps me consider where it might go next. Mattheson goes on to state that, for experienced composers, imitation becomes instinctive which is particularly useful in improvisation: against a given melody, thinking how it can be imitated becomes central to its corresponding solution. I conceived a melody of my own to practice this. Try to do the same: produce a short melody and consider how it might be imitated. Figure 1: a melody with basic accompaniment: Figure 2: the melody with imitation In my attempt, the imitation follows the rhythmic pattern of the melody a like a canon but without faithfulness to its script. Note that the bass is still primarily supportive of its harmony, following the voice leading outline shown in figure 1. Importantly, I used the do-re-mi schema (1-2-3) as the basis for this simple idea for it facilitates stepwise contrary motion in the bass (here this was useful in bar 3 where the bass rises to the Bb against the melody that descends to D. Making use of such schemas (see Robert Gjerdigen's 'Music in the Galant Style') can be useful for this sort of thing.

Morning all, I am going to produce some learning material on here as part of my own studies to share & promote knowledge relating to baroque counterpoint. I have acquired the not inexpensive book, Baroque Counterpoint by Chistoph Neidhofer & Peter Schubert that I am thinking of translating into a workable guide on here. Disseminating this is as much for my learning as for the potential benefit of others, in addition to generating constructive conversation around these concepts. I am thinking of uploading one class per week - or more - depending on the time I have. Stay tuned for these.

Hello @Matthew M, this is a piece I enjoyed from the first measure on! This might be the case since you – as a fun fact – used the same first four notes (V – I – II – III) as I did in my contribution, while in another rhythm! And there is just another similarity, you have set the poem to music and used an instrument – I suppose an oboe – as the substitute for the human voice. Melodies Themes Motives and Harmony Chords Textures: The piece contains wonderful melodic themes or motifs that are, on the one hand, memorable and recurring, and on the other hand are slightly modified or varied, so that the texture flows continuously and never becomes boring. Form Development Structure Time: I would describe the form as an „introduction“, followed by two „stanzas“ of the song (whereas it is the twofold repetition of the entire poem), and a „coda“. Before the poem is recapitulated, there is a beautiful modulation from G major to E major and a meter change from 4/4 to 6/8, so that the second “verse” has an even more brighter and cheerful mood than the first. All in all, it’s a beautiful structure that makes the 4:15 minutes of the piece fly by seamlessly. Originality Creativity: The piece is original, creative, and memorable - not due to extravagant instrumentation or surprising effects, but simply because of its beauty! Score Presentation: There is one thing I noticed in the score. You have (nearly) not made any articulation or bowing markups using slurs throughout the piece – except in the soprano (or oboe) voice which is treated as the vocal part. And furthermore, that voice - if it is really considered to be the vocal part - has a somewhat inconsistent usage of slurs and beams: In vocal score notation it is important to distinguish whether a single syllable is represented by a single note or whether multiple notes are sung for a single syllable (i.e., a melisma). There are two possibilities: In older, classical scores eighths and sixteenth notes are notated with flags (not beamed) for a single syllable, but if there are multiple notes to be sung for a single syllable, those notes are beamed together. No slurs at all (except for quarter or longer notes). In contemporary music, beams are used to show the rhythmic pattern, regardless of the text. However, in that case slurs indicate whenever multiple notes should be sung for a single syllable (and nowhere else). So, for example, in mm. 26-27 there should be only one slur in mm. 27 around the first two notes A and C denoting that there is a melisma on „love“ to be sung as two notes. In mm. 29 the first slur is correct, the second not. In mm. 30 no slurs at all. Mm. 31 is correct, two melismas. And so on (all according to „modern“ notation). On the other hand, I would appreciate slurs for the other instruments to express articulation or bowing. Instrumentation Orchestration Playability: A „traditional“ instrumentation which is used effectively and does not show any playability issues. Execution of Given Challenge: Even if you did not stress on depicting the different moods one could read from the three stanzas of the poem, you have nailed it, to evoke imaginations of a summer’s day, beauty and love. Well done! Taste: A beautiful, calming piece which never gets boring, even after listening to it multiple times. Moreover, the longer I listen to it, the more subtle details I conceive. Melodies Themes Motives Harmony Chords Textures Form Development Structure Time Originality Creativity Score Presentation Instrumentation Orchestration Playability Execution of Given Challenge Taste 10 10 10 9 7.5 9.5 10 10 Average Score: 9.5

This piece was written for the 2026 Summer Competition. It is technically past midnight on my side, I apologise as the audio took a while, hope this can still be reviewed. Note: I named this piece directly after the poem, maybe because it's the best name I could give it, actually. It's meant to directly translate the poem into music, so I figured that would be apt for a piece such as this. It's written in a loose ternary form with a few motifs consistently coming back throughout. Each section (ABA) represents a stanza in the poem. The first section opens with a bright, jubilant depiction of a summer day, before transitioning to the beauty of the subject. Then, the middle section adds some turbulence to this nature of the love, a personal interpretation of mine on the poem. Finally, the return of the A theme is accompanied by fleeting runs like the evening wind, as the lovers gaze into the sky. Most of the rest I will leave to your interpretation of what is happening, but I do encourage physically reading the poem while listening to the piece. As for the instrumentation, the French Horn is an instrument dear to me, despite having only picked it up for slightly less than three years. Through all the technical difficulties of this piece (yes, the Horn part is playable, albeit challenging), I wanted to showcase the mellow, melodic sound of the horn as something unique. The choice of the violin, then, was nothing special, another melodic instrument to complete the lovers' dialogue portrayed thoroughout the piece. The piano, then, allows for all the word painting possibilities. It was quite a rushed piece, given my recent schedule, but I enjoyed the time spent just appreciating the loveliness of the poem. Enjoy listening! Donc, ce sera par un clair jour d'été.mp3 Donc, ce sera par un clair jour d'été.pdf

Hello @latebeethoven_addict, congratulations for your submission just before the deadline – and, yes you’ve accomplished it in time! Melodies Themes Motives and Harmony Chords Textures: The piece is full of different themes of motives, some of them more „melodic“, while others seem to be a more virtuosic accopaniment. That strength is, in my opinion, also the weakness, since in the combination it results in a huge variety of the texture with a slightly tendency to „randomness“. With that in mind, the section between mm. 24 and 55 is the strongest part of the piece, for the memorable recurrence of the „sung“ melody. Form Development Structure Time: You mentioned, that the piece is in a („loose“) A-B-A form. I suppose, the boundaries of those three sections are at the moment of the key signature changes, at mm. 60 and 100. However, I must admit that I didn’t perceive the third section as a kind of „recapitulation“ of the first one, and even the three sections consist themselves of several passages with quite different textures. Overall, after listening three times, the form seems to me a more „free“ one. Originality Creativity: The piece is original and unique among the submissions for its instrumentation and perhaps for its „virtuosity“, especially in the harp-like piano runs. Score Presentation: The first thing I noticed was the order of the instruments in your score. In a trio with piano as the keyboard or continuo instrument, it would be placed at the bottom of the score, whereas the other instruments are ordered according to their register/pitch, meaning the violin on top and the French horn in the middle. Here is an example of a „traditional score“ of Brahms’ Horn Trio. As another „nitpick“, there is a redundant key signature in mm. 95. Instrumentation Orchestration Playability: The choice of that particular three instruments gives the piece a variety of colors which I really liked (and which could not be achieved, for example, with a strings-only trio). Concerning the playability, you mentioned yourself that the horn part is challenging. I think, this is the case for the piano part, too. Execution of Given Challenge: You have chosen the three stanzas of the poem and expressed their different moods, „the summer day“, „the nature of love“ and „the evening wind“, during the three sections (ABA) of the piece. The „cantabile“ passage from mm. 24-55 could be interpreted as „the sung poem“, in a duet between the piano’s treble voice and the violin. Therefore, I can see a strong connection between your piece and the challenge of the contest. Taste: It is a pleasant piece to listen to, but unfortunately it does not captivate me all that much, perhaps due to the somewhat overboarding variety in texture. Melodies Themes Motives Harmony Chords Textures Form Development Structure Time Originality Creativity Score Presentation Instrumentation Orchestration Playability Execution of Given Challenge Taste 7.5 7 7 8 7.5 8.5 9 7.5 Average Score: 7.75

This composition originally started out with the intended goal of serving as an exercise in textual intelligibility, a skill which has often been found lacking in many of my previous vocal works and choral writing. As such, this one has turned out far more homophonic in style than the rest of my earlier production, since in seeking to keep the text as clear and understandable as possible, distinct contrapuntal possibilities were rendered moderate to negligible. The reason I originally sought to approach the text from this angle throughout had a lot to do with the reasons for its choice. As of now, I have submitted one of my newly composed pieces to an ongoing composition contest centered around vocal sacred music. While I cannot give away many details concerning this competition as of now, in accordance to its rules I cannot yet publish the work I submitted (lest I might end up disqualified for early publication, given that, to my understanding at least, submitted works are to remain unpublished until the jury has decided). Instead, now that the submission had been fully dealt with, I set out to finish this early alternative, which I had deemed far too bland for the requirements and expectations of the contest before it was even complete. Also, for the first time now I have switched from my usual vocal renderings using Cantāmus to a different software integrated directly into MuseScore 4 named Cantai, which procedurally renders the text to be sung locally while allowing for modifications in real time. After trying it for a few weeks now I thought an upgrade in sound quality to my renditions was finally in order. YouTube video link: https://youtu.be/pirPFlcrmSc Gustate et videte Communion Motet in G major.mp3 Gustate et videte Communion Motet in G major.pdf

I need a review and guidance on how to continue, because I think it's too short. Sonata Re gama.mp3 Sonata Re gama.pdf

Hello, I tried playing with the sheet music and I'm not sure if your recording is the same as the sheets. It definitely deviates after the repeat. Personally, I find measure 13-16 too repetitive. I think I get what you are going for, with the building of the tension, but it just doesn't good (to me). My ears want to have some variation. Also I think the notation does not match what the mp3 is playing here. I like the mp3 better than the notation. It gets really weird at 0:59 in the recording. I guess it all depends on the direction you want to take the piece in. Whenever I get stuck, I try things like: 1) Doing the same thing in a minor key 2) throwing in a key change 3) reversing the theme, so it sounds completely different 4) depending on the piece, I sometimes like to take tidbits from the theme and make a new theme. For one of my pieces which had a passage that was 8 bars long, I just took the first note of each passage, which created a new musical idea consisting of 8 notes. So that was fun and worked well. 5) Give the left hand something interesting to do, perhaps move the theme there, or change the accompaniment. I always try to understand my music. Maybe this sounds kinda weird, since I'm also writing it... but I don't assume that I understand the music that I am writing. I figure that if I truly understand my music then I can understand where the music will naturally go. I realize that this advice is not very tangible but this is the most honest answer for what I do when I feel stuck. I'm sure some of the more classically inclined musicians in this forums can give you some other ideas...the possibilities are literally endless. Hope you find some inspiration.

Hello everyone! The following post in my formal submission for the 2026 Summer Competition: From Nothing, to Something. Below includes a detailed and extensive explanation of the work, both in inspiration and construction. If you wish to skip, the score PDF and Audio will be found at the end. Thanks and talk to you all soon! [TAKEN FROM SCORE] Plus belle encor votre chère beauté  - Your dear beauty lovelier still Duration: c. 6:08 Written in 2026, Plus belle encor votre chère beauté is a work for piano quartet that evokes summer and the experience of love. It was composed for the “2026 Summer Competition” hosted by The Young Composers Music Forum and is inspired by Paul Verlaine’s poem “Donc, ce sera par un clair jour d’été,” whose opening line may be translated as: “So, on a bright summer day it shall be.” The poem is number nineteen in Verlaine’s collection La Bonne Chanson (The Good Song) Find the French text and translation to the poem here The title of this work is drawn directly from the French text and has similar inspiration as the Gabriel Fauré song from his op. 61 bearing the same name as the Verlaine poem. However, this work takes the title from the fourth line of text, and unlike Fauré, this work is late-romantic in style. The musical inspiration came from two places: Tchaikovsky and his Nutcracker ballet, and a spell of improvisation at the piano. This work was created in late July and early August 2026, and during that time, I was experimenting with modal improvisation, and felt drawn to G-lydian. Specifically, the ivø7 chord you can build and find in Tchaikovsky’s music. It was also around this time I was listening to parts of the Nutcracker, where I felt drawn to the idea of harp-writing, and thus, during a period of improvisation, the foundation of this work came to be. With structure, Plus belle encor votre chère beauté is in ternary (A-B-A’) form and includes an intro and coda. The B-section acts as our development while the outer A-sections are comprised of a smaller AABA form. The principal theme stated in the A-section occurs throughout the work, where it can be heard in the introduction, coda and within the development where the piano states the principal theme in inversion. Lastly, I composed this work following the end of a relationship. In short, this work evokes those unspoken emotions I harbored and the romance I long to have one day. A day where I too can say “Your dear beauty.” PERSONAL NOTE: For me, the connection to this text, and now to this piece of music, is very personal. By the time this post goes live, my last relationship, of more than a year, ended a month ago. I will leave my thoughts on the matter with this: while rare in occurrence, being in the throes of thought can make the weight of longing feel immeasurable. However, amidst the satin and silk, this piece came to life. To add some fun for the competition, and incase people worry the music is not playable, I can assure you everything on the page works and is practical. However, better to put money where my playing is. A few hours before posting, I decided to record myself playing the work and trying out things. I originally improvised it on piano and this was one of the few times I tried to mimic what is on the page. It is not 1-to-1 and I made certain liberties in performance, however, this was fun to do! (This YouTube video is not my official audio entry for this competition. MP3 for score can be found below. Also, my camera was not in focus during the take... grrr) Thanks for reading, and I hope you enjoy! (The art on the cover page is Claude Monet's "Woman with a Parasol." A wonderful piece of art!) AUDIO_YourDearBeauty.mp3 SCORE_YourDearBeauty.pdf

Melodies Themes Motives Harmony Chords Textures Form Development Structure Time Originality Creativity Score Presentation Instrumentation Orchestration Playability Execution of Given Challenge Taste 10 8 10 7.5 8.5 9 7 8.5 Avg: 8.56 Nice romantic harmony paired with a gorgeous theme makes this a very clear and easy to follow piece. Variations of your themes are also very cool, and your key changing keeps this piece from feeling too repetitive. I definitely hear your Tchaikovsky influence, but around 3:30 I actually think I hear some Mendelssohn influence as well, maybe you didn't even realize it. Be careful though with balancing the piano parts of your melody, they were definitely too weak in velocity especially compared to your strings. But that's just an audio issue. As far as the execution of the challenge, this one is tough for me because it does remind me of romance between a man and a woman (or some type of heartbreak), but the story you are portraying here is so romantic-heavy, I forget about the summer part. But that might just me! Despite that, this is a beautiful and heartfelt piece.

Melodies Themes Motives Harmony Chords Textures Form Development Structure Time Originality Creativity Score Presentation Instrumentation Orchestration Playability Execution of Given Challenge Taste 6 7.5 7.5 10 7 8 8.5 7.5 Avg: 7.75 I think you chose very difficult instrumentation. Your harmony is simple, but yet, tricky. I say this because your instrumentation makes it a bit hard to decipher sometimes (for me), but I do hear your key changing as I listen through. Your piece also appears to get more dense and complex as it moves on. I think your melody and instrumentation are doing a pretty good job in portraying a serene summer afternoon, especially towards the beginning. It almost reminds me of being on an island. I marked you high on creativity because this is an interesting piece in terms of instrumentation, and your overall theme and structure. I also feel like a lot of moods and emotions are going on here which may confuse the listener as to what the goal of the piece may be. If I had to summarize the piece, it goes from serene summer afternoon, and ends with a high energy midnight dance on an island perhaps. With regards to your audio, be careful with tearing. Be sure you normalize your audio output so that your loudest parts do not red-line.

Hello @Ninja Nolan ! When I first came around to read your explanation of the submission and took quick look at the score, I asked myself, “How is this supposed to work?” and “How is this supposed to sound?” when you put four soprano saxophones together in an ensemble. Isn’t it a mistake to combine instruments of the same register—and even the same timbre? Wouldn’t they get in each other’s way? But after listening to (just the first few minutes of) your piece, I was proven wrong: I have to admit that the four saxophones blend together so beautifully, without any clashes or overlapping! I also get the impression that I sometimes hear the timbre of other woodwind instruments, such as a flute or an oboe (that’s a bit like a sommelier tasting a wine and raving about how it has notes of wild berries, melon, or even pepper…). I - La soie (The silk) The first movement has for me a very calming atmosphere, somewhat like a lullaby. Another impression was that it reminds me somewhat of pieces which are played at Christmas time, but than with a brass ensemble (i.e. „Posaunenchor“) and in a different seasonal mood. II - Le ciel (The sky) The second movement reminds me of a dance at Thanksgiving – I mean a Baroque-style dance (while I can’t – since I’m not familiar with the characteristics of those dances – say whether it’s a Gavotte, a Sarabande or a Galliard …). I very like the sometimes humorous passages, as for example, in mm. 36 or at the beginning of the Trio in mm. 56. Le soir (The evening) A more melancholic movement, that arises a picture of sitting around a campfire, thus really capturing the mood of a late summer evening. Melodies Themes Motives and Harmony Chords Textures: The piece uses beautiful, simple melodies and harmonies, which are sometimes „spiced up“ with some dissonances (such as in the first movement, mm. 18-20) - which I very liked. The textures are – while being relatively simple – well balanced. For that reason, I most liked the texture of the opening section of movement three, mm. 1-16 for their slightly couterpuntual approach. Form Development Structure Time: Since consisting of multiple movements and featuring a „dance“ in the second movement, the form could perhaps described as a suite. The movements are well developed and the entire piece perfectly meets the time requirements. Originality Creativity: The piece is original and unique among the submissions for its instrumentation and the use of the „suite“ form in three movements. Score Presentation: The score is clear and professional with no issues. I very like your descriptive program notes at the beginning. Instrumentation Orchestration Playability: As always said, the instrumentation seems at the first glance somewhat „adventurous“, but has been brilliantly mastered. I think, there are no playability issues, since it doesn’t seem to be „difficult“. Execution of Given Challenge: You have chosen the three stanzas of the poem and created three movements, each with a clear, distinct mood, trying to depict „The silk“, „The sky“ and „The evening“ as they are the topic of those stanzas. If listening to the music evokes images whose seasonal mood sometimes differs from that of a summer day, this should be considered merely my personal opinion. Taste: It's a piece that's pleasant to listen to and has a calming effect. However, it might not be the kind of piece I would listen to every day. Melodies Themes Motives Harmony Chords Textures Form Development Structure Time Originality Creativity Score Presentation Instrumentation Orchestration Playability Execution of Given Challenge Taste 9 8.5 10 9.5 10 10 9.5 8.5 Average Score: 9.375