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just incase i need to review my own piece for that heavyweight badge Melodies Themes Motives 0 Harmony Chords Textures 0 Form Development Structure Time 0 Originality Creativity 0 Score Presentation 0 Instrumentation Orchestration Playability 0 Execution of Given Challenge 0 Taste 0 Average Score: 0 this sucks never compose again

i'd say this piece does a good job at portraying a somber afternoon. the simple viola melody guides the piece straightforwardly while the accompaniment of the orchestra stills. the score is a bit confusing to read, i feel: random ottava lines, inverted beams of the notes.i also question the playability of some of the violins passages but overall, its not bad!! some of the contrasts work well and they're effective! good jobb Melodies Themes Motives 8 Harmony Chords Textures 3 Form Development Structure Time 5 Originality Creativity 3 Score Presentation 5 Instrumentation Orchestration Playability 4 Execution of Given Challenge 5 Taste 3 Average Score: 4.5

this piece has that anger, yknow? thatof one losing a sheep and getting angry and sad, a cycle of grief. speaking of, it kinda represents the stages of grief, with the acceptance at the end. i imagine the contrast in this piece is like this shepherd, high in the mountain and he's mad to himself, alone, with nothing but his taragot. the different sections are distinguishable and the pacing is enjoyable. the contrasts between the sections are prominent and surprised me a bit sometimes lol. the theme and instrumentation certainly helps with this. its distinctive and full of characteristics. those low C string cello notes are powerfullll, same with the english horn and the high E string violin (again, effective contrast). absolutely using the instruments at their advantage me love chromaticsm porridge. the use of dissonance is very effective!!! the piece has a wide array of the dissonance range (soft to hard dissonances) and its usage is appropriate. i highkey like this piece Melodies Themes Motives 10 Harmony Chords Textures 10 Form Development Structure Time 10 Originality Creativity 8 Score Presentation 10 Instrumentation Orchestration Playability 10 Execution of Given Challenge 10 Taste 8 Average Score: 9.5

Hi, Wieland. Please see my evaluation of your submission below. Melodies Themes Motives Harmony Chords Textures Form Development Structure Time Originality Creativity Score Presentation Instrumentation Orchestration Playability Execution of Given Challenge Taste Overall 8 7 7 9 9 6 8 6 7.5 Melodies/Themes/Motives: The melodies were purely mimetic (i.e., attempting to portray the actual sounds in music rather than an emotional interpretation or representation) and therefore did not lend themselves to good melodic writing. Nevertheless, your use of themes and motives was very strong throughout, as meticulously noted in your score. Harmony/Chords/Textures: On the one hand, you employed a couple of devices - tremolos and trills - to depict the train's acceleration and birdcalls, which was innovative. This texture, though, began to feel overused after a couple minutes into the piece. Because this piece was more onomatopoeia than programmatic music, the harmonies you used felt arbitrary. Moreover, the use of actual chords in this piece was more limited than what I thought at first listen; a great number of lines was doubled by another instrument, either in unison or at some octave above or below. All in all, I felt that the five instruments you used were "under tuned" for a piece of this caliber. Form/Development/Structure/Time: There was good structure to this piece, though, again, because the piece was onomatopoeic, it didn't truly develop as much as it simply progressed from theme to theme. The break in tempo roughly midway through was appreciated, but the piece ironically lacked any sense of motion (to me, at least); the glue holding this together were the descriptive texts in the score that very unsubtly described what each motif was meant to portray. Without the score, the piece becomes a soundscape of seemingly disjointed musical themes abruptly changing from one to the next. However... from an objective standpoint, that you are able to conceive of these things in your mind and then organize them into musical sections is quite extraordinary. Originality/Creativity: I've not heard anything similar to this, and even if I don't agree with your choice of chords and harmonies, this is a voice that is your own, and for that, you get the highest marks. Score Presentation: Meticulous and thorough. Very close to professional quality, though a little crowded and over-articulated at various places for my taste. Instrumentation/Orchestration/Playability: In my opinion, this is the piece's weakest aspect, though I do not wish to be harsh here. I strongly question the decision to use two pianos, when for the vast majority of the piece, they either A) do not play simultaneously, or B) when playing simultaneously, they do not use all four hands. Furthermore, the string parts frequently double either each other or one of the piano parts. Taken altogether, this suggests that the piece could be more succinctly written for a smaller ensemble, such as a piano trio (violin, cello, and piano). The 13/16 time signature present for most of the piece is already difficult to count out and, when coupled with the onomatopoeic nature of the themes, makes me wonder if perhaps an ametric approach would be more appropriate. Lastly, but maybe most importantly, the string parts do not add much to the piece, which is carried entirely by the movement in one (or both, at times) of the piano parts. It might have helped to give the strings some passages without the piano also playing. Execution of Given Challenge: Again, I have to award high marks here simply because of how well you put this together. There's no question as to what your music depicts! Taste: I lean strongly into the impressionist camp and, I suppose by definition, do not take much interest in mimetic music. I would normally give music like this a much lower score, but your command of tone and texture makes this considerably more enjoyable. Nice work! Thanks for submitting, and happy composing! Jordan

Hi, Musicbro456. Please see my evaluation of your submission below. Melodies Themes Motives Harmony Chords Textures Form Development Structure Time Originality Creativity Score Presentation Instrumentation Orchestration Playability Execution of Given Challenge Taste Overall 6 7 7 7 3 3 8 6 5.9 Melodies/Themes/Motives: Great use of themes and melody in this submission! There were, unfortunately, quite a few issues with voice leading in which the solo viola would be completely drowned out or washed out amid the surrounding chordal textures, but your themes were solid... if a bit repetitive. Harmony/Chords/Textures: There was not a lot of harmonic movement: the piece remained mostly in G minor with some C minor chords sprinkled throughout, which sapped it of most of its harmonic strength. I noted excursions to D minor and A minor, as well... perhaps a journey along the circle of fifths? I felt your use of dynamics was compelling; emotional swells followed by quiet, captivating moments. This was good work! Form/Development/Structure/Time: The piece had great "bones." You effectively worked in several motifs that reappeared when expected, and the whole thing worked to a climax at rehearsal mark IV, followed by a denouement and resolution. The music really told a story. Originality/Creativity: The fact that you chose viola as the solo instrument gives you several more points in this category (I am a violist). Jokes aside, the instrumentation and musicality was, I felt, sufficiently original. I can tell you're trying to develop your own voice. Score Presentation: The score was chaotic and, at times, nonsensical. For example, it starts out with dynamics markings "mf expression," which perhaps was intended to mean espressivo. There were modulations to key signatures that were unnecessary. The note stems were randomly in different voices rather than all the same voice. The score was also very crowded in places, with directions from one staff bleeding over into the one above or below it. For some reason, solo viola was written in the treble clef, even though the viola section was in the alto clef and had higher notes written for their part. It's conventional to split the violins into two sections - violin I and violin II - but here they remained undivided. Instrumentation/Orchestration/Playability: There were multiple serious problems noted here. The solo viola would undoubtedly become overwhelmed by the divisi strings accompanying it in well over half the passages of this piece. Furthermore, the viola section was more technically challenging than the solo viola part, which is unconventional (but not illegal). There were also multiple passages intended to be played at an octave or double octave above what was written, some of which is technically impossible, especially at the dynamics supplied. It would probably help you in the future if you dedicated some time to learning how to write for strings. Execution of Given Challenge: This was solid, programmatic music, in my opinion, and sufficiently reminiscent of the blazing glory - and eventual hushed quiet - of a sunset. Taste: I liked what you were going for! I think your writing could be helped dramatically with more attention to music theory and (in this case) string part writing. Thanks for submitting, and happy composing! Jordan

Hi, Chenfeng. Please see my evaluation of your submission below. Melodies Themes Motives Harmony Chords Textures Form Development Structure Time Originality Creativity Score Presentation Instrumentation Orchestration Playability Execution of Given Challenge Taste Overall 4 5 4 6 5 N/A 0 4 4.0 Melodies/Themes/Motives: No real sense of melody was present, and themes/motives were simply repeated with little to no variation. Harmony/Chords/Textures: The piece remained in A major; in fact, it was largely just one A major chord. There was a brief transition to E major but without an effective cadence, this felt contrived and a bit jarring. Harmonic movement featured an overuse of parallel motion and therefore felt stagnant. Form/Development/Structure/Time: Despite the title, this was not a fugue; there was no subject or species. There was little development noted and owing to an utter lack of cadences or breaths, the music felt monotonous to me. Originality/Creativity: This submission was, perhaps, different than most other entries; however, I didn't feel it did anything to distinguish itself from existing traditional Chinese music nor did it adequately take on the composer's voice. Score Presenation: The score was readable, but no dynamics and very few articulations were supplied. Instrumentation/Orchestration/Playability: I do not feel qualified to evaluate this criterion, as I know next to nothing about traditional Chinese instruments or how they're played. Execution of Given Challenge: Unfortunately, the submission did not meet the competition's time length criterion. But length notwithstanding, I did not feel this piece evoked the image supplied (aside from the fact than both artists performed in traditional Chinese media). Taste: I love fugues, but this piece was merely pentatonic writing that had very little color. It sadly did not pique my interest. However, I think with more dedication to voice leading and harmonic movement, you'll drastically improve your writing style! Thanks for submitting, and happy composing! Jordan

even worse than my random pauses lol!

i do kinda hear the vision with the motifs, and it is recognizable. but thats kinda it ngl its a bit of (sry if its too mean lol) kinda fun to listen to though Melodies Themes Motives 3 Harmony Chords Textures 3 Form Development Structure Time 1 Originality Creativity 10 Score Presentation 1 Instrumentation Orchestration Playability 3 Execution of Given Challenge 1 Taste 3 Average Score: 3.12

Entry: Lamentare Ciobanului - “The Shepherd’s Lament” by @ComposaBoi 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 10 10 10 10 8.5 Average Score: 9.81 Review: Great job! I think your use of space in this piece really helps paint the picture of a lone shepherd in the mountains like you intended. The cello solo near the beginning of the piece followed by the English Horn solo with underlying soft pizzicato chords really sets a very tranquil and pastoral vibe. I feel like your musical voice has matured since the last time I’ve heard. There is a very beautiful use of unresolved non-harmonic tones or extended harmony in this piece. The melody very often emphasizes the 7th or 9th of the underlying harmony on a weak beat which I find very affecting. Well done! Thanks for your participation and I hope you win the “Pastorale” award that I created specifically for this piece!

Entry: The Voyage of a Lone Ship by @ferrum.wav Melodies Themes Motives Harmony Chords Textures Form Development Structure Time Originality Creativity Score Presentation Instrumentation Orchestration Playability Execution of Given Challenge Taste 10 10 6 10 10 7 10 10 Average Score: 9.13 Review: Your piece, despite being of very high quality and being well developed and conceived overall, highlights both kinds of disqualifications that we’ve encountered in the competition this time around. The piece is too long (although by no means am I saying you should have somehow tried to shorten it just for the sake of the competition) and uses too many total instruments. The timpani player can be expected to play up to 6 (sometimes some pieces call for 6 individual timpani drums) timpani and given that Fruit Hunters “Sacrificed to the Wilderness” was disqualified for the same reason I think the same rule should apply in your case. It’s a shame, because I was hoping to give out two more badges - a “High Seas” award for your piece and a “Nature is Wild” award for Fruit Hunter’s piece. But alas, under the current rules, the theme-ing and creation of the badges was limited to pieces that strictly qualified under the contest rules. Perhaps in future contests we can opt to allow multiple percussion instruments per player as counting as just one “polyphonic instrument”, but we didn’t think of it this time around. But I love your piece from many sides. My favorite part is perhaps the solo timpani hammering out the preview/teaser of the main theme fragment at 4:20 and 5:05. The piece overall is very melodious and easily gets stuck in my head - it’s very lucid. I’m glad you took this composition so seriously that you decided to work the piece to its natural conclusion despite it being over the time limit. I can really imagine a galleon or clipper sailing through some rough seas with this music. And the use of the timpani and horn was very idiomatic for such a context. I think your instrument choices were driven by the conception of this as being a kind of miniaturized orchestra. Great job! As much as I would have liked to vote for your piece for 1st place I can’t in good conscience do so since I had to mark you down in the Time and Instrumentation categories. Thanks for your participation and good luck in the popular voting polls!

Entry: City Rail and Nightingale by @Wieland Handke Melodies Themes Motives Harmony Chords Textures Form Development Structure Time Originality Creativity Score Presentation Instrumentation Orchestration Playability Execution of Given Challenge Taste 8 8 9 10 10 7 10 8 Average Score: 8.75 Review: Very clever to try and incorporate the natural and artificial sounds of your particular landscape into your piece through the use of sound mimesis of the Nightingale and the train. The Nightingale was perhaps the more successful of the two, giving me a more obvious musical association. I think if you wanted to depict the acceleration of the train, a more successful approach might have been to include an actual literal accelerando in your piece much like the Copenhagen Steam Railway Galop does (upon repeated listenings I did notice that you do in fact include a slight accelerando in your piece). I really enjoyed the sounds of the train as well! My favorite part was perhaps the passing of the railroad crossing in which you included an actual written out doppler effect! Very clever! I must say that my enjoyment of this piece grew the most from repeated listening in this competition. Thanks for your participation and I hope you win the “Nature and Civilization” award that I made specifically for this piece!

Entry: Sunset Suite in C minor by @Musicman_3254 Melodies Themes Motives Harmony Chords Textures Form Development Structure Time Originality Creativity Score Presentation Instrumentation Orchestration Playability Execution of Given Challenge Taste 8 8 7.5 8 7 5 8 7.5 Average Score: 7.38 Review: This is indeed a very solemn theme! I think you used it very effectively to paint a sunset scene. There is much longing and bittersweetness. The two big weaknesses in your piece are how it repeats the main theme over and over and that the instrumentation includes a string orchestra instead of individual string instruments. The main theme starts in the basses and keeps rising through different keys. I think it would have been effective if you kept varying the register and key of your rising motif throughout the piece instead of repeating it mostly in C minor like you have currently. You do this in the beginning of the piece but then settle down into the C minor key to the detriment (imo) of the piece. Thanks for your participation and keep composing!

Entry: Morning On Whidbey Island by @BipolarComposer Melodies Themes Motives Harmony Chords Textures Form Development Structure Time Originality Creativity Score Presentation Instrumentation Orchestration Playability Execution of Given Challenge Taste 8 8 8.5 9 10 10 10 9 Average Score: 9.06 Review: Very nice tone painting here! I think the picture and the music match very well. The use of space is very effective here, conveying the peace and tranquility of the scene. The music is a sort of mosaic of the photo you took. It’s literally a still landscape. As a result it’s not really trying to develop or tell a story. There is definitely a recognizable theme but it’s not developed by roaming into foreign keys - it’s mood music that intends on sustaining the vibe that it creates while staying musically interesting (as a secondary priority). For this reason, some might say that the harmony might be a little static and the development stilted. But I don’t think every piece has to have a traditional western harmonic development. Thanks for your participation and I hope you win “The Peace of Nature” award which I created specifically for this piece!

Entry: Amidst the Clouds & Flowers by @InstrumentalistElle Melodies Themes Motives Harmony Chords Textures Form Development Structure Time Originality Creativity Score Presentation Instrumentation Orchestration Playability Execution of Given Challenge Taste 7 8 9 10 9 10 10 9 Average Score: 9.00 Review: Wonderful piece! One has to be a very active listener to catch all the programmatic allusions that you intended to have in the piece. I feel it would have helped if you had given the listener a breakdown using timestamps of what’s intended to happen and when. Also, something that didn’t help is that the score is very difficult to follow, and also isn’t labeled with any of the intended programmatic meanings of the music. In order to really try to hear the events you intended in the music I had to just let myself listen and get my head out of the score which wasn’t helping me. It’s a very ethereal piece, much like the mountains you sought to portray. I personally heard a hint of John Williams when the garden melody first comes in at the beginning in the cello I believe. Thanks for your participation and I hope you win the “Nature’s Garden” award which I created specifically for this piece!

mmmh, warmth, the thing that one can feel, the snug and fuzzy and cozy feeling deep down inside, the senses you feel as you walk through fallen yellow leaves in autumn, maybe at start of a new chapter in one's life. i can definitely say for certain that this piece invokes exactly that. this style is simple and direct. it communicates effectively with the listeners about what it wants to express. unfortunately, as with @ComposaBoi , im not into this style very much. thats why im giving you low scores in originality and taste (sorryyyyy) the themes are presented clearly and the interplay between the instruments are balanced. the middle section kinda wanders a bit but the recognizable theme pulls it back. score is pretty clear, i do agree with @Henry Ng Tsz Kiu with the two repeated notes staccato instead of the tremolos. i guess you can do with the tremolos but instead of one staccato dot, its two. though i do prefer the first option. Melodies Themes Motives 10 Harmony Chords Textures 6 Form Development Structure Time 7 Originality Creativity 5 Score Presentation 9 Instrumentation Orchestration Playability 10 Execution of Given Challenge 10 Taste 4 Average Score: 7.75

Hello all. I had a really hard time figuring out what to do. I had a piece I wrote a while ago about Princess Tuvstarr and Skutt the Elk, where a geological formation called a tarn has an important role, but I decided I need to practice writing things for a deadline, so I needed some new idea. For those that don't know, I am ethnically largely Romanian (though I live in the US), so I settled on some Romanian landscape, and what better than the Carpathian Mountains! In fact, I had a drawing I made a while ago of a Romanian Shepherd (obviously as a furry, if you know me at all) in the mountains playing a Taragot - which sounds like a mix between an English Horn and a Soprano Saxophone. There's an old Romanian tale of a shepherd who lost his sheep, so I wrote this piece following that theme: a shepherd lamenting the loss of his sheep. Please enjoy :) Audio.mp3 Score.pdf

Entry: “Warmth” by @UncleRed99 Melodies Themes Motives Harmony Chords Textures Form Development Structure Time Originality Creativity Score Presentation Instrumentation Orchestration Playability Execution of Given Challenge Taste 6 9 7.75 8.5 10 10 8 8.5 Average Score: 8.47 Review: A very affecting and heartfelt piece of music! Although the piece has a certain pop music vibe, very often repeating 4-bar, 4-chord structures over and over with variation and some modulations which bring a momentary sense of brightening, it does adequately portray the sense of “Home and Hearth” which is the badge/award that I created for this piece! I can imagine this kind of music used in one of those hidden object mobile games. The player is presented with a room from inside a cozy home with a fireplace burning and has to find objects strewn around and hidden in plain sight. Great job although my chief complaint is that the piece lacks melodic substance. But it’s a very good, easy listening, feel good, cozy piece perfect for the purpose you intended it for. Thanks for your participation and good luck in the popular voting polls!

Entry: Alishan (for Flute Quintet) by @HoYin Cheung Melodies Themes Motives Harmony Chords Textures Form Development Structure Time Originality Creativity Score Presentation Instrumentation Orchestration Playability Execution of Given Challenge Taste 8 9 10 10 10 10 7 8 Average Score: 9.00 Review: For me this piece suffers from poor balance and doesn’t create a clear hierarchy of importance in sound. The piece sort of washed over me after hearing it multiple times without the score. The score is engraved well but hard to follow (for me) because it wasn’t clear what I was supposed to focus on. You could have used your dynamics to bring out the important parts more imo. I expected the flute to be the main soloist/attraction of the piece but it’s in the background most of the time. After listening a few times these things don’t bother me as much. Perhaps it was because the focus and most important aspects of the composition are constantly shifting that I found it hard to find the focus on my first couple of listenings. Another thing is that the moving voices very often overlap each other in register creating confusion for the listener. If the voices are of a different timbre then they retain their individuality more but if the strings are overlapping with each other rather than with the flute then they lose their distinctiveness imo. And the quickly moving voices are often buried underneath the other ones when imo they should be given the foreground since they are the motivic backbone of the piece. The piece is sort of hard to imagine as an accompaniment to your chosen landscape. It’s a good piece of absolute music - I just find it hard to imagine the programmatic context. Despite that I still think your piece deserves to win the “Forest Echoes” award that I created specifically for it, so I’m going to vote for it. Overall though, I still very much enjoyed the music - it’s very intricate and well structured! Thanks for your participation.

Entry: Chinese Fugue by @TristanTheTristan Melodies Themes Motives Harmony Chords Textures Form Development Structure Time Originality Creativity Score Presentation Instrumentation Orchestration Playability Execution of Given Challenge Taste 7 7 6 8 9 10 7 7.5 Average Score: 7.69 Review: Bound up in all the traditional Chinese cultural associations, your piece might be a contender for the “A Rustic Mood” award that I created for L.S Barros’ piece. However, your piece is very short - you could have remedied this problem by simply repeating the material you have again, effectively and easily doubling its duration. I think it’s very good at depicting the traditional Chinese brush painting that you posted. The two traditions of Chinese painting and music go together very well and you relied on that to give your piece a unique Landscape association. Thanks for your participation and good luck in the popular voting polls!

Entry: Spring Submission “Rainy Weather” by @therealAJGS Melodies Themes Motives Harmony Chords Textures Form Development Structure Time Originality Creativity Score Presentation Instrumentation Orchestration Playability Execution of Given Challenge Taste 5 5 5 7 5 3 5 5 Average Score: 5.0 Review: I understand that you’re participating just for fun, but I (and the members at large) are still going to review and score your piece as a serious entry to the competition. The first thing that sticks out to me is that the beginning electric guitar part is impossibly high. The highest note on electric guitar (without using harmonics) is a written B above the staff in treble clef. Guitar parts are also usually sounding an octave lower than written which your score does not do. I am not sure how deliberately you intended to depict the “rainy weather” theme that’s in your score, because it doesn’t sound very “rainy” to me. But I do like all the little details you put into this such as the scoops and glissandi. Besides the guitar, the piece can actually be played as well. Thanks for your participation and I hope you continue!

Entry: Sacrificed to the Wilderness by @Fruit hunter Melodies Themes Motives Harmony Chords Textures Form Development Structure Time Originality Creativity Score Presentation Instrumentation Orchestration Playability Execution of Given Challenge Taste 8 7 8.5 10 10 10 6 8.5 Average Score: 8.5 Review: You really like to stretch the rules of the competition with your instrumentation! You did this last year as well in the Halloween competition. I ordinarily would not have thought of such an instrumentation given the description “... the members are free to compose for any kind of trio/quartet/quintet … You may use any combination of 3 - 5 monophonic or polyphonic instruments/voices.” Perhaps, in your mind, you appended to that description of the instrumentation the clause “... at a time” or for “... for 3 - 5 players.” I don’t think that’s really what was intended, which is why I’ll mark you down for the Execution of Given Challenge category. But perhaps the rules around the instrumentation can be relaxed in the future, allowing this kind of interpretation of the instrumentation - we’ll let the members vote about that in the satisfaction survey. The concept of the piece is also somewhat off-topic. You come to us with a story of a beat-up, old instrument that was sacrificed to nature. Although it does create a soundscape of sorts. And it’s definitely very original and creative (although you could have used your creativity within the bounds of the limits dictated by the competition more imo). With all the hand-made percussion instruments that you wrote for it’s definitely idiosyncratic. But you made it more about the instruments and their eventual sacrificial union with nature. I wish I could have created the badge I originally intended for this entry - the “Nature is Wild” award. But alas, in the interest of being fair to everyone I could not (for the same reason I couldn't create a badge for “Voyage of a Lone Ship”). Thanks for your participation and good luck in the popular voting polls!

Entry: Padovana et Gagliarda “Detta la Lombarda” by @L.S Barros Melodies Themes Motives Harmony Chords Textures Form Development Structure Time Originality Creativity Score Presentation Instrumentation Orchestration Playability Execution of Given Challenge Taste 7 7 8.5 7 9.5 10 10 8.5 Average Score: 8.44 Review: Beautiful writing that certainly does paint a scene/landscape! And it does this despite, or maybe because of the fact that it’s a pair of dances! I can totally imagine this playing in a medieval court or at a rustic Italian tavern of some sort. It would also go really well in an RPG game in that kind of medieval location. For me the soundfonts sound quite good as I am not a connoisseur of medieval instruments so I can’t tell the difference. I think this rendition of the piece is quite sufficient for the competition and for letting us appreciate the intent of the composer. I don’t know how different it would sound if it were played by a historically accurate ensemble. I think that having two parts to the composition - one relatively slow and the other fast - is quite a good choice to provide the listener some variety. The music with its varying tempi could be used to accompany quite a few different rustic scenes. Besides a tavern I can also imagine a rustic town of Lombardy (or whatever - I don’t know if that town actually exists). Or some kind of castle in the Italian mountains and all the bustling activity at said town/castle. It is quite exciting! Perhaps because of the style of this music, I found the melodies and harmonies quite pedestrian and unsurprising. But some of the other categories more than made up for that. Thanks for your participation and I hope you win the award I created specifically for this piece - the “Rustic Mood” award!

Vote for the winners of the Landscapes - Soundscapes competition! Please note that the themed badges were created for the following pieces: Padovana et Gagliarda “Detta la Lombarda” by @L.S Barros - "Rustic Mood" Award Amidst the Clouds & Flowers by @InstrumentalistElle - "Nature's Garden" Award Morning On Whidbey Island by @BipolarComposer - "Peace of Nature" Award City Rail and Nightingale by @Wieland Handke - "Nature and Civilization" Award Alishan (for Flute Quintet) by @HoYin Cheung - "Forest Echoes" Award “Warmth” by @UncleRed99 - "Home and Hearth" Award Lamentare Ciobanului - “The Shepherd’s Lament” by @ComposaBoi - "Pastorale" Award We have decided not to create more badges because it was inevitable that there would be some overlap/competition in the theme-ing of the badges. For that reason we concede that although the above badges were created for those specific pieces, it is up to the voters at large to determine whether those pieces will actually win those badges. The winners of the 1st, 2nd and 3rd place trophies will be determined by points allotted in the following way: Every 1st place vote in the poll gets 3 points. Every 2nd place vote in the poll gets 2 points. Every 3rd place vote in the poll gets 1 point. 1st place will be given for the entry with the highest number of points. 2nd place will be given for the entry with the 2nd highest etc. .... The poll will close and the competition will be finalized and winners announced on Tuesday, June 9th, 2026. To listen to all the entries go to the submissions thread: And for the competition announcement go here:

I can’t believe you quote this piece as this is probably my worst piece ever posted on YC!

Hello @ferrum.wav , thank you for your kindly review of my piece. I’m pleased that you could follow the imagination and story I wanted to depict musically! Since there was still plenty of space on the score, I decided to follow the example of @Henry Ng Tsz Kiu 's “Joking Fugue on Jingle Bell …", which also includes such humorous comments ... Yes, that’s right. Even though this is a new composition for the competition, I just started to compose the piece for piano solo (to include it in my collection of preludes and fugues) and then „enriched“ the piece with the further instrumentation by the strings. Therefore, the main texture is performed by the piano(s) alone and the strings serve to create more „color“ or „soundscapes“. However, there is a theme or motif in the “Nightingale” B section, played by the strings (measures 35–37 by the cello and measures 44–47 by the violin), that does not appear in the prelude for solo piano.

Hi, Elle. Please see my evaluation of your submission below. Melodies Themes Motives Harmony Chords Textures Form Development Structure Time Originality Creativity Score Presentation Instrumentation Orchestration Playability Execution of Given Challenge Taste Overall 5 7 5 8 10 6 4 5 6.25 Melodies/Themes/Motives: The melodic writing was almost nonexistent, instead replaced with chordal columns that seemed to go nowhere. There was motivic or thematic development; however, in my opinion, not enough was done to clearly distinguish such themes, and the result was rather muddied and obfuscated. Harmony/Chords/Textures: Not much triadic/diatonic harmony (which is fine by me), and the tonal palette employed was used quite effectively. In my opinion, the harmonic structure could have been improved if the harmonic progressions were more consistent rather than seemingly random. Form/Development/Structure/Time: The piece was beautifully textured but the long, sustained notes (often in harmonics and/or stops) were frequently syncopated and combined into rapidly altering time signatures. The structural ambiguity is not helped by the lack of discernible musical patterns (I can tell there are patterns from looking at the score, but not by listening or playing). Originality/Creativity: I found this to be exotic and refreshing, and very much unlike other submissions. Score Presenation: The score was flawless. Excellent job! Instrumentation/Orchestration/Playability: The piece was chock full of stops and harmonics, had nebulous time signatures, maintained no clear rhythm, and possessed copious amounts of syncopation. The detailed score helps a great deal with interpretation, but the piece still emerged as agonizingly difficult to perform. Execution of Given Challenge: While beautiful and evocative, this piece brings to mind etherealness and aimless wandering - not the grandeur of the Zhangjiajie mountains (nor the flora sprinkled at their peaks). Taste: I enjoy non-diatonic harmonies, which your submission employed. However, I felt that the musical effects were too "on-the-nose"; i.e., you overused harmonics to evoke a sense of floating in the clouds and the "going-nowhere" harmonies made the piece a bit too stagnant - at least for my tastes. Still, your submission was very impressive and I think you're someone the music world should keep their eye on! Thanks for submitting, and happy composing! Jordan

i like the usage of chinese instruments here. definitely unique and original. i will choose to not grade the playability since i do not know the intricacies. the score is definitely readable, but it lacks a lot of things (dynamics, articulation, etc.). the resulting look is very bare. i could not hear any memorable/distinct themes/subjects as they are not presented well. sure, there are contrapuntal lines, but they are just that, lines. without noticeable melodies to cling onto, the lines fall flat imo. one can probably notice upon further score inspection (or multiple listens), but i do have to consider the first couple of listening experience as well. furthermore, i couldnt associate the piece with the given pictures, other than it sounds chinese. the piece leans heavily into pentatonic, but there is also no clear harmonic direction. it feels aimless. good contrapuntal writing though! Melodies Themes Motives 2 Harmony Chords Textures 2 Form Development Structure Time 3 Originality Creativity 7 Score Presentation 4 Instrumentation Orchestration Playability N/A Execution of Given Challenge 3 Taste 2 Average Score: π (3.14, not the exact value of the pi decimal preceding it, but still lol)

Melodies Themes Motives Harmony Chords Textures Form Development Structure Time Originality Creativity Score Presentation Instrumentation Orchestration Playability Execution of Given Challenge Taste 2 4 1 3 5 N/A 0 1 Disqualified, but otherwise average is 2.3 It really doesn't do what it's trying to very effectively. Nothing fugal about it.

Melodies Themes Motives Harmony Chords Textures Form Development Structure Time Originality Creativity Score Presentation Instrumentation Orchestration Playability Execution of Given Challenge Taste 1 5 1 10 5 6 1 5 Average Score: 4.25 the reason I score the way I do is; This score does not have a motif/themeatic element that's familiar to the listener to pick up on. Your melodies feel "random", in a sense. You did well with keeping solid harmonies that resemble chords that can be discerned from one another, but I feel the execution was lackluster the Form of this score is.. well.. there is no form. It's quite "thru-composed" without any disctinctive sections. (Think Binary, Ternary etc...) Originality. Well, it's definitely original, and you do hit the mark on making it sound similar to music from the culture that you're aiming for It appears that you have left the score in it's original formatting in MuseScore studio. Not bad formatting, but not very distinctive or "neat" appearing, imo. There were a few areas in here that appeared to be difficult or nearly impossible to physically play with the instrumentation used, but generally, it is playable Unfortunately, the duration of this score is too short to fall within the parameters of the competition rules... Taste. I'm honestly unsure of how to determine my judgement on the taste of the score, so I've simply scored it as a 5. Keep composing! -Unc

First, some negative considerations: What I’m a bit sad or disappointed of is the fact that you – together with two other submissions so far – have not meet the requirements of the competition, since the piece is too short than the requested 3 minutes. I don't think that was an unintentional mistake, but rather a sign of a certain laxity: “I can easily ignore these rules—it's just for fun, after all.” Yes, the competition is „just fun“ and the rules are not given from a higher authority. But if you are playing a game with some friends where you have negotiated some rules in advance, and somebody does not obey them, the „fun“ instantly decreases. With this in mind, you bring me as reviewer into the uncomfortable situation to be forced to break the rules, too, whenever I give you a review taking all (other) criteria into consideration and do not skip your piece due to disqualification. Now, coming to the music. Some other reviewers have noted that the piece „is not a fugue“. That is true – not only since it does not start with the subject in only one voice. But it doesn’t matter because the task of the competition was not to write fugues. Writing a „Chinese Fugue“ is „inherently impossible“ since, when using pentatonic harmonies you cannot apply the formal rules of a western fugue which are based on diatonic harmonies. So I think, the piece is an invention or a „fugato“ and the title could be changed to „Fuga“ Chinesen (with quotation marks around the word fugue) to avoid complaints by contrapuntal purists (like me 😀). I have taken a quick look at the score while listening and discovered at least the following entries of a subject and countersubject: Subject: mm. 1-8 (G Dizi) Subject: mm. 22-29 (Erhu) Subject: mm. 63-70 (G Dizi) Countersubject: mm. 1-5a (Erhu) Countersubject: mm. 31-35a (Guzheng) Countersubject: mm. 63-67a (Erhu) There are also some nice sequences (in mm. 47-52 and 53-63) which could be considered as fugal episodes and the last bars (from mm. 71-78) could be a coda. There are as well shorter motifs which are derived from the initial thematic material Melodies Themes Motives: There are distinctive themes in the different instruments which are organized in a counterpuntual technique. Harmony Chords Textures: Nice pentatonic harmonies and interesting textures. Form Development Structure Time: The development should have been continued in order to achieve the minimum required length for the piece. Originality Creativity: Well done. The piece is unique and distinctive between all submissions (so far) with its pentatonic harmonics. Score Presentation: The score is clean, however I would like to have some dynamic or articulation marks (so far they are applicable/possible for the respective instrument) Instrumentation Orchestration Playability: I’m not able to judge that since I’m not familiar with the instruments, but I would guess there are no problems. Execution of Given Challenge: The piece clearly depicted a – for me – exotic world, however it did not arise the imagination of a phoenix. Taste: I like the piece with its really Chinese mood. Melodies Themes Motives Harmony Chords Textures Form Development Structure Time Originality Creativity Score Presentation Instrumentation Orchestration Playability Execution of Given Challenge Taste 9 8 1 10 8 8 5 8 Average: 7.125

@Luis Hernández is historically correct. the romantics drew from the previous composers and reinvited it.

@Colenbacher Hello I understand your question very well. And I also understand that the answers aren't exactly what you're looking for. Although I agree with them as well. I believe that rather than learning harmony from the Romantic period, what matters is learning the compositional techniques that the composers of this period introduced and used (not just in terms of harmony). It’s absolutely true that to understand this, you need to start by knowing what happened in earlier periods, at least from the Baroque through the Style Galant and Classicism. Because many Romantic techniques are reinventions (“recycled”) of all those earlier styles. I don’t think you’ll find specific sections on Romantic harmony in general treatises and books. I’ve had that curiosity, and interest as well. But I studied the Baroque and the Galant period quite extensively, above all. I even started much earlier with the cantus firmus. And that historical and chronological perspective has helped me immensely in understanding even contemporary music. With this, you’ll see that everything is a continuum; even periods that broke quite sharply with what came before (Impressionism, dodecaphonism) are the result of an evolution. So, just as I did with other periods, I sought out the sources myself and compiled a lot of information on this topic on my blog. First, I provided a general overview, which I’ve transcribed here, and then I analyzed techniques such as augmented chords and modulation, secondary subdominants, dominant chains, chromatic thirds, (traditional) linear techniques, irregular resolutions, and so on. Not to mention that Romanticism is a vast genre and that each composer, moreover, has their own peculiarities. Brahms has nothing in common with Chopin. And let’s not even get started on late Romanticism. Some words from my blog: CHARACTERISTICS OF THE ROMANTIC PERIOD *New forms: symphonic poem, song cycle, music drama, *Study of the folk-heritage in music and imitation of folk-like melodic simplicity, *Predilection for exotic effects through employment of foreign national coloring or the folkloristic heritage (Chopin, Tchaikovsky, the Russians) [Chopin's more than 50 mazurkas represent one of the earliest examples of overt nationalistic sentiments in music], *Break-up of stylistic unity but more individualism, *Higher interest in melody and color rather than harmony and form, longer melodies *Higher dissonances and a freer employment of them, * More use of dynamics and articulations, * Rubato, *A more innovative treatment of chromatic harmony, *Extensive use of diminished seventh chords, *Modulation to distant tonalities, *Use of relations by thirds, *Greater interest in modal techniques (flat seventh [common to many modes], flat second [Phrygian], augmented fourth [Lydian]), *Assimilation of older elements, especially the revival of polyphony and Baroque forms under the influence of JS Bach [Mendelssohn, Brahms], *Thematicism plays a more important role in a sonata movement than tonality, *Thematic metamorphosis: A programmatic approach to composition often associated thematic material with a character or idea. Changing circumstances or emotional states were represented by the transformation of the thematic material (as in Faust Symphony or Symphony Fantastique), *Cell development technique in nationalist music, (music cell = small and melodioc design that can be isolated) *Use of a cyclic device: Material from one movement recurs in another (a technique related to thematic metamorphosis, idee fixe and leitmotive) (Serenade for Strings by Tchaikovsky; Mendelssohn's Eb string quartet; Beethoven's Symphony No.9), *Manipulation of sonata form, including mosaic and additive structures. More organic treatment of the form, *Postludes in the Lieder (especially by Schumann), *Unity on a large scale: merging of separate movements into a single span (Liszt's Sonata in B minor), larger instrumentations, *Finishing a minor mode piece in major (from darkness to light): Egmont overture, Symphony No.5 & 9 , Piano Sonatas Opp.90 & 111, and the second act of Fidelio by Beethoven; Schumann's Fourth Symphony; Franck's Symphony in D minor; Brahms' s First Symphony. *Intense energy and passion, dramatic opera,

I think OP wants to learn about the harmonic tendencies and practices of Romantic composers rather than chromatic harmony more generally, which covers a lot of styles, hence the choice of "Romantic" over "Chromatic". As for learning this style of Harmony, I highly recommend analysing works from the period (as others have suggested) or (if you're lazy like me) watching YouTube videos analysing works from the period.

Me personnally, I found Beethoven useful as he was on the cusp of the classical/romantics eras. One really good example of his work is movement 1 of Moonlight. The fact that the middle voice is just arppegios makes it very easy to identify the chords and harmonies. Mendleson's keyboard works are also amazing for voice leading. If you're thinking about more Rach/Debussy impressionist works, I've found that the complexity and 'romanticism' of their works is more so in the rhythms. Don't fight me, just my opinions.

Guide to the Practical Study of Harmony (Dover Books On Music: Analysis): Tchaikovsky, Peter Ilyitch: 9780486442723: Amazon.com: Books Modulation (Dover Books On Music: Analysis): Reger, Max: 9780486457321: Amazon.com: Books Schoenberg has two: Theory of Harmony and Structures of tonal harmony Harmony and voice leading and tonal harmony: both are used at the undergraduate level. Theory and Analysis, the musician guide is also used too. Remember books can take so far. You have look at examples and analyze works. Composers: Beethoven, Schubert, Schuman, Chopin, ect. All of these learned from those before composers before them. Beethoven learned from Haydn and Crenzy. Crezny who taught listz!

Romantic harmony is a subset of function harmony. Depending on your budget, I can recommend several books.