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Hi @MinGry ! It's a really good attempt on a Classical sonatina style and I think you capture the style. I think for the 1st movement you can pay more attention on voice leading and harmony. In b.12 the G major melody is played on top of a C major chord which would be out of style. I think the modulation to G major in b.13 is not successful because you don't introduce V/V before modulating, you are only repeating the G major chord and suddenly have the music enters G major. Usually the music either have V/V chord before getting to V, or have an imperfect cadence ends with a medial ceasura before going to the dominant key. Forb.30, 32, 34 and 35 I will have F# instead of F natural of the semiquaver figure. Thx for sharing and I will check the remaning movements. Henry

hello folks, while I'm working on some exciting big projects, I found this absolutely heart-gripping piece by Sibelius. It instantly found a deep part of my soul. I wanted to arrange it as some parts could be instantly imagined in my head. Some others where hard to execute with such beauty as the original performance, but i wanted to try. Original: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vD7jiXWqhPs Arrangement:https://youtu.be/vZcKCGwQsrA The Spruce.mp3 The Spruce.pdf

Hi @Alex Weidmann ! To me this one is a fascinating work and I agree this one would be better in an orchestral setting when there are so much color available. You are very good at creating etheral color with the winds and harmonies as always. I love the color and timbral contrast brought in b.18; I'm not sure whether it will be difficult for the bassonists to play the wide leap though as I'm not familiar with the instrument. There are lots of really high notes for the strings: will you add artificial harmonics and con sordini to them as well? I think it will make it sound even more ethereal and mysterious. Really enjoy this one, thx for sharing! Henry

Hellooo, This is a very short galliard for keyboard with the diminutions written out, in a real performance scenario the diminutions would have been improvised by the player on the spot, but since i can't perform it and i don't have a harpsichord (yet) i just have written them note by note. Enjoy! LOB 107 Gagliarda Detta la Maritima.mp3

Hi @Carl Koh Wei Hao ! What a wonderful piece! I really enjoy it! This would really make a very good salon piece. The atmosphere is well created. I love the piu mosso parts which is clearly very idiomatic and Chopinistic! I also like the modulations in the middle part, especially the false recap in Gb major in b.163 and a magical return to Eb major in b.191! However I agree with @Grant Weep that the climactic phrase in b.198 should sustain longer, and then have the return of the A part in b.204 to be in a louder dynamic with more exciting rhythm beneath. I love that piu mosso in b.219! Thx for sharing this wonderful piece! Henry

Hi @MrBelegro ! The xylophone is well chosen for nostalgia of childhood! I think you can add some melodic parts to the piano as well, and on top of that xylophone can play 4 notes at most at the same time so it can be an accompaniment as well. Some countermelodies can be added too to allow an interaction between xylophone and piano. Thx for sharing! Henry

Hi @ferrum.wav ! I like the fast section in the middle, and I do think the composing technique is up to your standard of your past works. However I don't know why but I have to agree with @Some Guy That writes Music and @MJFOBOE that the piece is a bit monotomous to me. Maybe it's about the colour thing: previously your marvellous works are all orchestral pieces so there are a lot of colour to play with, but in chamber music setting you have much less color to change and have to focus much more on the overall structure of the piece. Although one thought is that the repetitveness and monotomy of the piece represents how the daily life works. It's my subjective comment of course and nitpicky tho =.= Thx for sharing! Henry

Hi to all. Have just made this orchestration of my own recently composed piano work. The score is designed for midi rendition only: so I haven't tidied it for real musicians. Think the piece actually works better as an orchestral work, but I'd be very interested to hear your opinions of my orchestration choices. I think some of them could be improved. Chills (orchestral version) #13.mp3 Chills (orchestral version) #15.pdf

Composed this one for an upcoming xylophone project and thought I'd like an opinion or two on it. Longing for Past Times.mp3 Longing for Past Times.pdf

You can use this thread as a feed of your progress. Then, when the piece is definitely finished and finalized you can either start a new topic or add the finished version to your first post by editing it. 👍

That's a separate technique. The xylophonist I wrote this for can only really play two mallet style. Four mallet is more common for vibraphone. As for the piano countermelodies or solos -- nothing is set in stone as for this composition, so I will add a few of those shortly. Thanks for your feedback and advice!

Hello everyone! This is my first complete sonatina in three movements: I. Moderato – A simplified sonata form movement that introduces the main musical ideas. II. Andante – A gentle minuet-like movement that provides a moment of calm. III. Allegro – A lively rondo that brings the sonatina to an energetic and satisfying finish! Hope you find some enjoyment in listening and all feedback is welcome! YouTube link ScI. Moderato.mp3ore II. Andante.mp3 III. Allegro.mp3 I. Moderato.pdf II. Andante.pdf III. Allegro.pdf

Hi @Some Guy That writes Music ! I am not gonna comment anything on scoring or engraving since it's my so weakness and @MK_Piano will comment on that anyways lol. I have zero experience in arrangement too so my following comment is merely subjective. I think the beginning can really be accompanied by a harp. Will you think of having the piece in C minor? Then the violins can play the melody with the lowest G, and I think that will be stronger than the viola melody unless it's played by its C string. i personally would want that intensity of tone with the lowest string of either violin or viola given how beautiful Sibelius's melody is, but it's just me 😛. I actually think of having the b.33 melody played by English Horn AND cello as well as I love the high register of cello haha. I think for the catastrophe in b.45 polyrhythm can be introduced with some triplets and sextuplets (and possibly quintuplts too) beneath the semiquaver figure as to capture that effect in the original piece. For b.59 I actually think of the melody played a single horn as in Brahms' 3rd Symphony to capture that solitude, since strings is always used before for the melody. Thx for sharing this arrangement! Also, thx for introducing this piece, it's fxxingly beautiful! Henry

Hi @L.S Barros ! I enjoy this piece! Will you add a Pavan before it too? Henry

Hi everyone! I took a break from composing for a while. Recently, I started composing again, and I would like to present my latest composition, an Impromptu, written between May and July 2026. Writing this piece proved challenging – choosing the right material was an endeavor, and most of the effort was spent on completing the coda section. Anyway, I hope you enjoy it, and I would love to hear your thoughts! Carl Koh Wei Hao

this is a bit of a vent piece and a self-soothing one. ive realized that one of my uses of composition is as means of escapism too. also keeping the titling convention of "To ...." of my woodwinds pieces. to look at your phone, to scroll through social media, to see strangers go out, doing activities with their friends and partners, to observe their poses as they look ever so content, to envy their posted achievements of their life, to fantasize how it would look like if you were out there having your own fun, to then have a dilemma of the smokes and mirrors of social media, to realize these posts are just highlights of their special days, to notice and understand their hidden struggles behind the pictures, yet, despite all of that, they still had those days. they still had the reminiscence of their experience. they still experienced them while youre here, stuck, as the world moves so fast around you, as you fantasize your own contentment alone. enjoy. feedbacks are welcomed. To Fantasize Contentment.mp3 To Fantasize Contentment.pdf

OH MY GOD !.........................I only saw a tarot reader a couple of days ago,and this card came up.

Thank you so much once again, Henry, for your beautiful comment and for listening so attentively. Your references to Schumann and to Last Year at Marienbad — a film by Resnais that I have long wanted to see, but have not yet had the opportunity to watch — were both flattering and deeply meaningful to me. So thank you as well for pointing me in that direction. My intention was indeed to follow as closely as possible the dreamlike path of a love that never truly came to life. As so often with Laforgue, everything unfolds in an ambiguous space, made up of appearances, half-truths, and the strange feeling that the beloved may exist only as a memory, or perhaps only as a dream. The ending seemed to call quite naturally for this musical treatment: the poet evokes the lost beloved — or perhaps love itself, who knows? — while life quietly continues its indifferent course. In French, Laforgue’s language has a very particular flavour, constantly oscillating between sublime images — “the eyes are azure carnations,” “the innocent mouth,” the elusive woman whom he tries to follow — and the wonderfully prosaic final line, “I shall go home without dinner,” which suddenly brings everything back to ordinary life. As for the orchestration, I wanted something as ethereal as possible. The harp seemed inevitable, together with violin "fragile" harmonics and a constant alternation between solo strings and the full ensemble. The ternary, circular motion also seemed essential to me: it continues endlessly, because life itself never stops moving forward, while the poet remains motionless in his grief. In any case, I am very happy that both the poem and the musical response I tried to give it were able to resonate with you.

Hi Alex, Very interesting harmony and movement. My only comment is the orchestration: Instead of doubling for example the Oboes why not give the second Oboe the English Horn line. Similarly, I would also move the Bass Clarinet to the one of the Bassoons. I don't really feel you need the need them in the orchestration. Mark