First of all, congratulations on meeting the submission deadline. This competition was a real challenge, and despite the two-month timeframe, only half of the participants who originally planned to submit a composition actually finished their work! Melodies Themes Motives and Harmony Chords Textures: There is a distinctive motif introduced by the English horn in measures 3–4 that runs through the entire piece in various variations. Other motifs serve to create a kind of counterpoint in the “rich” sections of the string accompaniment, while other homophonic and rhythmic passages feature an interplay between “pizzicato” and “arco,” resulting in a varied texture. The harmonies are „friendly“ and I like that there is sometimes some „spice“ with dissonances. Form Development Structure Time: Even though I can’t identify any specific traditional form, such as ABA or rondo, the piece is nonetheless structured into, shall we say, “episodes,” which makes it more distinctive than other submissions that consist of an “endless” flow of motivic material. Originality Creativity: It was creative, not only to portrait a landscape as a „still life“ but telling a little story, the „lamento of the shepherd which lost (hopefully only one of) his sheep“. Especially the „coda“ (from mm. 89 on) reminds me of this lamento – while, fortunately, not in a deeply sad way, but in a somewhat humorous one! Score Presentation: The score is clean and easy to read. Instrumentation Orchestration Playability: The choice of using a string quartet as accompaniment and the English horn as the solo instrument gives the piece a rich, pastorale mood. I think, there are no playability issues. Execution of Given Challenge: The challenge of depicting a landscape and thus creating an image in the listener’s mind’s eye has been met with great success. Moreover, you successfully avoided the risk of creating an endlessly meandering flow of sounds by using simple but memorable motifs and a variety in the texture. Taste: I very enjoyed it with its calm and, at some passages, humorous character. Melodies Themes Motives Harmony Chords Textures Form Development Structure Time Originality Creativity Score Presentation Instrumentation Orchestration Playability Execution of Given Challenge Taste 9 9 8.5 9 9 9 9 8 Average Score: 8.8125