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Hi @Musicman_3254 ! First, one thing for the scoring: as this competition signifies It would not be appropriate to use divisi for the strings, unless it's for a string orchestra. The soundtrack and the scoring suggests that this piece is for a string orchestra rather than a string quintet, which could have been resulted in disqualification. The octaves sign aren sometimes not realized in the recording, and you should write the notes out instead of using the sign anyways, like those in the beginning section. But put that scoring aside, I quite enjoy your music here! I like how you achieve some varieties with a simple unchanging melody by changing the instrument to play the melody, the register, the thickness/thinness of accompaniment, I especially like the moment when you invite motions of semiquavers in b.50 which really makes the music more exciting. Use of tremolos are great too to enhance the drama. Maybe one suggestion is that you can vary more with keys and mood. The piece is in C minor with the same melody throughout the whole piece which is fine for me, but it will be more interesting if you can somewhat modulate to other keys. For example even with the original melody you could have a Eb major chord supporting it and make the mood change. Thx for sharing! Henry

Thank you, it's very simple. You need to have the MusicXML file and send it in. The panning and reverb are automaticaly set in by the software. However it's a bit of pain to get it to work the way you want, and sometimes (most of the times) it doesn't perform the lyrics the way they are supposed to.

I don't know how this app works, but it sounds pretty good. And the panning is good too. The atmosphere of the piece is very well done.

Hi my Jonathon @ComposaBoi ! I am so happy and overjoyed to know that you love my piece and even STUDY it!! How come I deserve this kind of respect and attention towards my little music pieces! Thank you so much!!! Yup I did chop some bars there since I find the original version a bit long for the transition and modulation, but I think it really is personal taste haha! I absolutely enjoy how honest you are. Believe me, I am the one who dislike my pieces most since I always finds tons of errors and ways to improve my pieces, and can seldom really enjoy my pieces in their own way, knowing that it could have been better. I check both version of the score and don't find the dissonance (augmented chord) removed. Can you specify which chord? I can explain on that: I feel like the original version with the dominant pedal in clarinet a bit too flat, so I remove the first G in the clarinet, replace it with pizz., and then change the second G to an Ab to make it sound like "is it really that peaceful?" by making it a bit more suspenseful, and hence the counterattack of the dominant preparation and retransition can sound more fiercing and dramatic. Yup it's just for fighting the playback, as with the actual grace notes the playback will cancel the whole slur and make all notes non-legato, so I compromise and write with that strange notation. But with a published score I will definitely have the actual grace notes back. And the inconsistency is due to my careless proofreading lol. Thx! Yeah I do pay a lot of attention in the breathing of the clarinet. And as always, all pieces can be better and mine is definitely no exception. Thank you very much! I guess this piece is different than the Sextet: this one is more about subjective suffering and despair, and the resolve of it towards the end, while the Sextet's suffering is less personal as it's more objective and worldly. You are right, I deliberately ruin what I create in the first movement. It's interesting to know that in the first 14 minutes of the movement (two-thirds), the tonic C minor only lingers for 2 minutes, so basically in the first two-thirds the music is under a subconscious influece of tragedy without knowing it, to my understanding. The positive things like beauty and serenity are all ruined without knowing why, until after minute 14 when all is suffering and the despair arisen to the level of conscious. The surprising return of the second theme in its original key is a last struggle, which is brutually defeated to achieve a more tragic effect, hopefully. The structure more or less is influenced by the film Mulholland Drive I guess. And obviously I am no Mahler. Haha I will still cut things out in movement 2, but I will retain all of the passage in mov 4 and will even add passages in mov 3! Stay tuned! Henry

Hi @Fruit hunter ! I thoroughly enjoy this entry! To me it perfectly captures a childhood memory and a landscape through a child's lens. The variety of the percussion instruments, the "wild" and apparent "lost" flow really enhances the cute and naive nature of a childhood. After all we all have been children and didn't we pick up what we have at the moment to play with each time? The lack of clear structure to me is not a detriment, but excactly why this music gives rise to our own childhood impression. I love your use of the three keyboard instruments as the main carrier of the melodic narrative, and use other instruments as "sound effect" which reflects the situation you were facing at that time. For example I imagined the out of nowhere rhythms as "naughtiness and curiosity", and clearly ocean drums are portraying raining or seaside scene, The confusing of modes (Phyrgian/Locrian vs minor) in the b.52 passage is very funny to me, and clearly the gongs signify what we bad boys did (tricks lol). And the end is clearly reflections when your mum shouted "oh we need to go home now!" (SAD) What I would suggest is maybe there are more linking passages between each episodes. Also, I would like the piece to be longer a bit because I really enjoy it. Thx for sharing! Henry

Hi @L.S Barros ! I think the part writing here is solid and I like your more antique mood with the constant picardy 3rd ending of each phrase and the use of Sackbut, as well as using a Dorian key signature for a minor key work. I think the piece does capture well a hunt in a broad mountain area. Thx for sharing. Henry

thanks very much! It is actually the museScore4 strings soundest (standard one with the premium package). One must pay the annual subscription to access, of course. But is otherwise extremely good value considering the whole package.

Hello The truth is, it’s very difficult to answer your question based on just one piece. And I wouldn’t attempt to do so anyway, as I’m not a professional qualified to judge something like that. What I can tell you is a bit about this piece. I’m used to listening to 20th-century music because I generally like it a lot. I don’t think this is atonal. It bears a certain resemblance to some works with dense counterpoint and a post-Romantic style, such as Richard Strauss’s Metamorphosen, differences aside, of course. I quite like the way it sounds. I also had a look at the piano version you have on YouTube. Although it seems more like a ‘working’ version than a realistic one, because there are things I think are impractical. The sextet version gives me the impression that it sounds a bit too ‘flat’. Although there’s a profusion of written dynamics, you don’t really perceive any great contrasts; perhaps that’s down to the sounds you used. The fact that the texture is very homogeneous throughout also contributes to this. A piece of this sort always seems to be striving for a grand climax.

With respect, your reply reads like something generated by AI. And I really wouldn't be surprised if the music was in fact AI generated. It asks a good question, though: "Is it objectively correct that the piece is problematic because it sounds like a continuous mass of dense, abrasive chords without a clear melody?" I did not suggest that my position was objective. I made it clear that I was coming from a perspective influenced by personal taste and training. The atonal and textual messiness without clear direction or distinct character in this work is unlikely to become more than an intellectual curiosity that only you can only possibly understand. This is not objectively problematic, but when you consider the taste of your audience, it can become so if it does not align with broader aesthetic taste. A composer that does not need to care about that is surely privileged but not of much value to the experience of others. And this inadvertently circles back to your question: "[are] my composition skills are strong enough to work professionally as a composer for instrumental music". In the professional landscape, you will need to compose in accordance with other people's vision.

Very interesting stuff! I don't often hear people having a crack at renaissance music. I'd be interested to hear where you learned this art. I liked it a lot!

Well, I am a composer, professionally for films. Used to do games the better part of 20 years ago, now I am currently working on films that will be doing festival tours in North America this year before going to streaming and such. Some of my current projects have actors from TV series like "Billy The Kid", "The Last of Us", and more as well as Emmy-winning special effects teams who have worked on films like "Sonic The Hedgehog" and "Child's Play". The reason I preface with that is to say: I don't have the career of John Williams (yet), but I'm not entirely a nobody either, so I am probably qualified enough to give you some honest advice and feedback. I could write you an entire essay, but I will try to keep this as short as possible: Firstly, if you want to be a professional concert composer, then no matter how good you are, that is extremely rare in today's world and to be honest: It kind of always has been. Historically, most works were commissioned by the church, aristocracy, etc. for some reason or another. So, if you were aspiring to simply write music for live performance or albums of orchestral music and make a living on that...I'm sorry to say the odds are astronomically small. Some will suggest you compose for video games, but speaking from experience only a handful of composers have that entire industry locked down. Getting a job that pays ANYTHING in video games is hard to come, the games take years to develop now, everything is a buyout deal, cancellations of entire projects are normal, and this all translates into relatively low annual income even on "AAA" games. Where the real money is in being a composer today, and for the last 40 or so years, is in television and film. Especially long-tail income in the form of royalties and licensing fees that accumulate over decades. Now, to the meat of your question: My brutally-honest answer based on the piece you have shared is "No". If you wanted to compose for films, especially if you have no DAW or MIDI mockup skills, I'm sorry to say it would not cut the mustard for even lower-level indie shorts. Very few musicians to be honest have what it takes to be a film composer, even a middling one. There is a massive list of skills, that take decades to build up, just regarding music and its production before one could confidently score a film. I can honestly say that even 8 years ago, I don't think I would've made much of a film composer, and I had already been writing music for bands or games for years by that point. Not only must you be able to write memorable themes, which this piece does not demonstrate, but you must have a thorough knowledge of orchestration, mixing, MIDI mockups and recording; advanced composition theory that involves: counterpoint, various unusual scales and harmonic progressions that are not typically found in popular music (or even a lot of older orchestral music for that matter), experience with synthesizers, creating realistic mockups, structure that works with a clear emotional arc, writing effective short pieces, writing effective long-form pieces, etc. And this is before we even get into: You have to understand how all these musical devices can relate to linear story-telling and emotion. You have to understand "film" at least as much as you understand "music". There's "composing music" and then there is "composing music that tells a story". You also must be able to be an effective business man. You have to get out there and make friends with directors, producers and editors. Attend festivals and build genuine working relationships with people and be very easy to work with. 99% of composers stumble big time on this one. And one of the hardest things of all is that you have to be extremely-reliable. On a film, and god knows on a TV show, you do not have time for things like writer's block. You need to know theory, composition, orchestration etc. like the back of your hand to be able to write on average 2 minutes of finished music per day to get the job done on time. Not being on time on a film or TV show would be absolutely catastrophic for that studio and I'm not joking when I say that being late would ruin your entire career and cost people potentially millions of dollars. Now bear in mind, on a film you might have just two or three months to write the score. On a TV show a matter of days or weeks per episode. You must be absolutely certain you could deliver on that. The composer is often the very last major person involved with a film aside from the sound mixer and maybe colorist. It is generally the case that the score has been recorded and finished just weeks before a film hits theaters. It is for all of the aforementioned reasons that age 44 is considered "young" to be working as a professional composer in film and tv. Studios and directors are placing an enormous amount of trust on the composer. So most film composers started composing at very young ages, and spent decades in music, honing their craft, making connections and essentially "proving" themselves before anyone trusts them enough to score a film and pay them good money to do it. John Williams, the most successful and iconic film composer (and probably just composer of the 20th century tbh) was already just about 50 years old when he did Jaws and Star Wars. So unfortunately, in the most profitable avenues that I am aware of for being a composer, I don't think you presently have the skills, musically, yet. That is of course fixable, but what you must ask yourself is if everything else that goes with it is something you can do and your personality is a good fit for. Another thing is, I'm not sure how old you are right now, but age is also a factor. Deciding you want to become a professional composer in your 20s is more practical than starting in your mid 30s, for example. Hope this has been of some help. Good luck.

I’m trying out this software that ‘sings’, and perhaps it’s time to get started on a composition I’ve wanted to write for a long time. This is a test to see how the orchestra (with its rather unconventional choice of instruments and sections) fits in with the harmonic system I’ve used, the vocals, and the mix of English and Latin. Is it worth it? Preludio.mp3 Preludio.pdf

OK, I'm currently trying out Cantai + Dorico. I've only been using it for a short while, but it's already working as it should; at first it was a real headache.

A very good idea. But the piano part isn’t very idiomatic. Especially in a style one would expect to be ‘romantic’ from Keats.

Thank you! I'm specialized on renaissance and early baroque writing! For about learning it i probrably learned by listening to a lot of music and copying scores, so i learned all myself! I also watched tons of youtube videos about it.

In Answer to your Original Question .............i would say : Can YOUR Music be composed to " FIT " A Film ?............. If it can , Then the Answer to your Question is : Yes https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lust_for_a_Vampire

Hey My Chee, I quite like the moment as well, and yeah it could have been a waltz, which indeed there are some waltz moments in the movement, tho not with this theme (for example in b.169, 315 and 361). That's good news to hear haha. It's absolutely ok to have something you don't like, since probably I am probably the one who dislike my pieces most, finding all sorts of errors and holes in them. I am working! (Tho not this week as I am ill all week) Henry

I tried to make this as solemn and expressive as possible. This was made using musescore here is the pdf. here is the link I hope you enjoy! sunset-suite-in-c-minor-musicbro456.custom_score.mp3

Hi @TristanTheTristan ! There's nothing fugal here but it's definitely Chinese. Sadly there are no available soundtrack for dizi and erhu, as if they are used it will for sure enhance the unique color of the piece! Just like @Kvothe said the piece is too short, as the compeition requires an entry to have a minimum time of 3 minutes, while here it's not even 2 minutes long. I like the heterophonic nature of the piece, and I think you can have added more details in it like dynamics and slur markings even it's for Chinese instruments. To me it sounds like a typical Chinese music with its pentatonic harmony, maybe you can add some contrasting episodes so that the music will exceed 3 minutes mark and make it more interesting. Thx for sharing! Henry

Hi @therealAJGS , I would be regret to say that this one is a less competent piece in this competition. i don't quite think the music captures the landscape of a rainy weather to me. The scoring of this piece is not as polished as other entries, as the music to me is in B minor but there are many unnecessary accidentals in the score without a key signature. The flow of the music is less moving as well, sometimes it just stays without moving forward, especially in passages when there is only one instrument lingering, Even though it may be harsh for you to receive comments not so positive, I hope you will take it as a learning opportunity! Thx for joining the competition! Henry

This is my submission for the Landscapes competition. For my landscape I have chosen this photo I took a few years ago while on vacation on Whidbey Island, which sits on the Puget Sound near Seattle. It's written for Oboe, Bassoon, and Harp. I wanted to capture the quiet, stillness of the moment with music that is very simple and delicate. Morning On Whidbey Island.mp3 Morning On Whidbey Island - Score.pdf

Hi @BipolarComposer ! I really really enjoy the serene atmosphere portrayed by traditionally pastoral double reed instruments. The combination of them with harp definitely enhances the pastoral mood. The sparse spacing, rests and register really gives peace and thoughtfulness to the piece. One strange throught: I imagine the piece would be even more serene by having the bassoon played a Chinese Dong Xiao and oboe by an alto flute, as there are many lower register for the oboe which would sound unnecessarily strong with a low register oboe. Another thought is that, even I enjoy the serene mood very well, maybe you can invite some contrast in between, For example like @Kvothe suggests, you may write some passages with harp playing wider and stronger chords. Also to my observation, the bassoon never really plays its strong lower register which would make some more powerful passages. With more contrast the serene mood will sound more treasured to me. Thx for sharing! Henry

Written for the 2026 spring Young composer competition this work for percussion quintet features a wide range of natural and man-made percussion instruments to represent the integration of man and nature. Few years back me, and a few of my friends decided that it would be a good idea to cure our boredom by bringing a already busted up child size guitar meant for learning and to "" sacrifice it into the woods.'' the reservoir is a large body of water near where I live so it was a short distance, which then led to an easy walk into a bunch of colonial ruins where we laid the guitar and watch it rot away. Far deep in the reservoir lays a broken destroyed child size guitar that my sister got for her birthday as a child or something like that it’s been ever since sitting around around in the house and had transfer locations from her room to the living room room to the my room to the wilderness it’s final resting place. My sister never had been fond of performing music in her life. In fact she is quite horrible at it so my parents smartly in intelligently got her a low quality guitar anyways fast-forward a few years later, and I am now experimenting with multi instrumelity. However, though I got fond of extended techniques, playing it like a hammered dulcimer and even bowing the thing after me becoming friends with the lead guitarist to my modern day chamber band sort of situation, he starts to play it and at that point it only had two remaining strings. We all anonymously decided that we should bring it to the reservoir maybe hide a secret note in it after all the band was just a bunch of board teens, wanting something interesting to do with our lives, so what ended up happening was we snuck into the Reservoir found a foundation of an old colonial house and threw the guitar in it other than impact damage ever since the guitar has been rotting away however, though quite often me and my friends still visit it’s resting place only to see it in more final pieces I’m pretty sure I got rid of the note since it had some secrets that I do not want people finding and still to this day. It’s been resting there ever since. Percussion five has a lot of handmade instrument specifically for this work . The alcoholics shekere; is just a bucket with crushed up beer, cans, or soda cans is meant to be played in a similar style to a traditional shekere . the facidrum; faci- Latin for bundle, a bundle of resident sticks attached and tied up to a frame . Chopping block; a semi resonant piece of wood meant to be played like a table and a practice pad All of the other instruments should be self-explanatory Keep note that since because this was written in musescore bunch of playback loopholes has been exploited, although that there are more than five staves these are to represent each instrument in the set up rather than the actual part parts of represented by the groups that are bracketed. This is to create custom percussion set ups, and to satisfy an easier workflow with sound fonts. ' Sacrificed to the wilderness.mp3 Sacrificed to the wilderness.pdf

Hiihiiii!!! This is my submission for the Spring 2026 Landscapes Competition :) For my landscape, I've chosen the mountains of Zhangjiajie, China. The first time that I saw these mountains, I was awestruck by just the sheer scale of them. Massive peaks and towers, overgrown with centuries-old moss, reaching beyond the clouds. Really just gorgeous. I wanted to try to write about them. The piece starts off zoomed outwards, depicting the sparseness of the clouds, until eventually, a melody begins to creep towards the first real theme--which I call the garden theme. The focus is on the garden now, zoomed in, it's a sort of natural oasis along the side of one of the tall mountainous pillar. It's beautiful, lush, full, until the garden begins to die as winter comes. The harmony because sparse and vague again, with large spontaneous gusts of wind... just very dry sounding overall. That is, until months later, the clouds darken, promising a heavy storm. Anticipation builds, until eventually, rain comes pouring down, so densely that it's almost like a wall. It's the first rain of spring!!! After the rain settles down, the garden comes to life again with the re-entry of the garden theme!! The piece ends as the focus zooms back out onto the clouds, and the tension finally resolves again. My goal with the piece was to try to represent the life cycle of the plant life out in the setting of Zhangjiajie. I hope you all like it !!!! AmidstTheCloudsAndFlowers.mp3 AmidstTheCloudsAndFlowers.pdf

Hi @InstrumentalistElle ! I really enjoy listening this entry. To me I love your concept here that you submit a descriptive music just like a portrait, rather than a narrative music. This makes this entry really fits for this particular competition. The constant use of artificial harmonics really enhances the mysterious and sublime quality of the Zhangjiajie mountains. To me this entry is more moody and descriptive in nature, hence it is somewhat unfair to have a low score for melody, as I think the variety of timbre and mood and hamronic color completely compensates the less noticable melodic element. I love the harmonies throughout the piece, its non-triadic nature definitely provides some eerily beautiful sound which fits the mystery of nature. I also enjoy the occasional non-harmonics passages, it really contrasts well with its own earthly character as you usually use the lower register of the instruments for the melodies in these parts, comparing to the heavenly harmonics passages. Also you use register really well. By means of register you portray a narrative, rather than relying on melodic materials. That's really great job! Thx for joining the competition! Henry

Fair enough. But Henry did mention "It's a work in four movements". But the way he has time stamped it on the video does indeed suggest it's a single movement. I guess where I was coming from initially regarding the time is that we share music on here mainly for feedback, right? The longer a work, the more onerous that becomes and so that feedback may become more general and less targeted to actual technique. The most detailed feedback I have given people on here relates to relatively simple music composed by beginners. None of this is relevant to Henry's music, here; I am just offering my reflections.

Hello These two pieces sound fantastic. I really like the contrapuntal style of the first one. It’s also a pleasure to see that the scores are so well-crafted, both in terms of their appearance and the dynamics and accents. Also, the sound library looks brilliant – may I ask which one it is?

Btw, this IS only one movement, and 21 minutes is a perfectly acceptable length for a romantic-style sonata form movement. Not everyone has the attention span of an ipad kid.

Hey Henry! I remember when you originally posted this piece on this site, and at first, I couldn't get past the awful instrument sounds, but I knew there was something great hidden behind those ugly sounds. So, what I did was I opened the score and I opened musescore 3 and I copied it by hand (only got through movement 3). Doing this, as well as listening to the older versions and reading their descriptions, really helped me to understand the structure of the piece, and its philosophical journey. And the piece is really masterfully conceived, especially structurally. Now there were issues with it, in particular, being a tonal piece, it had some counterpoint issues, and the instrument parts weren't written the most idiomatically either, but these issues you addressed in this revision. And this revision has its improvements, but... I fear it comes from an idea that the original was somehow lacking or "not good enough." I'm going to be honest; I still very much prefer the original version. I listened to the revision a few times now, and some of it just kind of disappoints me. I felt like the modulation into the second theme being shortened wasn't a necessary change and now feels abrupt to me. I thought the dissonance at m. 344 was really interesting without feeling out of place, and that was removed. What really disappointed me was the change you made to the retransition; why remove the dominant pedal for the beginning of the retransition and what is with that awkward clarinet note on 384? IMO it completely ruins the great momentum it had before. I'm also pretty confused why you notated many of the grace notes like this? Was it to fight the playback? It just really looks weird, and you're not consistent with it either, as you sometimes DO use actual grace notes. That being said, there are definitely some things I like. For example, adding pizzicato accompaniment to the cello solo in the exposition's transition was a good move, and I LOVE the additional chromatic lines at the end of the second theme. It's also good that you kept breath in mind for the clarinet and bowing for the strings this time. And overall, the counterpoint was improved (think it could still be better though U.U). I really do love this piece of yours, more than your sextet even, and I think you should be happier with it overall. Some composers here have criticized this movement for having too many ideas, being too long, etc. but I really think that they're just approaching this piece wrong. The piece is a philosophical journey, from point A to point B, and all the steps that you take are necessary for it to be as effective as it is. This movement in particular is tragic--it introduces several ideas and breaks them down. The second theme is derailed, the beautiful climax in the middle is derailed, and the surprising return of the second theme is derailed and corrupted. It's really effective, and really powerful and moving. You're like Mahler but for chamber music lol. I hope you appreciate my praise lol. And understand my issues with the revision may just be my own bias from having studied and loved this piece for so long. Seeing as the middle 2 movements, while also AWESOME, were imo the least polished, I look forward to seeing how you revise those :)

At first you can hear the opening bars, but then it does seem to veer off in unconventional directions within the classical fugues. But I don’t think that’s a bad thing.

The sheet music would help see what is actually happening. With respect it does not sound like a fugue, at least in how I understand how fugues work.

Of course, I didn’t mean it quite that literally 😅 Form and knowledge of music theory are obviously important, I just meant to say that the form I incorporate into my compositions isn’t always immediately apparent 🙂

Thanks for sharing. That is an interesting approach that most likely gives you considerable expressive freedom. Although I would caution against interpreting traditional harmony/voice leading as "strict academic exercise" - like something detached from the real world. If anything, those traditions emerged fundamentally around what sound we perceive as being pleasant and unpleasant. For composers of the common practice period, this became an natural language of sort; but today, you're right, it may seem an academic pursuit to write in a way that revives past traditions.

Hello, thank you for listening, I really appreciate it! I view music as something living and fluid, much like flowing water. Even when the structure is crafted beneath the surface, I prefer the form to avoid feeling obvious or rigid upon first listen. My approach, therefore, focuses less on strict harmonic formulas and more on movement, texture, color, and the natural evolution of musical ideas. While traditional harmony and voice leading remain important to me, I treat them organically and flexibly rather than as strict academic exercises.

This is a great idea. I like what you have done, too. Personally I would use less pizzicato as its use in Mozart's time is more restrained.

Thanks. What is your theoretical approach to composition? Do you think in chords, voice leading, traditional harmony etc?

Nice ideas Henry! Nicely lyrical. I do find your voice leading strategies at times in need of work, particularly in the bass. But I recognize that your conceptual approach may ultimately differ from mine. I would suggest that for such long works, that you post each movement separately. It could improve your engagement with the piece overall, as most people I don't expect to watch beyond 5 minutes.

Thank you.

This is actually quite beautiful. Reminds me of ambient video game music - running through the valleys of Cyrodil slaying goblins and fighting back the hordes of the overlord.

Good day, I had a listen to your work. It would really help providing info on your inspiration, intentions etc. Evidently - at least from the title - this is program music. What is everlasting Hegemony? Regarding the music itself, it is of a medium that I do not understand and as such I am in no position to judge its quality. That said, from the perspective of my personal medium (tonal music/common practice) I struggle to hear anything memorable. The music sounds like a continuous mass of crunchy chords without much pause at all or distant melody. This is a problem for me at least. I prefer art with clarity and a relatable structure.

The members have voted in this poll; Spring 2026 Competition Poll and have decided about the form and details of the next Young Composer's Composition Competition! As per the previous trend, this competition has no monetary rewards - only kudos and badges. Also in accordance with the results of the 2025 Halloween Satisfaction Survey, we are inviting the members/competitors to participate in the creation of the badge awards that will be dispersed at the end of the competition! So if you have any ideas for particular badges that would accord with the kind of music that will be submitted for this competition and the theme of this competition, let us know in the List of Manually-Awardable Badges thread and we will take your ideas into consideration! Please reply to this topic to declare your intent to participate in this competition! The winners will be determined by popular voting polls! Reviewing and Judging: The reviewing of the competition submissions will once again be spearheaded by our volunteer staff and those who wish to contribute their time and effort to reviewing the entries out of the goodness of their own hearts (and/or sense of fun!). You may use the Official Competition Reviewing Template, or jettison the template and review the submissions just like you would any other piece of music on the website! You could even make your own template! You will be rewarded for your efforts with "Ardent Reviewer" badges in three tiers: Featherweight Reviewer - for reviewing 33% of the entries Welterweight Reviewer - for reviewing 66% of the entries Heavyweight Reviewer - for reviewing 100% of the entries Thank you for whatever time and effort you're willing to give! Instrumentation: as per the poll, the members are free to compose for any kind of trio/quartet/quintet from a Pierrot ensemble to a kazoo trio to a quartet of Tibetan throat singers! Write for the serpent! You may use any combination of 3 - 5 monophonic or polyphonic instruments/voices. Pictures, Photos, Paintings: You may submit a picture, photo or a painting of the landscape you based your composition on. This is totally optional, but if you submit one, please do not use AI to generate your image. However, you may use a screenshot from a game. Or you can use a completely imaginary landscape. Duration: 3 - 7 minutes with a sweet spot of 5 minutes. Deadline: Tuesday, June 2nd, 2026 Entrants thus far: @Fruit hunter @MK_Piano @UncleRed99 @MrBelegro @Luis Hernández @Musicman_3254 @TristanTheTristan @Wieland Handke @L.S Barros @Some Guy That writes Music @therealAJGS @ferrum.wav @Monarcheon @InstrumentalistElle @mercurypickles @apple @BipolarComposer @ComposaBoi @HoYin Cheung @Oak @Brandon S Here is the submissions thread for the competition where participants are encouraged to post links to their composition (rather than posting their piece directly into the pre-existing topic - make your own dedicated topic so the members at large can review your music there): We are instituting a policy of not allowing any AI generated works in the competition. Because of this you will be required to detail how you created your piece and submit a PDF score or midi file for the perusal of the staff and members at large. Original compositions only. The submissions are final at the time that they are submitted to the competition.

Hey there. Here is my score of your entry. Entry: Padovana et Gagliarda Form: Here, I feel, the composition has created a strophic chorale structure. Each section of the piece of the composition is well peace and clearly marked. Even without a proper formal development, this baroque chorale (in 4 parts) stands on its own feet's. Score Presentation: L.S Barros' score did not show any engraving errors. It was presented in professional manner. The parts were labeled. Playability: This chorale is certainly playable for any level. The only technical issue that may happen school concerts. Young musicians are not familar with 3/2 meter. But that is not even something to worry about. Creativity: I appreciate the fresh take on chorale Harmony: The homophonic texture was well executed throughout this entry. I appreciate the modal mixture and other forms chromaticism that you used throughout and how you resolved them! Execution: this entry met the correct theming of challenge and was within given time limit. Taste: It was refreshing to hear brass chorale with this competition. Chorales are usually associated with voices. Here, we get to hear one with a brass quartet. Quartets provide a more emotional musical experience to the audience, imo. I felt I was actually listening to 4 brass players and not brass section. Thus, I enjoyed this a lot. Themes: Each section has a different unique theme that repeats. (noted: this is the nature of chorale) Average Score: 9.8 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 9.5 10 9.5 10 10

This piece of music did it’s a really good job, capturing the quietness and beauty of the given landscape. It’s not really my cup of tea, but it’s relaxing and it gives the atmospheric feeling that you’re actually there. Melodic material. 7.5 Chords and texture 6.7 Structure 7.4 Originality 8.2 Engraving 9.7 Orchestration and playability 7 Execution 9.86 taste 5.2 Total 7.69

Hello, I will do the overall judging of your piece. First, let me talk about the program notes and also your stunning picture out of curiosity though have you took this to yourself? Anyways, you give a very interesting concept so I’ll see how that ties in with the music and you’re very descriptive. I like to say at first that I enjoy the use of the artificial harmonics This gives a very alien in what I like to call crystalline atmosphere. Almost glassy in a weird good way. I also enjoy the dynamic use as well. As for the change structures, this is the only thing you really listening for so nothing is really a pallet cleanser however, though this is a five minute piece so there’s no need for one. Melodic material : 3.5 Harmony and texture: 8.3 Structure and development 3 Original creativity 7.56 Score presentation 9.79 Orchestration 8.9 Execution 9.04 Taste:7.9 This average is out to a 7.25

i love the texture in this. its very subtle but it goes really well with your description! it is imaginative in a way that i could visualize the imagery. for example the gusts of winds starting on b.28 using the dynamics, or the rain on b.52. the beginning usages of harmonics to represent the clouds and the subsequent ones are also pretty cool the string writings are lovely in my opinion, in the way that you took advantage of the different individual string timbres of the quartet. those low C string cello notes are powerful and prominent, especially on b.48 where, i think, it indicates the start of the "wall of rain" section contrasting the high register notes of the preceding section and finally, im fond of the way you use the variety of dissonances and added notes, it feels very effective and not over bearing that you're drowning in a chromatic porridge Melodies Themes Motives 5 Harmony Chords Textures 9 Form Development Structure Time 10 Originality Creativity 10 Score Presentation 10 Instrumentation Orchestration Playability 7 Execution of Given Challenge 10 Taste 9 Average Score: 8.75 final note: its peak.

😯 Wow... This piece really transported me there. Therefore an amazing submission, outstanding work. You seem like you may be a string player with your preference on hand position, and your pfp, but I still must say, this is some very difficult music to play. If I were to find out that a chamber group was going to play this, my first question no matter the group, would be if they could pull it off. But if I trusted the group, I would NEED to hear this.