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Hi everyone! This small collection of pieces I wrote that explores the concept of the lullaby from different perspectives: -The first piece uses more active and independent voices while still preserving the gentle character of a lullaby. -The second takes a more traditional approach, focusing on simplicity and a singable melody. -The third explores a more dreamy and suspended atmosphere, aiming to capture the feeling of drifting into sleep. -The fourth takes a darker direction, attempting to evoke sadness and longing through a slow, hypnotic atmosphere. Timestamps: 00:00 Lullaby I 01:05 Lullaby II 01:55 Lullaby III 03:30 The Last Lullaby YouTube link Score Once again I would like to thank you for giving me your time and valuable feedback that keeps me going and improving everyday! I couldn't be happier that I discovered this forum! Lullaby G Major.mp3 Lullaby in F Major.mp3 Lullaby in F Minor.mp3 Lullaby C Major.mp3 Lullaby C Major.pdf Lullaby G Major.pdf Lullaby in F Major.pdf Lullaby in F Minor.pdf

I’ve listened to two of them; I’ll listen to the others later. The one in C strikes me as almost perfect. It’s harmonious and has that lullaby feel to it. I just think the two-part section from bar 23 onwards has a sequence of parallel fourths that I’m not entirely keen on. I think what you’re trying to do is complete the chord. The other one sounds less like a lullaby, but I think it suffers from something similar. At certain cadential points, there are successive fourths (doubled, at that) which don’t quite sit right with me in this sort of piece. The thing is, in something so delicate, with such pure lines and drawing on the legacy of counterpoint, all this stands out a bit.

LoL .. I really don't know and can't say. The judges at these things could be much stricter than our community here on Young Composers. Your rhythms - you have a characteristic way of meandering up and down and you can't resist the inclusion of occasional triplets LoL

Hi @UncleRed99 ! I think it's a very nice and sonically pleasing work! The inclusion of Taps in the piece (albeit with liberal artistic license) enriches the message of the piece being a dedication to those who died on D-Day (probably the most gruesome and intense engagement in WWII). I think I could compare you to Brahms in a way, because Brahms in his harmonic structuring of his pieces was so dependent on 3rds and 6ths (something he also had in common with Percy Grainger). Your music on the other hand is very suspension-heavy, constantly creating those major and minor 2nds that rub and resolve pleasantly to major or minor sonorities. I think you should be weary of this however, since this style of writing for brass is very common in the DCI (Drum Corps International) universe and doesn't win you points for originality, creativity or style. Although I would argue that you do have a certain personal style that is recognizable. Thanks for sharing!

Hello @Alex Weidmann, Congratulations on this fantastic-sounding orchestration of this beautiful piano piece! Even though I’m more familiar with pieces for solo piano and am just at the beginning of my “orchestration career,” I have to admit that the orchestrated version is calmer and gentler than the piano original, where the difficulty of the piece remains perceivable, even in a professional recording. Having an entire orchestra „at its disposal“ gives the chance to create seamless transitions between the various passages and moods from one instrument to another, and – as I’m now also experimenting with orchestration examples, I’m always astonished how well the different instruments blend together, even though they have such distinct timbres on their own. This is a very interesting topic. Having arpeggios in a piano piece tempts one to utilize the harp for that passages. But as Luis demonstrated in his fantastic example, this can be achieved in a more natural way for the orchestra by distributing the arpeggio among several different instruments. However, the „arpeggios“ in this Elegy are real slow (in eight notes), somewhat more in a kind of „broken chords“ which are even written out in full in the original piano score. But what to do if arpeggios in the piano piece are “faster”—that is, block chords preceded by the arpeggio symbol, played the way a harpsichordist would (i.e., with a gap of 32nd or even 64th notes between each note of the chord)? I struggled with that problem in my own orchestration example, in which I tried to achieve the arpeggiated piano texture by distributing it among pizzicato strings, sometimes percussions (vibraphone and glockenspiel), while also retaining much of the original piano notes for the harp. In a „second layer“, the voice leading was then „doubled“ by the remaining „singing“ instruments (woodwinds, brass and some violins). Concerning the usability of the key of E-flat minor for an orchestra, there have been interesting discussions in this thread (and also here in@danishali903 ‘s Nocturne No. 1 in E Flat Minor by Gabriel Fauré (Orchestrated) https://www.youngcomposers.com/t50225/nocturne-no-1-in-e-flat-minor-by-gabriel-faur%C3%A9-orchestrated/ ). The arguments that transposing the piece could make it more playable—for example, for string instruments—cannot be dismissed out of hand. However, as long as there is no actual performance, I would hesitate to transpose the piece to D minor or even E minor. Although there are no longer any physical characteristics distinguishing the various keys since the introduction of the equal-temperament system we use today, there is nevertheless a strong historical and psychological connection between certain moods and their respective keys, a connection that has been “followed” and repeated by numerous composers over the past few centuries, especially in the romantic era. One can even go back to Bach’s Welltempered Clavier where we have the wonderful E-flat minor prelude (in the first book) which is a perfect example for the mood of a „Nocturne“ or „Elegy“, whereas the pieces in E minor are much more „harsh“ and therefore bear the absolute contrasting characteristics. Wieland

TampaBay.pdfTampaBay.mp3So.. I am currently working on a second submission for another call for scores (2/2 now. Submitted one for another competition last week). I would appreciate some feedback on the current progress of this score as it is. I'm looking for answers for: Voice leading; have I been effective with creating smooth transitions between the chords, and leading tones into the different sections? If not, where could I improve this? Form; is the form, starting points & destinations easily distinguishable, enjoyable to follow and effective in the narration of the depicted theme? How could I better write for texture, at and beyond the C rehearsal marking? The score is a tribute and homage to the lives lost during the allied offensive in Germany, kicking off on D-Day in June of 1944. You'll see my call-back to Taps, in a variable manner, near the end of my current stopping point. Enjoy listening & reading along, and I look forward to the feedback I may receive :)

I have noticed that I love me a good set of triplets. Breaks from the steady 1-2-3-4, or 1-&-2-&-3-&-4-& rhythms that you get in the common X/4 time signatures, without deviating from the familiarity of it. Can't help myself. xD I also noticed that I tend to use add9 and 2 chords quite often, both in major and minor. with the occasional major 7th sprinkled in for good taste. I'm going to try and compare my scores, one of these days, to find out what my ear does when I'm composing, because I tend to just follow through with writing what feels right, while stopping to make educated inferences on what would be most effective moving forward, before reverting back to letting my ear lead the composition again, while the cycle repeats until the end of the score. I 'spose I have some reflection to do xD

This track was not found. Maybe it has been removed :(

@Luis Hernández Thank you so much for listening and for the feedback! Totally get where you're coming from! While writing these, I kept trying to maintain fairly strict counterpoint, but I found that when both voices became too active, the music started losing some of the calmness I wanted from a lullaby. So in several places I made the second voice more of a harmonic support rather than an equally independent contrapuntal voice. I also found that stepwise motion was really important for the sense of calmness I was going for. So sometimes i prioritized that over strict counterpoint, which led to some of the parallels you noticed. I probably could have found a better balance between the two! And again thanks so much for listening!

When it comes to personal style, as a composer, it is hard to describe what that style would be. Yes, I compose ensemble pieces (rather solo or chamber) or full orchestra, too. However, period style is not going to be same. The term best fits me is "polystylist". This means I could possibly write in different styles. For instance, my Halloween piece was written for string quartet but the style 20th century. (note; I could have written a serialism written for that competition...). Currently, I working piece that sounds neo classical for the next competition. Joe Hirashi was the inspiration for the piece. My personal taste is open book. Heck. George Leigti works are always fun to listen to. And who does not want to listen a post tonal composition that has clusters and other modern jazz. :) The problem is...midi can not play back alerotical boxes and clusters. Only live musicians can. Thus, that is what trying figure out, next. How to have play back in score. (maybe use a daw?)

If you limit yourself to one style, you might restrict yourself, and make it harder for modern audiences to enjoy your work. The modern audience today still attends orchestral concerts. But the programs that orchestras schedule are mix from classical, romantic, and 20th century composers...and some times music from other media.

🎷 𝑯𝑨𝑷𝑷𝒀 𝑯𝑶𝑼𝑹 𝑨𝑻 𝑩𝑨𝑹 𝑱𝑨𝒁𝒁 HAPPY HOUR AT BAR JAZZ.mp3 HAPPY HOUR AT BAR JAZZ by Mavell.pdf HAPPY HOUR AT BAR JAZZ.mid

I completely agree with this. The thing is, when you’re learning, I think it’s good to explore and delve into a wide range of styles, given that we now have the resources to do so. Of course, it’s a process that, depending on each person’s circumstances, may never end. I think the level of commitment plays a big part here. A professional composer is not in the same boat as people who compose as a hobby (and do so whenever they can). Honestly, as I’m in that second group, I don’t think I’ll ever have time in my life to define a narrow circle of influence. That doesn’t mean, however, that when I set out to write something, I do so within a framework I’ve defined beforehand.

That’s true. Although I’m not sure what implications there are in music being a form of communication. I believe that music is, if anything, a metaphorical language. But the meaning of what it might convey is highly subjective. I certainly don’t believe that innovation has to come through new sounds or things like that. The expansion of the expressive techniques of many instruments has already been fully explored. I was referring more to innovation in terms of style, defined as the set of visual, technical and formal features that characterise a work, an artist or an entire artistic movement. And it is far more difficult to create a new language. As such, I believe there have been very few: modal music centred on a single note, tonal music centred on the triad, and, shall we say, the liberation from that centre in its many expressions. But who knows.

I personally think in developing a personal language, composers need to strike a balance between indiscriminate absorption of everything they find, and limiting themselves to an overly narrow range of influences. I know the process varies from composer to composer, but I think it's important to find that balance. It's different today, where we have more control into what feeds our composer's mind--we kind of need to carve a personal ecosystem out of today's chaotic musical world. I've found it helpful to have a diverse cluster of a few core influences as a reference point (Sibelius, Messiaen, Britten), and then kind of expanding outside that. Polystylism is a fascinating approach, though it's not one that works well for my own process. If I composed in whatever style interested me at the moment, I don't think I would find the motivation to complete any full pieces. Again, it really depends on the composer, but as for me, my music is usually an expression of a philosophical vision, or a way of life. I can't really separate the styles and systems from the musical vision that bred them.

Kyle , i think it depends on the judges " AGE-GROUP "............... so if there on the very edge of " Checking-Out " then they will "Expect" you to conform to "their " ideal, where as a Younger group of judges will want to be "Refreshed"

"Meandering Up and down".......................... that made me laugh out loud , or should i say LOL ?

With that being said, do you think I might have a shot at being the chosen work? 😅 I've only ever submitted work to 2 other calls before. This will make 4 now, once I submit this, after its completion... I'd also like to ask; what about my work makes it recognizable as "oh, yeah that's UncleRed's work, right there"? lol

Kyle, i think you've stepped out of your "Comfort-Zone" to explore the rest of the orchestra I see images with this track, that go further than the one "Theme-Category" personally i have to have a picture or film, in front of me , before i can start anything. The orchestra has a lot of different players, playing different instruments. Example : Breakfast - Lunch - Dinner - | " what do want today for your : Breakfast - Lunch - Dinner " ? chips-chips-chips .........................i want the orchestra to play | violins-violins-violins so the rest of the orchestra that doesn't play violins are .......REDUNDANT .......There just sitting there doing Nothing. so its so refreshing to hear you use The rest of the orchestra...... be nice to NAME the instruments your using in your productions.

My composition tutor has advised me that Eb minor is not a problem for professional or semi-professional orchestras. So I don't think you need to worry about the key.

Brilliant orchestration Luis! I especially like the combination of brass with harp glissandi on the final chord. (Might steal that idea myself!) I don't remember seeing all four horns combined onto one staff before. Is that common practice?

HI @Kvothe ! It's an interesting topic! To me style follows when you have unique things to express as you can never fake a new style if you don't have unique things to talk about in a unique way. I agree with @Luis Hernández that it's easiest to achieve a personal style by eclecticism, maybe that's my approach towards composing too. There's no one absolutely best style, but only the most suitable style to present your very own thoughts in a most unique way. Henry

Hi @MinGry ! It's interesting for you to end the piece in tonic minor which makes the title "corrupted". I think the voice leading is improved comparing to your first Sonatina no.1, but of course it can be further improved. My favourite movement is the 2nd mov, it really gives some Schubertian singing quality there. Thx for sharing! Henry

I'm actually surprised that so many people started so early... I started about 3 1/2 years ago, when I was 19. I actually started writing down miscellaneous doodles on manuscript paper when I was about 15, but none longer than about 12 measures and none having anything more than melody... and I only did it for a few months. I also jotted down one short melody while waiting for a 90-minute reaction in a chemistry lab my freshman year in college (age 18), about 6 measures' worth. The next time I picked up a pencil and tried to write anything was the summer after my sophomore year in college, when I was cleaning out my dorm room for the summer and came across a few pages of notes that I'd written down 4 years earlier. One melody came across as something that would sound appropriate for a brass solo (it ended up being the main theme in the 1st movement of my horn concerto). Less than a week later I decided then to actually turn my notes into a horn concerto, after meeting the horn player whom I would end up dedicating the piece to. From there, I basically picked up all my composition techniques along the way. Two years and two months later, I finished my first-ever composition. I've been pretty much composing continuously since starting - I just don't run out of ideas for new projects to start - but I'm still currently working on my 3rd and 4th compositions. I definitely started out extremely ambitiously... it means everything I've ever written is a serious composition or part of one, but the down side is that I have a hard time showing anyone a "representative sample" of my work when my entire output is smaller than most people's "representative samples".