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Kindly Interlect, I do not see how this holds any relevance to this thread or the whole of YCF. As a newer member to the staff, I must remind you to keep posts and comments oriented to their respective threads or forums. Unsolicited PNGs, links or other material not related to the forums is a violation of the YCF etiquette and can be subject to removal. Any subsequent comments not related to CrystalCanon and their thread will be removed for irrelevancy. Please funnel concerns in a direct message to a staff member.

@Lithl Hello I’ve listened to the music you mentioned by Jon Batiste and RDJ, as I wasn’t familiar with it. I think these artists have certainly chosen a style, but they haven’t created anything new – that is to say, a style of their own. There are loads of songwriters and composers who do this sort of thing, mostly by fusing styles or reinterpreting compositions. There are countless examples. From Stokowski with his orchestral versions of fugues and the like, to, for instance, Ben Lierhouse in the 2000s and his extensive discography, taking Wagner and infusing it with Cuban, Spanish and jazz rhythms, amongst others. Or, for example, Max Richter with Vivaldi’s Four Seasons. I think the examples you give follow that line of thought. And it’s fantastic music, of course. But the things they do or have done don’t introduce anything new. No compositional technique, or aesthetic… For example, the most recent composers (that I’m aware of) who have developed distinctive musical languages are Arvo Pärt and E. Rautavaara. Philip Glass, who developed his technique (which, according to him, isn’t minimalism) over decades. These are composers who are recognisable by their music. And on a different note, for example, Wuorinen is a fairly well-known composer (the opera Brokeback Mountain, etc.). But he uses dodecaphonism and serialism, which were invented over 100 years ago. There may well be other composers in this category whom I am not familiar with, of course. And I don’t think that’s a pessimistic view. Not at all. You can’t keep producing radical innovations all the time. And there’s no need to. In short, what I understand by ‘personal style’ has several levels. Is doing what you want or what you like a personal style? Well, all right then.

@Wieland Handke, your analysis is intriguing. I agree with you. That being the case, we would need to define Personal Style itself and categorize its types. For example, as Wieland mentioned with the YCF members, I think there are many people in this day and age whose personal styles can be recognized just by listening to them. I share your view on that point, @Luis Hernández. While everyone in this forum creates wonderful music, establishing a truly unique style is still difficult. Hmm, I wonder. I don't think we need to be so pessimistic about today's music scene. I think many musicians in this era have established styles that define who they are. For instance, in terms of "an individual style where you know who it is just by listening," Dorian Concept is immediately recognizable through his minimal compositional format. Jon Batiste is also very clear. If you listen to his recent work, such as "Black Mozart," his approach and sound are distinct enough that you can easily tell what he is doing. Also, I'm not sure what specific era you mean by "current music scene", @Luis Hernández, but I think RDJ (Aphex Twin) is still undoubtedly a composer with a "historically influential individual style"—that is to say, at the level of music history in 2026. While we shouldn't deify him thoughtlessly, considering his influence, his unique style, and the innovations he brought to that era, I believe he is undeniably worthy of appreciation. What are your thoughts on RDJ? A composer may establish a personal style, which is truly wonderful, but that doesn't necessarily mean it will become a Personal Style that leaves a massive impact on future generations. At any rate, while I generally agree with @Luis Hernández's opinion, I don't think we need to be quite so pessimistic about the current music scene :) I also agree that synthesizers have a low barrier to entry. Once you master the procedures, adding reverb to a sine wave allows you to instantaneously create an ambient piece that sounds convincing enough. The democratization of music is remarkable. Including technological advancement, it is a wonderful thing. (Though at the same time, it does result in a flood of not-so-good music.) Furthermore, establishing a personal style in this day and age is likely far easier when using synthesizers and similar tools. This is because, unlike orchestral instruments, a synthesizer allows you to use the sound itself as an element of your style. While subtle differences in timbre exist among violins, a violin is generally just a violin sound. (You could produce an even wider range of sounds by incorporating playing techniques like those of Helmut Lachenmann, though!) On the other hand, using a synth allows you to generate entirely different sounds from the same instrument, making it possible to create a unique sound. We must also be careful with the concepts of "easy" or "difficult," as they tend to foster the simplistic notion of which approach is superior. It is true that synths have a low entry barrier, but I feel they are just as magnificent as composing for an orchestra or classical instruments. Best, Lithl.

Hi @interlect , For sure we are not Gods, but we do have forum etiquette to follow: You may check out rule 2a and 2b: It's our responsibility to keep the thread on topic. I think except for you, the fable simile and that PNG aren't related to the topic at all and what it does is move other members' attention away from real discussion of a truly meaningful topic. I hate everytime when the forum etiquette post has to be quoted, because that means someone violates them no matter intentionally or accidentally, since normally the rules are followed even without knowing their existence. But if they aren't followed, we have the responsibilities to have you acknowledged. We really apperciates your time here, but make sure you follow the forum etiquettes so we can enjoy your longer stay here! Henry

Hello @elmarad40! I enjoyed the piece really being a „sweet nightmare“ concerning the contrast between the „sweet“ and „dark and mystifying“ musical motifs or themes. The first „theme“ (mm. 1-16) is indeed very pleasant. It reminds me somewhat of pieces written for the Christmas or winter season, in the sense of „Jingle bells“. Now (from mm. 17-31) it gets „broader“ and I would call that theme somewhat „hymnal“. Suddenly, the nightmare starts (mm. 33-48), it seems as the blood is going to freeze in one’s vessels. The fourth theme or motif (mm. 49-65) one could call „the battle“ since it reminds me of a film score – let’s say something like „Star Wars“ (even if I’m absolutely not familiar with movies …), ending with a general rest (mm. 65) – and the four themes return. I like the instrumentation, particularly the dramatic use of the „women’s choir“ in the „nightmare“ theme. Aside from that, there are just a few “minor details” or questions left: You would need four flute players to perform the melody and the chords in the „Jingle bells“ theme, just in the opening bars. In almost all of the timpani passages, I think I hear a snare drum instead (which itself has even not one note in the score).

I am FINALLY done with my piece

Hi all, My entry for the "From Nothing, to Something" Summer 2026 Composition Competition is a short mixed quintet called "Your dear beauty lovelier still". This was definitely the most challenging piece I have made: making something from nothing was by far the hardest thing I have done so far here. I couldn't find anything that would represent summer apart from giving this song the lyrics of the poem this competition is based on (Donc, ce sera par un clair jour d'été). Btw, since Musescore doesn't have any soundfonts that can sing lyrics, you won't be able to hear the lyrics in the audio. Here is the pdf I hope you enjoy 😁 your-dear-beauty-lovelier-still-musicbro456.custom_score.mp3

Hi All! :) This is my new composition, called Sweet Nightmare. It has dark and mystifying musical motifs with a surreal dimention added to them. I use many instruments of the orchestra along with female voice choirs. Welcome to your nightmare...the curtains are drawn, the light fades and you slip into your unconscious in order to face the surreal with a sweet taste... Enjoy! Sweet Nightmare SWEET NIGHTMARE SCORE.pdf

Thank you for your comment Mark. I will try the French Horn as well , i think it will fit especially the nightmare theme at around mm.33-48. There i currently use the English horn at an interval of a third above the main melody, but i am not sure that it fits well!

Not being a string player I can not add anything to the discussion. So I'll respond as a listener. It is a delightful work ... full of energy. It reminds me of French works at the turn of the century. Mark

I enjoyed your work .... a very pleasing work. I do have one observation wit the orchestration. Why the English Horn? In the Cacophony I feel it gets lost. Why not the French Horn instead? I also think it would add a bit more color. Mark

This is a lovely piece, @kaiyunmusic. It would be wonderful to listen to this while sipping coffee in the morning sunlight and gazing out the window! Or perhaps playing it quietly by yourself on an upright piano at night... that would be lovely, too! The piece itself isn't long, but it is really nice and deeply evocative. It creates such a peaceful atmosphere. Thank you for sharing! Best, Lithl.

Thank you so much @Some Guy That writes Music! that’s an incredibly generous offer, and I would love to take you up on it! I’m approaching this cycle at a very unhurried, deliberate pace, so it will likely be a couple of months before I have a polished draft ready for you to test/review. I will reach out via DM once I have a useable draft of the vocal part. I really appreciate your generosity, and look forward to getting your feedback down the road!

Thanks everyone for the constructive feedback! I have some learning to go, especially with notating music😆 @PeterthePapercomPoser I agree it should be 3/4 instead of 6/8. I don't know why I didn't catch that. The time signatures and notation always gets me. Thanks for pointing that out! @Grant Weep I am glad you enjoyed the piece and it's simplicity! Feel free to use it in your home video. All I ask is that my name, Kaiyun Music is credited to the piece. Thank you!!

My dear fellow composers, (exactly) a half year ago I presented my Fugue XIII in G flat/F sharp major. Today is the right moment to post the corresponding prelude: The prelude againPraeludium-XIII-F-sharp-major-with-coversheet.pdf has the Ukrainian national anthem as its central thematic background (as it also appears in the fugue as additional „subject“, and – as a reference to the date - today is the 35th anniversary of Ukraine’s independence). Here in the prelude, however, the anthem appears in the lightest key of F sharp major with an optimistic character, light and playful in 3/8 time. Some words about the structure or form of the piece: 00:00 (mm. 1-22) Exposition of the „summer“ theme: A joyful, exuberant and perhaps dance-like theme, with accentuated rhythms and chords, although being composed as five-part voice leading. 01:01 (mm. 23-50) The texture and rhythm of the „summer“ theme is continued, but somewhat more restrained in terms of dynamics. The second verse of the anthem is played in the upper voice. 01:43 (mm. 51-75) The key signature changes to G-flat major, initially creating a peaceful atmosphere, much like that of a playground. However, this tranquility is suddenly disrupted by dissonances and tritone steps in the bass, symbolizing the horrors of war. 02:23 (mm. 76-94) The fugue subject (“dona nobis pacem”) appears four times (tenor, mm. 76-79; bass, mm. 81-84; soprano, mm. 86-89 and alto, mm. 91-94), symbolizing hope and leading back to the key signature with sharps. 02:52 (mm. 95-114) Recapitulation of the „summer“ theme, now in pianissimo and in the key of D sharp minor. 03:31 (mm. 115-140) The repetition finally leads to the triumphant finale in the coda: The third verse of the anthem is sung, ending with a bright F sharp major chord after a minor plagal cadence, expressing confidence. I hope, you'll enjoy it. Wieland Praeludium-XIII-F-sharp-major-piano-steinway-b.mp3

Hello, What a wonderful piece. Obviously it's going to be a patriotic piece of music. I am assuming that you are Ukrainian and therefore, I am wishing your peoples the the very best during this very difficult situation for your country. I am not too knowledgeable on fugues, so I can't speak to the counter point. I had a listen to the Ukrainian national anthem and I can clearly hear the inspiration behind your piece. I have some minor degree of interest in listening to different anthems in the world. Most anthems are a bit more bombastic and simple. I think you've taken something more simple and really made it something more, while retaining the original spirit of the theme! Your explanations at the time stamps are very helpful. Overall the piece sounds very intricate to me. The sheet music is absolutely beautiful, you must have put a lot of effort into it! at 2:47, there is a moment which reminded me of schubert...so much so that I just had to look it up. I believe that the notes are very similar (schubert repeats the E 3x, you repeat it 2x) @ 0:24 of the below youtube video: Love the tremolo ending! Bravo!

That’s absolutely true. It all depends on what we mean by ‘personal style’ (or simply ‘style’). One thing is clear: everyone tries to find the language, the techniques, the systems, etc., that suit them best, and to write music within that framework. But I don’t think anyone on this forum can claim to have a personal style that makes them unique and distinctive. That doesn’t mean there aren’t excellent composers. In fact, on the current scene, I don’t know of any composers who have that sort of style. I know of plenty of music that’s based on previous stories, and it’s brilliant.

Hello @CrystalCanon, I noticed with appreciation that you’ve thoroughly read my last two posts and thus noticed the contradiction between what I said here in this thread—that one shouldn’t “try too hard to develop a personal style”—on the one hand, and my “recipe for a personal style” in the second post, on the other. But to be honest, I didn’t mean that ironically. Perhaps, however, I misunderstood what is meant by “style.” If “personal style” is defined as how one is perceived or recognized as a composer by “others” (e.g., the audience), then I wouldn’t worry too much about it, since one has little or no influence over that. On the other hand, I think it’s important to develop a “consistent approach” or a “recipe” that you feel comfortable with when composing, and that allows you to create your pieces successfully. That’s the kind of “personal style” I mentioned in my other post. But perhaps this is somewhat different from the ideas summarized and discussed in this thread—wouldn’t it be worth for an own topic?

I wrote this piece a while ago, I'm not quite sure why I haven't posted it yet, as I believe it is my best choral work so far. This is a dark piece in the latin liturgy, and I wanted to use it to imitate some late-renaissance styles, without really adhering the the rules strictly. I aimed towards a Gesualdo like harmonic progression, and in doing so I broke ALOT of renaissance writing rules. But the texture is interesting nonetheless. Let me know what you think! Also I added two files, one is a Cantai Recreation, which has some annoying imperfections, but actually attempts to simulate voices. I can't fix just about any of the issues, but I only got a month trial so I'm not gonna complain too much. Aestimatus sum cum Descendentibus in lacum. Factus sum sicut homo sine adjutorio, Inter mortuos liber. Posuerunt me in lacu inferiori, In tenebrosis et in umbra mortis. Factus sum sicut homo sine adjutorio, Inter mortuos liber. Translation: I am counted among those Who descend to the depths. I became like a man without help, Released among the dead. They have laid me in the lowest pit, In darkness and in the shadow of death. I became like a man without help, Released among the dead. Aestimatus.mp3 Aestimatus.pdf Aestimatus.mp3

A 7-voice canon I have been recently working on with the intent of following the rules of counterpoint while employing a somewhat unorthodox usage of extended harmonies and tonally-adjecent suspensions, featured heavily in the minor 2nd intervals produced by the maintained rhythms of each subsequent entry in the opening section. The text corresponds to Bible verse Matthew 28:5, translated as follows: "But the angel said to the women in response: 'Do not be afraid, for I know that you are looking for Jesus, who was crucified'." The addition of the initial "et" conjunction to the Latin text is not present in the Vulgate version of this passage, however its inclusion was deemed necessary to accommodate for the prosodic adaptation of the entire verse across the whole piece without disturbing the flow of the initial suspensions. The choice of the text was based around Bible verses mentioning angelic contact, and more specifically those containing the phrase "fear not"/"be not afraid" as a more secular reference to the niche Biblically-Accurate Angel meme trend which inspired the compositional concept at the core of this piece. YouTube video link: https://youtube.com/shorts/um0jb9Y8iJ4?feature=share Canon at the 2nd a 7 in F-sharp minor.mp3 Canon at the 2nd a 7 Et respondens autem angelus dixit.pdf

Hello Everyone, My name is Izaak Thoms, and I'm a singer. I've been a "professional" (as is in occasionally make money singing) for years at this point, and I am also right now an undergraduate singer in a collegiate program. I've sung with Grammy-nominated ensembles, and other accredited performers. I've performed 7 fully staged operas (and 2 working right now 2/26), both modern and traditional, most of which I was major role. I have worked with people from the MET opera, world class singers and conductors. I obviously wouldn't call myself an expert or master at my artform, but I would like to say I have a strong understanding of men's voices especially, but also all voices in general. I've been thinking about this for a while, and would like to just offer my years of work and experience to you wonderful composers. Hopefully those of you who are interested in using me as a resource, can ask me questions about the voice in solo and choral work. And hopefully give you all opportunities to be more successful. Here are three piece that I have performed recently, hopefully this gives you a chance to hear my voice: https://youtu.be/CsCuZRIvmWg (Rachmaninoff) https://youtu.be/bK-JrJFqgeA (Puccini) https://youtu.be/XBcOsTt4hyE (Rossini) Things off the top of my head that I know I'll be good at answering: formatting questions, range and tessitura questions, performance questions (concert and staged works), behind the scenes of preparation and performance. And if this thread gets popular enough, I'll likely edit this original post to function as a sort of as a tips and tricks so you might not need to scroll the whole way through.

Having transposed, yet again, one of my earlier fugues from C minor and coupled it with a previously unfinished suite movement, I now present this 2nd installment in my series of preludes and fugues in all major and minor keys. In spite of my current overconfidence, this project, the most ambitious I have as of yet undertaken in my compositional experience, will probably take an extensive while to fully complete, so any specific prospects on that regard should be taken with a grain of salt. It's easier said than done, and after all, since my fugues in minor keys thoroughly outnumber those in major ones by something of a tragic margin, breaching that gap will require time and effort aplenty. This one in particularly reminded me of the waning days of summer, and the following turbulent period in which most of us have to fall back into routine and working day customs. YouTube video: SoundCloud link: Enjoy!

In memory of the victims deceased in the February 6th earthquake, which has thus far claimed over 22,000 lives across southeastern Turkey and northwestern Syria. May their souls be welcomed safely into Heaven (or, given the fact that they are islamic-majority countries, into Jannah). It might be worth noting that this piece's title in French technically references a flood, which I preferred due to the overall chromatic feeling evoked by the key both the prelude and the fugue were rendered into. The prelude's marked rhythm, however, was meant to induce in the listeners a sense of shaking despair that often comes with natural disasters in general, both literally and metaphorically. YouTube video: SoundCloud link:

One of my earlier fugues in G minor that happened to be perfectly resonant with my latest prelude back to back. This piece's name in French means "The raging thunderstorm" and is (to me, at least) evocative of the drizzling rain amidst a particularly stormy day. I also happen to have created a SoundCloud account as of recently, and I will hereon begin posting the definitive versions of my best works therein. YouTube video: On SoundCloud: Enjoy!

Though not a fugue per se, I find this vaguely Purcell-ish sonata movement contrapuntally imitative enough to qualify as one of my personal favorite pieces in my production. I am rather unsure as to how a roughly two-minute long non-fugato movement with repeats is supposed to share ranks with my 2nd fugue in B minor, the Anno Domini 2020 fugue in G minor or the Halloween fugue in G-sharp minor, yet somehow my subjective unconscious seems to point in such a strange direction. Probably just me being nonsensically whimsical. Enjoy! Video link: Trio Sonata in F minor - Adagio. - YouTube

In terms of both contrapuntal devices and overall character, I would say that this fugue, composed almost a year ago, is among my best works, to such extent that, in my opinion, I haven't yet been able to outmatch it in any of my latter compositions. Enjoy!

Following a relatively long pause in my compositional schedule over the summer, I have once more set myself to work, and to my surprise, my contrapuntal skills haven't been as affected as I would have otherwise expected. Thus I have spent the Halloween eve composing this fugue, based on a previously abandoned yet still fairly recent subject. I would say I'm rather happy with how this one in particular turned out: four different pedal points, two stretti, and a number of episodes I haven't even bothered to count, perhaps fearing that I might come to unfoundedly disdain it as too repetitive. Who knows. Anyhow, here it is. Happy Halloween everyone! Halloween Fugue in G-sharp minor. - YouTube

A fugue from around two years ago, polished and re-edited in recent days.

After more than a year of inactivity in this forum, I've decided to return and paulatinely post my compositions from this period. Starting with my latest fugue, which as shown on the score PDF file was composed just two days ago and has undergone a key set of minor details being changed since I published it on my YT channel. Enjoy! Fugue in C minor #5.pdf