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I've taken to another exercise from Chapter 8 of Persichetti's "20th Century Harmony" - "Compound and Mirror Harmony". This time I've chosen Exercise 7 - "Move a chamber group through several mirror chords where the reflective harmony is generated by the same tone and by different tones." In this case he is referring to using symmetrically invertible scales just like in Exercise 8 which I already did. In that exercise I built the respective mirror scales on the same tone (C) so in this exercise I sought to build the mirror scales on different tones only. I also created an inverted canon at a 10th and a quarter note between the Oboes and Bassoons. I used the following chart from the book to simplify the exercise for myself (so I used E Mixolydian in the Oboes and C Aeolian in the Bassoons). At one point I switch the Oboes to Ionian and Bassoons to Phrygian, just like in Exercise 8, but this isn't accompanied by key signature changes. Thanks for reading and for listening! I would appreciate any of your suggestions, comments, critiques or observations! Persichetti Exercise 8 - 7.mp3 Persichetti Exercise 8 - 7.pdf

Hallo Mason, now that the contest is over, I’d like to go through the feedback I’ve received over the next few days, analyze it a bit more thoroughly than I’ve been able to in the last weeks, and respond accordingly wherever I have some clarifications or comments. That „bracketing“ and the connected bar lines between the accordion and piano have already been mentioned by other reviewers (for example, @Kvothe ). Not to be too repetitive, that approach was intentional, since I considered my „special quintet“ as an „orchestra“ rather than a chamber ensemble—which, of course, may seem “strange” or “wrong”. However that consideration has sometimes been recognized by other reviewers as well: To avoid that unusual score order/grouping, perhaps it might indeed be the better decision to notate this piece as a “chamber music work“. However, in that case I have a different „headache“: In my piece, the piano part is not as prominent as usual in a piano quintet. Moreover, I would say, the accordion is somewhat more „the chief“, so should the accordion be placed at the very bottom, with the scores for the other instruments written in a smaller font size? No, of course not—the best compromise would be the traditional order you suggested (trumpet, guitar, cello, accordion, piano), but with all instruments in the same font size. Yes, I should use dynamic markings a bit more sparingly in the future. That exaggeration possibly results from the fact that I’ve been following the rule: “Never a hairpin without a dynamic marking at the beginning and end” (I’ve already discussed this in another thread). However, I think it’s feasible to take this “rule” seriously only when it seems appropriate, rather than applying it to every single note or short phrase. We already had „the pleasure“ of discussing whether „whole-bar rests“ (which are placed in the middle of the bar) should be used or not. And until now, I was convinced that those rests are used only when the entire instrument is silent, and not if only one hand of the piano or accordion, or one voice in a polyphonic score, has a rest for the entire measure. So I looked in the „Bible“ (i.e. the Welltempered Clavier, especially at fugues) to reconfirm my opinion ... ... – but I was proven wrong: Even there, “full-measure rests” are used, i.e., placed in the middle. So, I will now finally go to bury my „whole-note rests“ in 4/4 meter or my „dotted half-note rests“ in 3/4 time, and so on. Thank you very much. Yes, the fugato—and especially the moment when the trumpet played the main subject for the first time (without a mute)—was a lot of fun for me to compose. Unfortunately, however, I faced the “dilemma” of having to set two more stanzas of the poem to music. As a result, I had to shorten the development sections of the fugato and resolve the tension to make way for the more contemplative mood of the “sung lines of the poem.” After the poem ended, I wondered whether I should now let the fugato pick up speed again and develop it fully, perhaps with a climax of strettos and a pedal point. But this approach seemed to me to make the piece a bit too long, so I recapitulated the first section in a more melancholic manner, bringing the „arch of tension“ rather down than to a triumphant finale.

Very nice fluttering texture in the woodwind section, and I enjoyed your key changes. Looks promising so far!

Hey Peter! In fact I find it really melodious even it’s bitonal. The canonic imitation doesn’t sound mechanical to me, which is good job. In fact I’m going to use some bitonal treatment of your theme in my new work working so stay tuned haha. Henry

Thank you. It's the sound of blowing wind. Each sound was resampled. The train tracks were the bass drum, but I didn't think to make it punchy. Fun note, the wolf howls are the same material of sound as the bell. The wolf howls were made by manipulating the bell sound into a howl.

Hello A lovely piece. One of the key lessons I took away from this ESSENTIAL book by Persichetti is that if you use a system – that is, if you are consistent with a musical organisation, whatever that may be – the result depends solely on each individual’s skill and artistry, just as it would if you were composing tonal music. I think it’s a great decision here to have divided the timbres for each mode-scale. As well as the different registers. The fact that each part has been harmonised in thirds and sixths gives it a very familiar smoothness (common in tonal music). Yet these modes lend themselves perfectly to fourth-based harmony.

Great topic, @Grant Weep ! I am sure that @Henry Ng Tsz Kiu will be able to contribute to this topic given as how he always says that he writes his music over long periods of time. My Variations on "Deck the Halls" for Piano and Orchestra I started writing the beginning of and the 1st and Rondo Variation back in the late 2000's and only finished it more recently in about 2023 I think. So about 15 years. And there are other old works that I have access to that I am in the process of finishing and publishing thanks to the fact that I can open all my old project files with Cakewalk Sonar DAW. Thanks for your idea for this topic!

This is something I've been wanting to do for a while. The lamento bass is a famous motif based on the simple idea of the descending tetrachord (commonly in d minor). In my realization I build momentum with complexity with which I aim to demonstrate the range of possibilities within this short space. One can keep going with more variations. It is both a beautiful and inexhaustible concept. Prelude for the Soul.mp3 Prelude for the Soul.pdf

It’s a beautiful trio consisting of Horn, Violin and Piano. I’m sure it’s already been mentioned that for a chamber work like this the proper score order would be Violin, Horn and then Piano at the bottom. Another thing I’m sure has been mentioned is that you should place double bars at key changes and get rid of redundant key changes. The music has a variety of different textures and not all the instruments are playing all the time with plenty of much needed breaks. The horn’s full range is well utilized. As of the writing of this review I am currently playing horn everyday in preparation of recording a solo horn sonata and I can attest to the playability of your horn part. The solo piano Cantabile section at mm. 25 shows off your ability to write a beautiful melody and dress it up through variations in the Violin. The I 6/4 chord at mm. 85 makes one expect a cadenza. Then you have the solo horn come in on the lowest of notes in the whole piece. I wonder if there’s some extra-musical meaning behind this. Thanks for your participation and good luck in the polls! Melodies Themes Motives Harmony Chords Textures Form Development Structure Time Originality Creativity Score Presentation Instrumentation Orchestration Playability Execution of Given Challenge Taste 9 7.75 9 9 7 9 9 8.25 Average Score: 8.50

Your piece is the last I've heard (but not least, just the order I used), and yet you still brought something different from the others. I really appreciate the creativity used with form with this competition. It seems like everyone had such a different take, and splitting the stanzas into an ABA form was a great idea to me. I feel like if I had participated in this competition I would have organized the music in a similar fashion. I enjoyed the tossing around of the LH piano motif to different instruments, and the jovial sense you gave in the composition. A change to the minor mode would have served well as a contrast to me, but the beauty of composing is we all have a different take and direction we feel like the music should go. You give variation in other ways, and I especially love the piano flourishes near the end. Cool ensemble too, the horn was a pleasant change in instrumentation from the other pieces. On a side note, I've listened to basically nothing but Beethoven's late string quartets for the past 4 or 5 months (he's my favorite composer by far). It sounds insane probably, some may even call me a lateBeethovenaddict ( :P ), but I've been obsessed with what I consider to be the greatest music ever composed, always picking up on little details upon every hearing. A profound sadness lingers throughout no.12-16, but also in my opinion a novel and unrepeatable expression we're all lucky Beethoven had the strength to compose in his weakest moments. Good luck with the voting, and thanks for sharing! It was fun to listen to all the different interpretations of the competition, and yours was no exception. Well done :)

Thanks for the comments and for checking out the live stream! As for your notes about the extended techniques: Yes, Xyl. is an abbreviation for xylophonic sounds. It's performed by muting the stings required very close to the soundboard with the other hand while plucking. https://harpnotation.com/de/notation-manual/plucked-sounds/xylophonic-sounds/ The bamboo tone is accomplished by using an alternative fingering to the note. That's why I also have a fingering diagram above in the score. It's a very airy sound with a still defined pitch. https://www.flutecolors.com/techniques/bamboo-tones/ Jet Whistles are a lot of fun! It's mostly air but with a little bit of pitch. You use a full breath and overblow into the flute, so that it goes up, down, or up then down across the first three octaves of partials. I've faked the playback here with hidden harmonic glissandi. https://www.flutexpansions.com/jet-whistle Flute harmonics are weird. You're right, and I've used them in the past to extend the range of the flute. Here I'm asking the flute to play three different partials but all using the same fingering. You get high notes that are possible with other fingerings on the flute, but also able to play incredibly high notes at a very soft and delicate dynamic (with also a slightly different color). https://www.flutetunes.com/articles/flute-harmonics/ Hope that your upcoming orchestral piece goes well and would love to hear it!

Hi @latebeethoven_addict , Wonderful entry to the competition. It was great to listen to your music. Some engraving thoughts: score order: vln, hn, pno very cramped score - put more space between systems and staves not sure why some pno notes are grace note or cue sized lots of rests divided incorrectly (m2 8th+16th should be a dotted 8th rest; m3 two 8th rests should be a quarter rest) double bar lines at section changes and tempo changes (most players also still prefer them at key changes) where it is just pno solo - hide the other two instruments General Instrumentation thoughts: I would think more about articulation/bowing for the piece and add a lot more slurs. putting in these markings would make the violin part more playable A lot of the times the vln/hn are playing together and often in unison. I would play more with counterpoint and harmonize some of the lines. Melodies Themes Motives Harmony Chords Textures Form Development Structure Time Originality Creativity Score Presentation Instrumentation Orchestration Playability Execution of Given Challenge Taste 8 7 8 the ABA form did not seem to serve the piece well 7 6 see comments above 6 see comments above 7 7 Average Score: 7.0

Melodies Themes Motives Harmony Chords Textures Form Development Structure Time Originality Creativity Score Presentation Instrumentation Orchestration Playability Execution of Given Challenge Taste 7.75 10 7 10 10 8.5 7.5 8 Avg: 8.59 Very clear motif throughout, and the whole tone harmony makes this sound more like a fantasy. What's interesting is that I think you mix the harmony with bits of pentatonic. Thus, we have lots of tension and release throughout which helps keep you on your toes. At times I felt like this piece turns into a thriller, and this has a lot to do with your chosen harmony. The piece therefore gives us a mixed bag of emotions. Sometimes I feel like we are in a fantasy world perhaps in a forest. Then there are peaceful sections which could be the summer afternoon setting. The pentatonic sections remind me of beautiful vast fields or feelings of zen. Then we have the viola sections which could be a chase scene. Finally, your harp runs sometimes creates a mood of terror. Nevertheless, this is a very fun and interesting piece, and a good lesson on how harmony can really transform moods from one to another!

Welcome all! I've gone back to the Late Baroque with my latest orchestration. I chose Rameau's Allemande in A minor, because I don't think it's been orchestrated before. (At least I can't find another orchestration.) I made a controversial choice to soup up the tempo: so I'd be interested to know whether any of you have different opinions on this? I had to write a short linking passage at Bar 37; otherwise the transition to the next section sounded too abrupt. Haven't put in the repeat of the second half as yet. I wonder if you think I should? And if so, what instrumentation would you suggest. Started putting in slurs; but haven't finished yet, because it's a long tedious job! Hope you enjoy listening, Alex Rameau - Allemande in A minor (orchestration) #19.mp3 Rameau - Allemande in A minor (orchestration) #21.pdf

Hello I’ve written another sketch for orchestra. In this piece, I’ve used ‘sound mass’ techniques in some sections, and harmonies based on fourths… I haven’t really thought about any specific chords, just voice leading. The first section is the fanfare; the second is the more subdued, evocative section. There are no oboes or violins, so that the brilliance comes from the brass. Fanfarria.mp3 Fanfarria.pdf

Hey all, This is the current iteration of the second movement. Eager to hear people's views so far on this... whether it works. The bit I am currently working on is intended to be a fugata, in the spirit of Beethoven's own in his Erocia, second movement (which I love). I am using that as a model. Never done that before and it's certainly a challenge. I haven't finished the wind writing which will have two parts for each instrument except for solo areas (i.e. the beginning). I wouldn’t bother looking for errors as it’s still a work in progress. There is still much to refine. It would just be helpful to just gauge how the ideas come together while i’m immersed in the rabbit hole! 🤣 Symphony in A (Second movement Draft).mp3 Symphony in A (Second movement Draft).pdf

Hey what's up! Hope you'd check out a breakbeat I made;