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I started this piece this morning and managed to finish it this evening! My inspiration was to write a fast Christmas piece as my pieces lately have all veered towards the same slow tempo. The form of the Scherzo is ternary and the overall form is Scherzo - Trio - Scherzo. Thanks for listening and I'd appreciate any of your comments, suggestions, critiques or observations!

So, I shared this work in progress a few weeks ago... In the meantime between then and now, I discovered my best friend (my pet) lying in the back yard, unmoving... Tragically, I'd determined that he was killed by my neighbor's dogs... This has struck me very firmly in the chest, and has been difficult to cope with. The little guy was my shadow. Every time I would be composing music, working on a car, doing yard work, or simply sitting outside in the sun, he was always right there, in my lap or somewhere not too far off beside me, supervising or just simply exercising his need to exist in the same space with me. I don't have many people in my life, not anyone who I can physically spend any time with, anyway.. He filled that void. So.. I've decided that I'll dedicate this new score as a way to tell his short life's story instrumentally. The prologue section represents his life before I ever met him. Telling a story of confusion, misplacement, and abandonment, as he was a kitten on his own in the city streets without a family, without his siblings or his mother. My sister found him on a particularly wet and rainy afternoon in september of 2020, near her home, running across the road during heavy traffic. This prompted her to retrieve him in order to prevent him from being hurt, beginning his journey into my care. I don't have a name for the second section, quite yet, but the beginning of the section begins with a light, heartfelt, but careful explanation of the time that we first met, after I adopted him. At that time, I was a bit worse for wear, in the mental department due to the circumstances in my life at the time. He was a gift to me to assist in easing the pain of abandonment that I was feeling in that point in time. We were both careful of one another and learning who each other were. Later in that section, the orchestration demonstrates a bit of playfulness, representing when we became comfortable with one another. From there... I haven't gotten much further. I hope the back-story context is able to shed some light on the composition and the choices made, thus far, in it's writing. Please, let me know what you all think. I appreciate the feedback in advance, and I apologize for not being too conversational, as of late, as I am in the process of mourning his passing, especially given that it was so sudden and tragic... Please bear with me. 🙂

Hello! Here is the recording of two movements from my Sonatine in C. This piece was composed for two friends of mine in my theory class at conservatory, and we had a lot of fun putting the thing together. While not my largest or most important piece, it was an exercise in a kind of neoclassicist compositional style I've otherwise left behind. The middle movement of the piece wasn't performed due to time constraints on this recital, which is unfortunate because it forms the harmonic and metric hinge between the outer movements. Hopefully I will have a complete recording of the piece soon! In the mean time, I would love anyone's thoughts on the piece if y'all are willing to share! Score video

Hi @mercurypickles! For the 1st movement the 1st theme’s marching mood is well stood out, while the 2nd subject is more reflective and I like the accompaniment all the time. I love the brief passage to pathos in b.70 (the 2nd subject for recap right?). I do think the octave sign doesn’t need to be written there. I like the 3rd movement, the pathos reminds me of Shostakovich, and the modulation to tritone to F sharp minor is well prepared. The pizzicato passage which follows is very interesting, particularly when Bartok pizz. and normal pizz mix together. B.91 is especially expressive with all those exotic notes. Thx very much for sharing this, in particular with the wonderful performance by the violinist and cellist! Btw, will you also share the 2nd and potentially 4th movements to us? P.S. Is the violinist in your excerpt @Irene Huang? I remember she submitted a piece to one of our competition and played very beautifully! Henry

Hey Kyle @UncleRed99, That’s a very sad background story and I am sorry to hear this, hope you are better now. Speaking of the music, I like the sparseness of it with those chords which sounds reflective and therapeutic to me. I like the sul ponticello at the beginning, maybe at some point you can add some tremolos to it too. The whole first movement displays your sadness. For the 2nd movement to me it begins with a calmer but still sad mood, and then yo start recollecting the happy past. I like the pizzicato passages depicting those happy memories and how lively your pet was (and is in your memory of him). For the end of the movement, will you get back to the sad mood, maintain the lively mood or reach a new mood? Thx for sharing! Henry

I check out the new sections and I like the new voice samples more. I like the rhythm you introduce in b.221 throughout and my favourite passage is the celesta passage in b.221. I feel like you just need only a bit more passage to finish the whole piece! Henry

PROGRESS 2 i've changed the voice to a more softer one. hopefully it blends better. this progress will include stuff from the previous progress, skip to 07:23 for new stuff. new voice: Kumi (https://cubialpha.wixsite.com/kumivoice) updated analysis: -------------------------------------------------------- INTRODUCTION. (b. 1-121) > introduces the themes, containing three sections. we'll call the three intro sections 1', 2' and 3'. 1' (b. 1-44) and 3' (b. 97-121) sections are inherently the same. the 2' section (b. 45-96) is a variation/development of a motif from section 1' (the first three notes). i call it the "Look to the sky" motif, very important, appears everywhere. the oboe part of the 3rd section (b. 103) introduces the B section as a counterpoint. b. 88 piano introduces the first part of the real main theme of the piece, and b.103 oboe counter point is the second part, which appears in the B section later. basically, the whole piece is a journey to combining these parts together, just like in the OST. Furthermore, 1' and 3' are just rhythmically augmented versions of the first part (quarter notes instead of eights, added triplets), while 2' is created from the motif and exists as its own theme. TRANSITION (b. 122-136), variation of 1'. ======================================= A. (b. 137-204) > pretty much the combination of the intro's three sections. vocal entrance (b. 151). section 2' are thoroughly woven and augmented between the vocal melodies. sax part at b. 180 is the B section, again, as a counter point. the vocal part sings a lot of the motif's variation. the lyrics are repetitions of Look to the sky Don't contain me I'm not here TRANSITION (b. 205-219), same as the previous one, different instrumentation B. (b. 221-278) > b.221 is a slight variation from section 2' (b.63). pizzicatos from b. 227 onward is the motif. oboe at b.229 restates the the main theme's first part while the left hand piano keeps the same rhythm from b.221 throughout. b.232 is the same counter point as previously, albeit variated. b.237 strings and celesta form an ostinato from the main motif, leading up to the vocal entrance. on b. 238 onwards, the vocal sings the main theme with slight variation (repetition of "sky" and "me." the rest before "sky" was done to make it singable). viola scatters the motif everywhere while woodwinds variate the main theme's second part as counter point. from b. 247, a new rhythm is introduced on piano left hand, sax, and viola, depicting troubling wave-like upward motions. finally, the vocal introduces the second part of the main theme alongside a new stanza. In the dark I am free Out to sea I'm just drifting here floating the instruments try to restate the newly sung part (b.262) but immediately get interrupted on b.266 by the return of 2'. the section builds up into: TRANSITION (b. 280-292), another variation of 1', more epic. A*. (b. 293-???) > instead of the strings, the piano grandly introduces the section. the rest play out just like the previous A with different instrumentation. -------------------------------------------------------- hopefully you guys will still able to follow the piece without looking at the analyses stuff, but yeah, enjoyy

Very fun to listen to. Something like this would need an explanation, or a scene so we can get the context behind the Christmas spirit. But I love the bass, it helps create that mischievous tone. The A section of your ABA format could be the antagonist. And the B section (the slower part), maybe is a call to the protagonist. There's a lot of information in this short piece, but the ABA structure helps keep things logical.

Well I would say quite a number of people do this as they only post on forum but never review other members' works... So if this breaks rule a lot of members will be considered as breaking rules... Henry

Hi @Wieland Handke! I love how the three instruments blend together and honestly this is the first time I heard of the instrument Theorbo and it said it's somewhat like a lower register lute. Like Mike said this piece is really calm, especially with the lower volume organ and the Theorbo. Thx for sharing! Henry

Hi @UncleRed99 I can hear with this piece could lead to. Your A section is slow. You have homophonic textures and short piano section that creates interest. This is not half bad. Also, the percussion, chimes to add color. I feel that middle section (B) could be faster and have different thematic material and textures. Romeo and Juilet overture does this well: it starts with chorale section. Then slowly builds to A section that leads B section. ABA is the overal structure. 🙂