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@Lithl My dear friend, I truly don’t know how else to thank you. Your appreciation, both for me as a person and for my music, genuinely makes me very happy. I’m so glad that you enjoyed this sonata as well, and it means a great deal to me that you took the time to listen to it and share your thoughts. As for my dear friend @Henry Ng Tsz Kiu , I have had the pleasure of considering him a friend for quite some time now. Even though we are separated by distance, we are in touch almost every day and we often talk about music. Above all, there is a deep mutual respect between us, as well as a genuine love for music. Lately, we have been talking quite a lot about Scarlatti. Henry not only loves Scarlatti, but also listens to and performs his music. Since I also have a deep love for Scarlatti, especially his binary sonatas, this shared passion for his music has brought us even closer. And so, I felt the need to dedicate one of my own binary sonatas to him. I’m truly very happy and touched that I had the opportunity to do so.

Hey @Wieland Handke that was really excellent. I found the music intellectually challenging, so I gave it a couple listens. This music has a great flow, but is also mentally stimulating, just like Bach. I didn’t read your introduction first, and while listening I kept thinking “this sounds like a modern Bach chorale”. Glad to find out I heard what you heard! You speak the language of modern harmony, but here you speak it with a baroque accent. It works well. There’s just something about jazzy chords that gels so well with baroque rhythm/voicing. Makes me want to hear more of your work. One idea: it would be fun to hear this with four instruments rather than one. For example, I think this piece could actually be turned into a chorale! Have you ever considered setting this to a poem? I bet a choral rendition of this would slay. There is tons of fun material for 4 singers to play with. Or a string quartet could be nice. Assigning each voice to a separate instrument could really free up those voices, and allow them to shine in a way entirely different than what can be achieved on keyboard. Nothing wrong with a baroque style keyboard work! Even if you decide not to try it with a quartet, it’s still delightful. Nice work!

Thanks to all 9 participants who submitted music to the competition - the recipients of the "Alchemist Award"! Summer's Day by @Kvothe On Pastel Skies by @Fruit hunter Plus belle encor votre chère beauté by @MK_Piano Your dear beauty lovelier still by @Musicman_3254 Summer – A Song of Beauty and Melancholy by @Wieland Handke Saxophone Quartet no. 2 - Un clair jour d'été by @Ninja Nolan So on a bright Summer Day by @Matthew M Donc, ce sera par un clair jour d'été by @latebeethoven_addict Donc, ce sera par un clair jour d'été by @JDevorMusic The members have voted!!! And the winners are ... --==<< Decisive Fanfare >>==-- For winning the "Spirit of Verlaine" Award for the best depiction of Verlaine's poem and the most imaginative transformation of the text into music: with 5 votes, Saxophone Quartet no. 2 - Un clair jour d'été by @Ninja Nolan !!! Congratulations!For winning the "Poème d'Amour" Award for the piece that best captured the sensation of love: with 6 votes, Plus belle encor votre chère beauté by @MK_Piano !!! Congratulations! For winning the "Évocation" Award for the piece that best captured the sensation of summer: with 3 votes, Your dear beauty lovelier still by @Musicman_3254 !!! Congratulations! For winning 3rd place overall with 9 points - We have a tie!!! On Pastel Skies by @Fruit hunter and Summer – A Song of Beauty and Melancholy by @Wieland Handke will both receive the following trophy: For winning 2nd place overall with 16 points - Plus belle encor votre chère beauté by @MK_Piano will receive the following trophy: For winning 1st place overall with 17 points - Saxophone Quartet no. 2 - Un clair jour d'été by @Ninja Nolan will receive the following trophy: Congratulations to all the winners!!! We will now move your pieces to the "Competition Hall of Fame" sub-forum! And thanks to all the following participants who also reviewed all the entries! The contest would not have been as much fun and as instructional as it was without you! The following members will receive the "Heavyweight Reviewer" badge for reviewing 100% of the entries (9) submitted to the competition!@Kvothe @Fruit hunter @Henry Ng Tsz Kiu @chopin @Wieland Handke @Thatguy v2.0 @PeterthePapercomPoser @JDevorMusic And the following members will receive the "Welterweight Reviewer" badge for reviewing 66% of the entries (6) submitted to the competition!@MK_Piano And the following members will receive the "Featherweight Reviewer" badge for reviewing 33% of the entries (3) submitted to the competition!@Luis Hernández @TristanTheTristan @MJFOBOE Thank you to all 12 Ardent Reviewers who reviewed the contest entries! Once again - great reviewing turnout! We had more reviewers than composers in the competition! And thanks for me @PeterthePapercomPoser for organizing and managing all the competition polls, announcements, submission thread, badges, results, satisfaction survey and advertising outreach! I will receive the "Community Organizer" badge! To take the "From Nothing, to Something" Satisfaction Survey go here: To listen to all the entries go to the submission thread: To see the Popular Voting Polls go here: To go to the competition announcement go here:

= Short Piece for Cello / Piano / Granular Synthesis = = Background One day, I thought of a cellist and a pianist performing over a backdrop of electronic noise, and this piece was created based on that idea. As the title suggests, the composition features cello, piano, and granular synthesis. The composition process began with creating the granular synthesis textures, followed by adding staccato cello notes and piano. I imagine a space that looks like a compact design. = Note I don't have a specific message I'm trying to convey with this music, but I would be happy if someone found it enjoyable. To be honest, I was reluctant for a while to upload this piece; I felt a bit hesitant about creating something annoying when everyone else is composing beautiful orchestral / chamber or keyboard-based works, haha. Still, I decided to take the plunge and upload it. As for the score, since I don't know how to notate it, I can't upload it now. I’d love to hear your impressions, criticism, and feedback. Again, I hope you find it interesting and enjoy it. = Music / Artwork: Lithl = Finally If you know any pieces that are similar to this piece of mine, please let me know. I'd appreciate it. Thank you for listening, and have a nice day :) Short Piece for Cello : Piano : Granular Synthesis.mp3

Hello I’ve had to listen to this track three times in a row – it’s very short, so it’s easy to do. There’s one reason for this: I’m really fascinated by what you’ve done here. I think this sort of music is just as valid as any other. I’d love to know a bit about how you created that ‘granular synthesis’ – whether it’s with software or something else. I sometimes think about using electronic elements in my own work, but I’m not quite sure how to go about it (as I rely 100 per cent on virtual instrument libraries). To me, that synthetic texture really reminds me of ‘flocks of birds’. It really does have several layers of sounds that are like the caws of different species of birds. This reminds me directly of pieces like Vox Balanae (Voice of the Whale) by George Crumb. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sutSUIBp-VY&list=RDsutSUIBp-VY&start_radio=1 As well as looking at the score, which is very, very complex (typical of Crumb), it is fascinating to watch the performance, as there are instructions on how the musicians should appear (masks) and in what position. performance

Fair caution here. It promotes a modified Spotify app, which is not official and breaks Spotify terms. Sideloaded builds can also hide malware, so the risk is not just legal. If you compare such builds, this music APK roundup may help. I would stick to the official free app or a Premium trial.

I say this is an interesting piece, though each movement in my view kind of ended a little abruptly. I just say it's also because the lines kept moving, and there's kind of little room for some of the strings to stop for a break, and let the other strings shine. But I like the contrapuntal texture and the rather mysterious melodies overall. I think the last movement here really has a clearer direction on what you want to go for, and ends most beautifully.

Hi all! This is the second movement of my Piano Sonata in C-sharp minor. It is set in the relative major E major to act as an (apparent) counterpart of the furious first movement. Pentatonics and Locrian scale are added in the movement, but the motive of fourth from the first movement is important here as well. Here is the Youtube video link: Here is the pdf and audio of the score: Final Draft Piano Sonata no.3 in C sharp Minor 2nd Mov.pdf Piano Sonata no.3 2nd Mov.mp3 The movement is set in a rondo form ABACA. Here is the structre of the movement: 0:00 Introduction & 1st Refrain: The Locrian scale is used capriciously at the beginning by a confused Henry right at thr start of composing the movement when he didn't know why he used it but still retained it to see what would happen. The main theme (00:23) begins in a quite beautiful pentatonic E major. I love the German Sixth used in 00:53 and I absolutely love the C-sharp minor contrasting theme, as it's beautiful but at the same time coherent by using the falling fourth motive from the beginning of the 1st movement! (Btw it is quoted in parody in my joking fugue) It then unoriginally modulates to dominant B major. 01:32 repeats the whole process apart from some embellishments. 2:34 1st Episode: The beautiful (I think) 1st episode is actually composed the second last one, only before the last refrain. It's Chopinistic here, but I think it's quite beautiful! The theme is roughly the inversion of the 1st theme. I had the inspiration of this beautiful theme when waiting in a queue in my ex-company's canteen LoL! I love the counterpoint in 03:43 as well, again using the falling fourth motive. The C-sharp minor is never solved and merely forced back to E major with a quite beautiful G sharp major transition to the 2nd Refrain. 4:29 2nd Refrain: The first theme is turned to a bell texture which I must have taken inspiration from Brahms's op.117 and Prokofiev's Sonata no.6. The serenity proves short-lived as the mood starts to become agitated and the falling fourth motive starts to attack. 5:12 2nd Episode: The Locrian scale starts to disturb and the keys start to moving all around, again in 05:30 the agitation proves itself it is not going to be covered at all, and with octatonic modulation it ends on G minor which sounds like the beginning of Chopin's 1st Ballade in 05:41. The first theme enters in 05:53 but is only a false recap as the stirring continues once again in a semitone higher in a Schubertian fashion. The first theme re-enters in 07:07, this time in C-sharp major, the global tonic major but with undercurrent underneath. F minor disturbs once again as in earlier as well as the development of the 1st movement, and the Locrian mode is finally forcefully purified to a pentatonic. I think the retransition here is slightly abrupt and forceful. 8:16 Last Refrain: First theme appears with the purified locrian scale turn to pentatonic crystal in the upper register of the piano. The contrasting theme is set in F-sharp minor this time for the E major confirmation. The C-sharp minor is not answered at all again in 09:17, and only forcefully shut up, and the piece ends in E pentatonic. At least a momentary serenity can be achieved before facing the disasterous 3rd movement. This movement starts in 2023 June right after the completion of the 1st movement, but was abandoned since I had to focus on composing the 2nd movement of my Sring Sextet. Then after a personal crisis in 2024 I had no energy at all to compose, and I hoped to use this movement to pick up my creative energy. It succeeded and the movement is quite beautiful in my opinion. I expanded the movement from a ternary one to a rondo with the addition of the 1st episode and completion of the last refrain. The movement may sound too Chopinistic and less original, but I definitely pour my heart here. I just maintain the “write-what-I-want approach” in the whole Sonata without much thinking, planning, or trying to be original. I just don’t want my emotion disturbed by the chasing of originality when expressing my feeling is my ultimate concern in the whole Sonata. The recording is played by myself. I buy a new microphone I hope the recording quality will be better and not to be roasted by @chopin anymore! Feel free to comment or critize this piece below! I will be more than happy to hear any opinion whether it's positive or negative! Hope you enjoy it! P.S. Here is the link for the YC post of the 1st movement from the same Sonata: And here is the 3rd and ending movement of the Sonata! Henry

Was kinda looking around for inspirations for slow movements, and this piece is quite astounding. To tell the truth, I actually felt this is closer to Debussy than Chopin, although Chopin's romanticism is quite deeply reflected here (particularly with the more detailed scalic and chromatic ornamentation whenever the main melodies return). Why I felt as such is because of the extensive use of modes, which is a bit more characteristic of impressionist music. And also plenty of hemiolas, although ofc that's also seen in plenty of romantic music.

Thank you guys for all the feedback!

I really enjoyed this. Yes, in the broadest sense I got an immediate Scarlatti vibe, but your unique voice is dominant. I think of binary pieces as more limited, but you developed this nicely. The mood changes were really well done. You moved between keys and motives quickly without it ever sound schizophrenic. It's exuberant music, with a clear drive and direction. I never felt lost even when I didn't know what was coming next. Thanks for sharing.

Ah, I wish I were Henry... You are a lucky man, @Henry Ng Tsz Kiu, to have such a nice friend who composed music dedicated to you and your musical talent! As for the music itself, I don't even need to say anything because your music always sounds so high-level and lovely. I want to see you play your pieces in the future. Great, thank you for sharing, Vasilis! Best, Lithl.

Hi @MinGry ! Thank you for sharing this piece. I think you’re on the right track, and it’s clear that you’ve been studying composition and working hard to develop your melody and harmony skills. This work shows a lot of thought and care, and I can hear skills that will continue to blossom with practice. I’d like to share a few thoughts that might help you develop this piece and give you some ideas to carry into your next one. My first suggestion is to look at the passages with block chords in the left hand and experiment with more varied accompaniment. You already use some Mozart-style accompaniment, but there are many possibilities beyond that pattern and block chords. Try breaking up the chords, varying the rhythm, or creating flowing, scale-like lines. This could soften some of the heavier chordal passages and give the left hand more personality. It also opens up opportunities for passing tones, neighboring tones, and suspensions. The left hand doesn’t have to simply state the chord of each measure; it can contribute to the character of the music. You could explore all of this while keeping your underlying harmony and right-hand melody intact. That step alone could add quite a bit of oomph to the piece. Another detail to look closely at are the areas where you begin a melody with the fifth of the accompanying chord in the bass. Depending on the context, this can make the music feel less grounded, weaker, than it would with the root in the bass. That doesn’t mean the root always needs to be in the bass. But it’s good to be aware that the fifth in the bass will weaken the strength of any chord. One great place to put the fifth in the bass of the I chord is if the following chord is the V chord. That is a powerful I-V cadence that is used throughout the classical repertoire. My final thought concerns the overall harmonic direction. There’s plenty of appealing melodic material, but at times I feel that the music wanders harmonically, making it harder for the listener to sense where it’s headed. I’d recommend listening to some early Beethoven sonatas (maybe #1 through #15) with this in mind. Your piece doesn’t need to sound like Beethoven, but he offers wonderful examples of how melody, harmony, and form can create a dramatic arc. Tension builds, reaches a peak, and eventually subsides. The listener enjoys the music while also participating in the drama, as if the music is telling a story. Try listening to those sonatas while taking a hike, without looking at the score. Just study the sound first, the vibes. Then pick out some moments that felt especially moving to you, and study how he did it. Explore: how did he use harmony, melody, and accompaniment to construct something dramatic, something with power and direction? See whether you can build tension gradually over several measures in your music, arrive at a climax, linger there long enough to make it meaningful, and then let the tension resolve. In passages that feel a little directionless, that sense of movement toward and away from a goal could give the music more shape. It might also help to set the piece aside for a month and return to it with fresh ears. Listen for moments that feel flat or seem to lose momentum; those could be good places to experiment with accompaniment, harmonic direction, and dramatic pacing. Even if you decide to leave this piece exactly as it is, you’ve still made real progress in your composition journey. You can carry these ideas into your next sonata and keep exploring how a more expressive left hand and a stronger harmonic arc can bring your music to life. These are just my thoughts, and I appreciate the opportunity to listen. I hope you keep composing! Jonathan

Hi @Vonias! This piece is creative, with great sound design. Is that the sound of thunder or blowing wind? I think if you bring the bass drum closer to us and make it stronger, it would work. It is well panned and the concept of the church bell is also interesting. Sounds really good, well done, thanks for sharing. I liked this piece! Best, Lithl.

[UPDATED - OCT. 2026] The following post was a formal submission for the 2026 Summer Competition: From Nothing, to Something. Below includes a detailed and extensive explanation of the work, both in inspiration and construction. If you wish to skip, the score PDF and Audio will be found at the end. Thanks for viewing this work! [TAKEN FROM SCORE] Plus belle encor votre chère beauté  - Your dear beauty lovelier still Duration: c. 6:08 Written in 2026, Plus belle encor votre chère beauté is a work for piano quartet that evokes summer and the experience of love. It was composed for the “2026 Summer Competition” hosted by The Young Composers Music Forum and is inspired by Paul Verlaine’s poem “Donc, ce sera par un clair jour d’été,” whose opening line may be translated as: “So, on a bright summer day it shall be.” The poem is number nineteen in Verlaine’s collection La Bonne Chanson (The Good Song) Find the French text and translation to the poem here The title of this work is drawn directly from the French text and has similar inspiration as the Gabriel Fauré song from his op. 61 bearing the same name as the Verlaine poem. However, this work takes the title from the fourth line of text, and unlike Fauré, this work is late-romantic in style. The musical inspiration came from two places: Tchaikovsky and his Nutcracker ballet, and a spell of improvisation at the piano. This work was created in late July and early August 2026, and during that time, I was experimenting with modal improvisation, and felt drawn to G-lydian. Specifically, the iv 7 chord you can build and find in Tchaikovsky’s music. However, I did not set the piece into the lydian mode, only hinting at C# to use for predominant and secondary function. It was also around this time I was listening to parts of the Nutcracker, where I felt drawn to the idea of harp-writing, and thus, during a period of improvisation, the foundation of this work came to be. With structure, Plus belle encor votre chère beauté is in ternary (A-B-A’) form and includes an intro and coda. The B-section acts as our development while the outer A-sections are comprised of a smaller AABA form. The principal theme stated in the A-section occurs throughout the work, where it can be heard in the introduction, coda and within the development where the piano states the principal theme in inversion. Lastly, I composed this work following the end of a relationship. In short, this work evokes those unspoken emotions I harbored and the romance I long to have one day. A day where I too can say “Your dear beauty.” (The art on the cover page is Claude Monet's "Woman with a Parasol." A wonderful piece of art!) Comments are welcome, both constructive or positive! If you enjoyed this work, leave a react, and follow my page so you don't miss any new works in the future. It's free and you can always remove it later. Thanks and see you all soon! AUDIO_YourDearBeauty.mp3 SCORE_YourDearBeauty.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

Hi! I am continuing my revision on my old work. This is the 2nd movement of my Clarinet Quintet in C minor, which is completed 4 years ago and I'm revising it. Thx to my friend @Thatguy v2.0 for making the audio! To me this is probably the worst movement in the piece, but only because it's the most one dimensional one: After the discovery of despair in the 1st movement, I started to fall into confusion and craziness of despair. Ironically this movement is written in a neat Sonata form with the structure presented below: 0:00 First subject, exposition. Start right from the despair Eb-D-C-B motive in quick Scherzo time to represent the fury and confusion of despair. Clarinet joins in 0:31, still playing at the despair motive, and in 0:33 the whirling figure using despair motive signifying the confusion is introduced. 1:27 Transition, exposition. I like this pizz. theme myself for how sarcastic it is. 2:34 Second subject, exposition. In F minor. A more "reasonable" theme finally with major keys visited, although finally succumbed to the confusing despair. I always go to F minor instead of G minor for the secondary key of a C minor movement for its darkness. 3:46 Development. Continue with the confusion by quickly modulating to different keys. I really love the 3:59 passage with a Brahmsian turn to a German sixth chord in 4:09! The fury ends with a "transcended" sadness in Neapolitan C# minor in 5:20 with a clarinet solo, but sarcastically laughed off by pizzicato strings in another Brahmsian German sixth. 5:49 First subject, recapitulation. Excitement reduced after a suffocating development. In 6:02 obviously I learn from Beethoven's 5th for that famous solo oboe passage. I love how fierce it is in 6:38. 6:47 Transition, recapitulation. Shorter than exposition's transition. I hate exact repetitions. 7:25 Second subject, recapitulation. Same as the one in exposition except in tonic key. Notice how relative major Eb major is finally used with some emphasis for the very first time in the piece, as the confrontation of B flat carried by E flat major and B natural by C minor of the despair motive would be the main battlefield later on. 8:38 Coda. One last cry and I am exhausted by the despair, thus ends the movement in tired pizzicato chords. Only with this exhaustion do I have the motivation to excavate the true reason behind the despair, which would be the main theme for the 3rd movement. Here is the score and youtube video of the movement : (For YT)Clarinet Quintet in C minor 2nd mov Final Version 20260707.pdf Harmonically I deliberately play with chord progression of augmented triad keys to reinforce that particular chord both horizontally and vertically, as well as resonating with the despair motive. Hope you enjoy this one and offer some critique to the movement! P.S. This is the 1st movement of the remastered version of the work: Henry Clarinet Quintet in C minor 2nd mov Final.mp3

Hi @Wieland Handke! That sounds great to me. It captures that feeling of the end of summer—sitting under a tree and reminiscing. The section around 1:34 is really enjoyable, and I especially like the final part at 4:40. The melody line is nice, too. Did you create the thumbnail yourself? It looks good. Thank you for sharing! Best, Lithl.

How's it happening, YoungComposers community, Would you all like to casually take note of all the potential historic inaccuracies of this suite's movement? 😁 (I have two.) edit - Just to clarify, my inquiry above was tongue-in-cheek; it's not ALL I was looking for in this piece's discussion. You can make any kinds of comments, suggestions, constructive criticism and any such responses as you feel you like to contribute. Jubilant Hall for the Dance of the Giants (composition) - Sonata in G for Alto Piano Trio - Movement I - Evening's Entrance.mp3 3-movement Alto Piano Trio Suite in G - Jubilant Hall for the Dance of the Giants - Movement I - Evening's Entrance (Sonata-Allegro).pdf

Ok, since I did not post very well last time I am re-posting this. I made some changes to the piece and mp3 and am going to post the inspiration for this piece here: This is a piece adapted from my piano composition. I thought it needed more harmonies and motifs. It is inspired by any beloved person who lived a full life and died, and how others reflect on that life, sometimes with complex grief, sometimes with euphoric joy and hope. I picture the intro and coda as the sadness of the death, and the middle section as the whole of their life, mostly the good parts mixed with the bad memories, and the complexities of the grief people feel. Basically, it is the emotions in the life of a person and the emotions the grievers have when reflecting on the life. Woodwind Quartet.mp3 A Life Lived Woodwind Quartet Original Piece.pdf