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Hey @Wieland Handke ! Thank you so much for your review! I always want to reply but I have been sick for almost two weeks (still so) and threw up twice 2 days ago, and also digging myself into Scarlatti so I am not that active in this forum recently. Whenever I write I never expect how long a piece would be, as I am not writing for any competitions/commissions. I always say that I am selfish and I always write for myself instead of any other people. I write to express myself and I will let the music grow and speak for themselves. The duration of "my" piece (if they are really mine) is not what I the mere labor barer can control. What I have to do is to make sure the music express itself out fully, resonably and coherently, with technique and care and honesty only. I didn't choose the instrumentation either; the 1st inspiration popped out during a night when I woke up from sleeping, in the sound of a String Sextet which is the opening of this piece. I have no choice but to follow my inspiration haha. I even (unwillingly and forcefully) write 6 part fugue thx to the Sextet medium, as if I write for any other medium or instrumentation I wouldn't have dreamt of myself tediously writing a 6 part fugue! This shows another aspect of how "selfish" I am as I only write for myself, I never care for the feeling of my listeners! :) I don't think of any imagery for the beginning but I think yours is an apt description of it. What I was thinking then was human represented by freaking violas immersed and resonated in Tao by Heaven (represented by Violins) and Earth (represented by Cellos), that's where my shameless subtitle "Heaven, Earth and Human" bases on. The fugue is in 26:33 of the Youtube video for the whole Sextet, or 11:53 in the 2nd movement audio. Thank you so much for listening to the Sextet and remembering the piece even it's a year ago! I really appreciate it! Henry

Fellow period composer here. Although i'm specialized in renaissance and early baroque music this is quite lovely! It's incredible what you did, the piece is quite long aswell, i have tried doing similar pieces but i always give up, seeing this makes me quite happy. Bravo!

It's been a while since I've composed anything, so I felt like getting back into doing some Persichetti composition prompts. I am now on Chapter 8 of Persichetti's "20th Century Harmony" which is titled "Compound and Mirror Harmony". The particular prompt for this piano piece was "8. Write an opening section of a two-part piece for the piano employing two symmetrically invertible scales. The mirror writing should be kept strict throughout." So I tried to do just that with this ~1 minute long piano piece. I tried my best to make an actual piece of music rather than an exercise, but let me know how I did! I'd appreciate any of your comments, critiques, suggestions or observations! Thanks for listening! Here's the form of the piece: A - Right Hand - C Mixolydian, Left Hand - C Aeolian B - Right Hand - C Ionian, Left Hand - C Phrygian A Persichetti Exercise 8 - 8.mp3 Persichetti Exercise 8 - 8 Score.pdf

Hello, This is such a delightfully bizarre piece. You got such a great touch...to make dissonant things sound good. Bravo. When I first listened to the piece, I didn't really get it. But the musical idea was memorable and stuck around in my head. Returning back after a few weeks, and I don't know...I think I get it a bit more now. My fav part is at 0:11. Those doted notes. I actually typed this comment, had to do some work, and listened to some Bartok while during the work and then suddenly heard that brief idea at 0:11 (your piece) in one of his pieces below at 0:42. I don't think it's "that similar", but your music makes an impression...which is a lot more than I say about some other music.

Today I present the next prelude from my 24 preludes and fugues project. I composed it during the last few weeks as the „sketch“ for the current YCF Summer Competition „From Nothing, to Something“. Edited (Oct., 05th 2026): Here is the link to the "orchestrated" version of this prelude (for a quintet consisting of piano, accordion, trumpet, guitar and cello) as I officially submitted to the YCF Summer Competition „From Nothing, to Something“: Summer – A Song of Beauty and Melancholy. For those who are not familiar with that competition (yet), the task is „to take the text from Paul Verlaine’s summer poem “Donc, ce sera par un clair jour d'été,” (So, on a bright summer day it shall be) and turn it into a piece!“. So the major challenge of this competition was not only to move from “nothing” to “something,” but I also tried to find a musical form that could capture this process of “searching”: When a composer has trouble coming up with a brilliant idea for a new piece, it sometimes takes several attempts, each of which yields different individual ideas. And there are some pieces that consist of several ideas that have been “glued” together, ultimately resulting in something like a “collage song.” I’m thinking, for example, of “A Day in the Life” by the Beatles or “Band on the Run” by Paul McCartney and Wings. However, there also exists such a kind of piece in Bach’s Welltempered Clavier, the Prelude VII in E-flat major, BWV 852. That particular prelude starts with a short section with runs of 32th notes, followed by a „more serious“ part in slow motion, that reminds me at a „chorale“. The third and longest part is a fugato with two subjects that further develops the ideas from the first two sections. With this particular Bach prelude in mind, I had thus found the model for the form and structure of my own prelude: 00:00 (mm. 1-14) The first section is an „improvisation“ which introduces the warm key of B-flat major. 00:34 (mm. 15-29) The second Adagio section could be a „chorale“ and is used to set the first stanza of the poem to music. Since I don’t speak a word of French and have no idea how the syllables are rhythmicized, I looked at Gabriel Fauré’s setting of the poem in his Op. 61, No. 7 to find out which words are pronounced or sung briefly and which are longer. As an interesting fact, I discovered that Fauré had actually chosen the same key, B-flat major, that I had chosen before. 01:31 (mm. 30-90) The third and longest section is a fugato based on two subjects, interspersed by further stanzas of the poem. The first subject quotes the first four-note motif of the „improvisation“ section and develops it further, paired with the second subject, thus creating a joyful and dance-like mood. 04:22 (mm. 91-114) The prelude finishes with a coda – or better to say – with a recapitulation of the „improvisation“ from the first section. Now in a more melancholic way, meandering between minor and major. I hope, you’ll enjoy it. Wieland Praeludium-XIII-F-sharp-major-with-coversheet.pdf Praeludium-XXI-B-flat-major-piano-abbey-steinway.mp3 Praeludium-XXI-B-flat-major-with-coversheet.pdf

Hello, I didn't read any of the preamble you provided for your music this time. I've listened to this piece on/off in the last few weeks. Like your other works, I find it very intricate. One gets the feeling like you are very deliberate about your notes. As usual, the engraving is absolutely beautiful. Is the applause at the end from a performance/is this you playing? 1:38 is very nice. I don't know why but the main theme sort of reminds me of something I might hear from a Pokémon game (ahhh I know, maybe this is not the feedback you want to hear for your elegant, pristine works!) Generally speaking I found the harmony to be a bit weird. Not in a bad way. The song comes off written in a way where it's obvious you know how to use conventional harmony. I guess perhaps you have found/looking for your voice? I can't tell just yet...probably need to listen to a bit more of your music to find out. I find that your music does tend to be a bit muted from an emotive point of view. I don't think this is intended to be a criticism...it just doesn't feel that emotional to me. I hope that makes sense. Perhaps it's a compliment? The music feels really deep sometimes, but the weird random harmonies throws me off a bit. My ear isn't really that used to all of it.

Hello, Looks like you are on the right track to composing music! You didn't really ask for any specific feedback, so I will just throw some initial thoughts that come to mind. The piece is sort of long enough (almost 2 mins) but doesn't really move too much from your chord progression. You mentioned something about "listenable". I mean, I only have 2 mins of material to work with. I hope that you aren't trying too hard to focus on playing it too safe. In my opinion, you really gotta take risks. I always remembered my second composition I ever did, I felt like it sounded weird and disliked it, but my brother really always encouraged me to go further with it, since he found it more "interesting" to listen to. Somethings to consider - adding intro/outro. Often times, adding some sort of development section really spices things up. It's no coincidence that most pop music these days might throw in a bridge right before the ending of the song. It's a tried and true formula. So yeah, I would really look at the structure of your piece, that's the main thing that really stands out perhaps as being next steps for you... One of the core compositional techniques is to be able change things. Change the rhythm? Change the chord structure? Change key even perhaps? Then you get into more abstract ideas...change the atmosphere/change the where the listener is listening/change the genre?? I hope you keep writing, cheers!

Thank you very much. I think although there are many parts, most of them are quite short in comparison to real baroque pieces, but I think it'll improve with time :)

Thank you so much for review I will look forward it

Maybe a little bit yes, I think most of what I write imitate or tries to imitate baroque style, even if I don't really intend it 😆. I didn't really knew how to write something longer/with less repetition on so short "theme", that was I think main problem here... If you could write, what could be done to achieve this, it would be very nice :)

Greetings! This is the recorder consort version of the before mentioned madrigal, the reason why i instead am posting the recorder version and not the vocal version is because i have to use an AI to render my madrigals and vocal pieces, and sometimes it doesn't sound good, so that's why i choose to post the recorder consort version, enjoy!.LOB 133 O cruel fate!.mp3

This is a quite small and simple pavane i made some time ago listen to Pierre Phalesè pieces, i hope you guys enjoy it, i might compose a galliard to accompany but i'm not sure yet! by the way, the instruments are not bound by their physical limitations, in this case, this shawm consort can't reach some notes i wrote. The reason why is because it's the soundfont that fit best for this piece. LOB 126 Padovana Antiqua.mp3

Hi, welcome to the Forum! Not only as a composer, but as a harpsichordist, I find that there is too much of the same for too long. Essentially, a lot of repetition and not enough imitation/ independence. However, before I go on to elaborate, was it your intention to imitate baroque style?

I composed this lovely piece today and remixed it with Suno. It turned out really, really good, in my opinion. I've finally hit on what works compositionally, and I've been trying to push the limits of what I can do with music, with this piece being one of my best. Thank you for you kind words! Yes, I do indeed compose the original source material. The music comes out far better that way--more emotional and more suited to one's own tastes--provided you know what you're doing composition-wise. You mention that the biggest challenge with AI music is how cliched its output can be, and I agree 100%. All AI can do is repeat patterns it has been exposed to, with an added element of randomness. It's essentially a glorified copying machine. This is why, as I mentioned, I like to feed it my own music. When one feeds it one's own music, it takes on a role more akin to a spell check or a hired sound remixing specialist, the latter being something to which most professional composers turn, remixing being a different animal than composition, one that most composers never master (in both senses of the word "master"), myself currently very much included. To answer your question, I'm not entirely sure what you mean by reversing the process to humanize the production. Could you explain?

I listened to your waltz. The concept strikes me as interesting, and so does the way you work with harmony: you clearly try to move away from conventional progressions. The semitone relationship between the triads sounds interesting and vivid. But, purely in my opinion, it isn't very well realized here. If you make a signature feature out of this progression, it should be carried through the whole piece, very clearly and consistently. Yet in bars 6–7, and again in 9–10, you break your own scheme, and the piece goes from interesting to a bit dull. If you had held on to this harmonic ostinato (G minor and F-sharp minor), it would have come out much more convincing. Good luck! =)

Very convincing works! I think the biggest challenge with A.i. music is how tropic or cliche it can be. However, I'd rather have a robot write cliche's and stuff, do you know what I mean? Great work, and am glad you compose the original source for the A.i. The good melodies translate well to interpretation! Do you ever reverse the process to humanize the production?

Hello I’ll share my experiences as an amateur ‘composer’, though I do have extensive training (both self-taught and formal) in harmony, counterpoint, fugue, etc... and I’m currently working on orchestration. At first glance, it might seem that a concerto for a solo instrument and orchestra is easier than writing for an orchestra on its own. Because you think: “Ah, as there’s a soloist, it’s easy for them to take the lead and develop everything, etc.” But I believe the opposite is true. With a solo instrument and orchestra, the compositional difficulty multiplies, unless you want to limit yourself to a soloist and a few instruments playing chords. I think a good progression for composing is: 1) Write for piano. Even if it isn’t your main instrument, get hold of a MIDI piano, study how the classical composers wrote, and keep practising until your piano writing sounds natural (like proper piano music, not just a series of chord blocks). I see it this way because the piano is polyphonic and allows you to sketch out anything. 2) Write for small ensembles: string orchestra, small early classical-style orchestra. 3) Expand your palette by thoughtfully enlarging the orchestra. More instruments doesn’t necessarily make it better. 4) I always study the orchestration. Know about each instrument, its origin (which explains a lot about why an instrument is the way it is), what dynamics, ranges and articulations are possible, and at a ‘normal’ orchestral level. It makes no sense to write extremely difficult parts for orchestral sections. 5) And finally. Add a solo instrument. You can write short pieces. That’s what I’ve done so far with soloists. You need to understand very, very well how an instrument works to develop it as a solo part. Even Brahms consulted the violinist J. Joachim on his violin concerto.