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Hello there Pyry, I appreciate your comment and I like that you are giving your opinion in such a peaceful way, unfortunately the score for this composition as for some others is lost and as it is finished I didn't have a reason to make it again and it is not an easy thing to do actually, I had kind of the same opinion from one friend that I had who plays the piano and composes also, and I will agree with you at some point as I did with him and with myself, I hate my music more than anyone but I also like my music more than anyone and I'm listening to it like a drug addict and I always want more from me so I know exactly what are you talking about and thank you for mentioning it with honesty. Best wishes from Greece, Demertzis

Hi @ComposedBySam! Really like your poem, piece and singing! I like the occasional short imitations between parts like in b.9 or b.17 which strengthen the chasing theme. I really like the "dismantle this church that bows before strife" lyrics when you really dismantle by getting up an octave and ends on a high register, and then a half cadence which is resolve sacarstically to A minor. Wonderful job here. And also the "sacrificed in vain" lyrics when the voice ends in confusion with diminished 7th chords and the voice breaks off! The F minor modulation in b.47 is wonderful when it's matched with "grave" in the poem! A wonderful lied in my opinion. I think you should definitely make more lieder out of your poem, instead of having a strophic setting, because your through composed technique is wonderful and well matched with your lyrics! Thx for sharing! Henry

Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder is characterized by excessive thoughts (obsessions) that lead to repetitive behaviors (compulsions). It is also characterized by irrational thoughts and fears (obsessions) that provoke compulsive behaviors. The work arises from this question: Does humanity suffer from this disorder? Do individual thoughts and behaviors lead to a global cyclical behavior that tends to commit the same destructive acts? The work uses many extended techniques for the bass clarinet and piano. Harmonically, the key of D minor appears (using a Dorian mode), but fused with timbres and dissonances. The work has an open section with improvisation based on jazz harmony. The form of the work is two-part: an exposition and a re-exposition. This repeats the first part but requires the pitches to be approximated to generate a change, leading to a finale.

Wow! I am very impressed! This reminds me of some pieces I've written myself but I am really excited by this! The techniques are well used, timbers and harmonies work. The score also looks well thought out (using a landscape style view also seems to be smart). How long did this take to make? I have two very close people in my life (one could even call them family) who have OCD, and even though I don't score particularly high on those tests I still feel that I have a basic understanding of the disorder. The sudden strikes and hits definitely seem to hit a mark. It feels like a fight. When I hear a major tonality or something "easier" to listen to I imagine the situation in which you do the thing your anxiety tells you to — But as is evident by the piece, the anxiety comes back. To my understanding that is one part of OCD but once again as I don't myself experience it I hope I am not making any mistakes in my analysis. If you are open to discussion about this piece I have many questions concerning the process and symbolic decisions you made! Thank you, Best wishes from Finland, Pyry.

Would be very interesting to see the score! I am not sure whether you are looking for critique or not so I'll keep mine short and open to interpretation: I feel that the piece has a lot of potential but doesn't develop, merge or play with ideas for as long as I as a listener would want. You have good ideas, now the work is to look at the thing as a whole and tie them together. But that's just my view. I really am a big fan of pieces that have long developments that still feel interesting. That being said, Rite of Spring is my favourite piece but... Best wishes from Finland, Pyry

Hello, I recently finished a piece, Introduction and Waltz, and am wondering if the score is MOLA ready. I'm submitting to a competition thats due on the 10th (parts are not required til a later date). Thanks a lot and feel free to also listen and give feedback!

Hello! Here's a funeral march type piece. Form and harmony are very static and simple, in Fm with an A | A1 | A2 form. Hope you enjoy, and as always, any comments are welcome 🙂

Daybliss.mid Daybliss.mid

I like the C nat 😛 Lovely music Mikayla, thanks for sharing!

Based on ruminations ("the action or process of thinking deeply about something") on "contingent ephmeral art" and the absurdity of the mundane. Liner note (also on last page): Ruminations for String Quartet in G, Jan 2026..mp3 All thoughts welcome! Every little piece of attention feeds my ego-

So here is a piece for trombone quartet that i just finished writing. It is a compilation of some moments in the epic poem The Epic of Gilgamesh and it is my submission for a competition. I would like some opinion and, if there is some error, either in notation or in other aspect, i would appreciate the notice very much. Hope you like the piece.

@MJFOBOE Thanks for the thoughtful feedback. I do realize the ending lacked something, but I've racked my brain to come up with something good and couldn't get it to where I really liked it, so I just went with something instead of overthinking it. I am open to changing it if I come up with something better later! Do you mind saying why it feels like Bartok? I'm curious because I'm not familiar with his work.

@Henry Ng Tsz Kiu Thank you! I forgot to write asking if I had this in the correct key because I was unsure of it and confused with all the flats haha

Happy New Year to all! For my first post of 2026, here's my orchestration of Medelssohn's Barcarolle from Songs Without Words. It's more or less done; though I may add more dynamics to match the original piano work, and need to add more slurs. Current dynamics are intended for midi playback: so I will be adjusting those for real life performance. Haven't decided where to mark a2 and solo in the winds: so any tips on that would be really helpful.

A charming "twinkle" of a piece which brought a smile to my face. May only comment is ... I felt the ending had a bit less flair within the context of the composition. I really like the different feels in the work from "jazzy" to "Bartok". Mark

Hi guys! Hope you're all doing well. So, I wrote a poem two months back, and whilst I did, I also made a melody out of it just because lol. So, I thought it had the potential to become an art song, so I composed it. By the way, this song just contains the first stanza of my poem. Do you think I should make more songs for each stanza to do like a song cycle or something? Anyways, I sang this myself because I find vocal soundfonts to be... nauseating. Anyways, I am no singer, so try not to roast me too much for my voice lol. Do tell me how you like it, or if you have any suggestions.

Hello to the whole community.😃 I am a composer of classical vein. Sometimes I’m told that my style is a bit outdated, but no matter, it’s my musical vein. I would be grateful to exchange with composers like me, a little 'out of the present time'. Thank you very much. 😀

Last year, I came across Sara Teasdale's poetry and a lot of what she wrote about on love, beauty, fear, even death resonated with me. What really peaked my interest was her poetry book of love songs where she expresses her ideas and beliefs about what it means to be loved and to love. "Child, Child" is a heartfelt ballad set in the key of D-major with many legato phrases. The opening theme is the driving point that follows the piece through the beginning, middle and end and changes meaning through each repetition. I use it to tell this story of romance sweeping us off our feet in ways that feel enchanting, and breaking us down when we least expect it. Yet, through it, we still find the courage to love and start anew time and time again. Love--be it heaven or hell--is to hold dear and to cherish. After a pretty rough time last year emotionally, Teasdale's poetry gave words to my feelings and inspired me to write. I hope this piece resonates with you as well. Please enjoy <3. Also Happy New Year!!! Text: Child, child, love while you can The voice and the eyes and the soul of a man; Never fear though it break your heart -- Out of the wound new joy will start; Only love proudly and gladly and well, Though love be heaven or love be hell. Child, child, love while you may, For life is short as a happy day; Never fear the thing you feel -- Only by love is life made real; Love, for the deadly sins are seven, Only through love will you enter heaven.

This piece is called "Fortitude" for the fact I've developed an amount of it through my years on this planet (or should I call it an 'insane asylum' flying through space). I've been away from YC for a long time - several life changes, medical, and financial issues. The '173' refers to the version of it. It's not really meant to be in the title. I continue to use a large palette of sounds. I use several Virtual Instruments, plus some sounds from sample libraries, and even more exciting 'physical modeling'. The footprint for these sounds is minuscule. Using a Mac Studio 2024 and Logic Pro 11.2.2.

Hi! This is the third movement of a song cycle that I wrote from January to April of last year (2025). Each of the five movements is a setting of a different poem by Sara Teasdale, and together create a suite of nocturnes. This is my personal favorite of the set, if there is some interest I may upload some of the others, as there are strong connections between each of the movements. This song is in a three part form, where the second and third parts develop material initially heard in the first. In this piece, the primary material being developed is the piano ostinato heard right at the beginning. Please let me know what you think!

Haha this would really suit for an April's Fool entry lol.

Hi @Mikayla, I feel like the key of this piece is rather in G flat major so you should mark the score with a six flat key signature and turn all the B naturals to C flats! For b.31 I'm not sure whether you would want a C flat for the C natural. The accompaniment there can definitely add more varieties. Thx for sharing. Henry

Hi @Alex Weidmann! When as a kid (and now as an old man) I always love this Mendelssohn piece! I like your combination of vibraphone and harp, and later also the glockenspiel (maybe I love a xylophone more) combination for the accompaniment. Flute is definitely a great choice for the main solo instrument throughout! Maybe for me, I will definitely have the melody played by the violins and/or the cellos for another timbre. But still, a lovely arrangement! Henry

Never use or heard of these 2 books so no debate lol!

It’s fine that trombones read in treble clef, but for the most part have them read tenor clef. This is because of tradition and what they are more used to reading triple cliff should really be necessary if you’re going to a very high range.

MOLA guidelines, for some reason, say do not list the timpani part. I do not understand the reasoning behind this.

Hi again @Gabriel Carlisle! Good to see you again! Regarding your score, I have some nit-picks: In the very beginning, French Horns do not read in Tenor Clef (also, are you British? Asking because your score is in concert pitch, and if you had the Horns in F it would alleviate some of the problems that are causing you to use Tenor and Treble Ottava Bassa clef which Horn players don't usually read) In meas. 69 - 70 the F#'s should be Gb's, and same in meas. 77 - 78 F#'s. As far as the music is concerned - brilliant piece! Very affecting modal mixture appropriate for Romantic era music. The melodies are lovely and dance-like as well. Very fitting of a composer hoping to get his foot in the door in ballet music! Many parts are quite jubilant and celebratory - great victorious moods full of tension and release. The ending was a bit drawn out for my taste, but I am biased towards succinct endings that get to the point quickly which is perhaps not a norm common to Romantic era music. Thanks for sharing and good luck in your endeavors!

@Aiwendil Exactly. Those who favor AI do not want it monitor and regulated. But there was incident in holiday contest where someone used suno. Imagine Suno was used in real life. Then what?

“I’m beginning to write a small oratorio, Everywhere there’s notes! Take a look at the fifths and tenths, some intervals are immense, At half past three my laptop screen’s aglow!”

Thank you very much !!! Happy new year with plenty of health https://www.youtube.com/@patrickarmand4058

In the light of Suno usage on this forum, I found this video: Suno warning

R# Major

I meant no harm at all and to be honest I never really thought about it. I added an "NA" field to those of you who don't wish to leave a gender.

Says the guy who lists Holst as one of his favourite composers. Anyway.... You're missing a few others: Wagner Schoenberg J.S. Bach Balakirev, Cui, Rimsky-Korsakov, Borodin, and Mussorgsky (the last three certainly can lay claim to being geniuses of some sort) Elgar Telemann Martinu Raff Sorabji probably a few more Now it's probably more accurate to say that any of the people mentioned were largely self-taught, because at some point most had some kind of instruction. I seem to remember you being fond of Yanni. He's also self-taught. (Mind you, he is not what I think of when I think of the word "composer.")

Hello everyone! Time for hot debate. Which book do you use a reference when use check your engraving? Behind bars or Stone's and why?