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I'll try to see if I can come up with something, but no promises it'll be done in time...

The submissions are final at the time that they are submitted to the competition. (I will add this to the competition announcement - thanks for bringing this up)

I admit that was my implication, yes. Also, appreciate the graphic, as that is information I already know. I will also confess that seeing all the photo and video graphics in quick succession with your posts does give the impression that you use gen-AI to create the videos, photos, or other graphics (on your profile for instance) in tandem with the music creation. Thus, it has also made me wonder if the music, usually electronic in sound, was also gen-AI. Apologies if I have casted an offense, as I do not mean to do so; this is more of a personal curiosity. I don't mean to take this comment section away from your post, so I do not mind chatting in a direct message thread instead.

Thanks for posting @Sebastian Guzman ! It's been a while since I've listened to the Liszt B minor Sonata, but I am definitely getting vibes of it here (most assuredly from your B-octave motif). Your musical language in this work does feel very Lisztian to me, which is inclusive of the harmony and the piano textures, and that I mostly do mean as a compliment. I'm curious to know what other influences/inspirations you may have had while writing this movement though, as some sections do seem to draw from other wells of musical ideas (e.g. the harmonic movements in b. 91-105 felt distinctly modern to me). I confess that I am not really in a position to offer super helpful advice but I hope you'll find this useful anyway. I also don't mean any suggestion as an attack on your writing, of course, but as an exchange of ideas that you could optionally disregard :) Exposition The B-octave motif is very reminiscent of one of the motifs in the B minor Sonata, haha. I see that the majority of the dotted rhythm in this motif is the backbone for the rhythm of the A theme, if I am correct... I noticed in your trimmed-down video you seemed to have cut out b. 54-62 from the A theme and b. 105-118 from the B theme? Admittedly, I prefer the abridged version as I thought the material in question to be a little redundant, given that you do cover well and to great length both themes in the exposition. My thematic economy side of my brain would like to think that one should only state a theme until the listener is familiar enough with it to recognise said theme when it pops up in the development. If you wanted to keep said material for symmetry/form-related reasons/other personal preferences, though, by all means do so. I do love the B theme in all of its mellow sweetness, especially its first half. The second half of the B theme feels a bit static with the repeated notes, but coupled with the rolling left hand accompaniment, it does give a sense of floating/gliding, if that is what you desired. As I said, I quite like the harmony you move through in b. 91-105. A charming change in texture from b. 154 onwards! Development The fugato start of the development seems a bit dry? I can see where you are going with the material but I'm not super convinced by b. 164-187, though I suppose some pedal would help, or varying the articulation and texture a tad more even if a fugato. I didn't quite exactly get fugato vibes from it either, given how long the statement of the theme is. This is completely a suggestion, of course, and it is up to you as to how you'd like your sonata to work, but perhaps using only the first phrase of the theme (b. 164-166) and then building up a series of entries in other voices could be rather effective. I somewhat find this example to also be a bit dry, but I like the energy build-up of this fugato moment in the development of the fourth movement of Scriabin's Third Sonata, if you wanted something similar. Interesting, from b. 178 onwards in the fugato, you introduce another voice that is the B theme, or at least an echo of it, if I'm correct? I am a big fan of juxtaposing thematic material in the development sections of sonatas, if so... The material in b. 196-215 seems a bit overly virtuosic? I'm uncertain whether there might be some significance in the chords/harmonies you use here, but I think it'd be great to insert more of the existing thematic material in here, fragmented or whatnot. Overall, the development feels short to me, not in the least because I feel like you could've pulled out your compositional chops a bit more. Given the length of the exposition, I think this deserves a heftier development with varied treatment and inclusion of all three of the A and B themes and the B-octave motif. Trying to set the tempestuous A theme or the B-octave motif into the suave atmosphere/mood of the B theme, for example, or more chopping and changing, there are a wide variety of things you could do. Liszt can of course be a great source of ideas here! Recap Nice to restate the B-octave theme. Maybe the transition from the end of the development could be made smoother? I'm not sure though. I like the recasting of the textures in the recap of the A theme, but it feels a little airy? I'm not sure if you were going for that feel, and if you were, then I am in no place to complain. I suppose you could add some deep bass notes on the offbeats to give it a bit more body and hold them with your regular pedal, or see if the sostenuto pedal could work (though it could make the right hand arpeggios rather dry). I also appreciate the A theme being a bit shorter here... With b. 236 onwards and B theme, the energy seems to drop somewhat, with almost the exact statement of the original B theme but transposed. It is once again up to you, but you could also recap the B theme in a different texture, as you did with the A theme. I felt like the energy levels ought to have ramped up a bit more moving further and further down to match the energy of b. 282 onwards to the coda, possibly? At the moment, the ending feels mildly content with itself, though I would think the large chords and dynamics would suggest otherwise. With notation and formatting, I also admit I'm not the best person to offer advice, but there does seem to be the occasional odd things, e.g. whatever is stretching out b. 122 (the rest in the upper staff can also be removed there), the clipping of text at the end of the system at b. 248-250, and the slightly overzealous floating slur in b. 288. I've been told that with hairpins, it's best practice to state exactly which dynamic the hairpin starts and ends at, including double hairpins like < so >, but I am open to corrections. Yeah, that's most of what I have to offer with thoughts. Excellent playing, by the way, I almost forgot to mention! This already looks like a difficult sonata so far with this first movement and you interpreted it very pleasingly, at least to my ears, and in a very convincing way (though I suppose it is up to the composer yourself to decide whether it was served justice, lol).

Wow! I actually think this piece has many qualities that make it a convincing imitation of this french baroque style, so overall, very well done. Some things I want to praise is your use of ornamentation, the tempo and time signature changes in the Passacailles, solid structure, your use of the same dotted rhythmic motive throughout both movements, and occasional, but functional dissonance. There are some sections in your piece where I think that, despite this "lute" style of French Baroque you are going for, even in the non lute sections, some of the intervals are too wide (like E4 to Bb5), to the point that even if they could be rolled, or even shared by both hands, they could be slightly unidiomatic, especially with all of the ornaments going on and the different voices, so just something to think about. Another thing I want to mention, is the lack of articulation. Sure, you have ornaments, but surprisingly, as opposed to Bach's music and other baroque composers, this is actually pretty common for the French Baroque tradition, leaving it up to the performers. Overall, I think this is a great imitation, I think you did a wonderful job on this experiment, and I look forward to see where you take this piece moving on!

aight im in

Hello! This one of my pieces with lesser compositional quality... It was a very fun piece to work with so im posting it here too, just for the sake of it. Its for organ or harpsichord, in this midi recording its for organ wich i think fits nicely with the more contrapuntal style of this piece. This is a Fantasia (Back in the renaissance and early baroque era, the genre of the fantasia was just a broad therm for anything improvisational or without a structure) wich i used a renaissance popular tune called "La Bassa Fiamenga", You can find this melody extensively on various pieces of that time, and its one of the lesser known ones. Enjoy! Fantasia sopra la Bassa Fiamenga (2).mp3

Thank you!

Hiihiiii!!! This is my submission for the Spring 2026 Landscapes Competition :) For my landscape, I've chosen the mountains of Zhangjiajie, China. The first time that I saw these mountains, I was awestruck by just the sheer scale of them. Massive peaks and towers, overgrown with centuries-old moss, reaching beyond the clouds. Really just gorgeous. I wanted to try to write about them. The piece starts off zoomed outwards, depicting the sparseness of the clouds, until eventually, a melody begins to creep towards the first real theme--which I call the garden theme. The focus is on the garden now, zoomed in, it's a sort of natural oasis along the side of one of the tall mountainous pillar. It's beautiful, lush, full, until the garden begins to die as winter comes. The harmony because sparse and vague again, with large spontaneous gusts of wind... just very dry sounding overall. That is, until months later, the clouds darken, promising a heavy storm. Anticipation builds, until eventually, rain comes pouring down, so densely that it's almost like a wall. It's the first rain of spring!!! After the rain settles down, the garden comes to life again with the re-entry of the garden theme!! The piece ends as the focus zooms back out onto the clouds, and the tension finally resolves again. My goal with the piece was to try to represent the life cycle of the plant life out in the setting of Zhangjiajie. I hope you all like it !!!! AmidstTheCloudsAndFlowers.mp3 AmidstTheCloudsAndFlowers.pdf

Hello, I'd like to share my new project - an organ mass for an actual use during a catholic mass. This Offertorium is the first completed part of this mass. I plan to compose this mass in the 19th century french romantic style inspired by small liturgical pieces by Boëllmann, Lefebure Wely and Guilmant. The remaining parts - Entree, Communion, Sortie and maybe an additional one will come soon. Thank you for listening (link to the video of me performing this little piece). Honest opinions are welcome :) Offertorium.pdf

I see. Anyway, I’m going through the pieces as they’re uploaded (there’s only one so far). But I’d prefer to send the results at the end, so I can compare them with one another.

Hello everyone! This weekend I experimented with a really simple atonal technique and I turned the experiment into this piece for piano. The technique is "mirror writing". I applied it in the simplest way possible. The process was the following: 1. I decided on using four voices and mirror them around the middle C axis. 2. For each melody note, I added the mirrored bass below it (for example, a top note A is accompanied by the bass Eb, both a major sixth above/below middle C). 3. After that, I chose both internal notes (considering that those need to also be mirrored against each other). Except for two measures, the whole main theme was created through that technique. Afterwards I composed a tonal middle section and turned the piece into the form ABA'B'A''. This time I tried avoiding excessive exact repetition (with techniques such as changing octaves, creating different melodic contours and accompaniment, or mixing final restatement of main theme with the coda) in order to add some variety to the whole. That is because I tend to just copy and paste most of my sections and I want to get rid of that habit. In addition, the first measure copies the beginning of Schubert's Impromptu No.1 in C minor. As always, every feedback, comment or suggestion is more than welcome and hope you enjoy it! Thank you! PD: My main concerns are in m.39~40, where I change the ending of main theme making it maybe too dissonant, and the fact that the first time that I introduce the B section (m.13) I do not use the continuous tresillo accompaniment.

I do wonder though as I am both participating and looking to review, it wouldn't be in my best interest to review and give feedback if they may change their work and possibly improve their result before the deadline lol. It's not a big issue, however, a little internal dilemma.

I like it, it seems to work! Some "rich" chords, but contrasting sections give the ear a break. The first theme briefly restated, end. Beautiful! And tasteful, not a wasted note. When I first glanced at the score, my inner ear didn't want to accept the A natural/E natural against Eb, Ab, but you make it work.

A few days ago, I wrote a very short piano work for my brother's birthday, which is not something I normally do. I realised early on in the week that I had not yet got him anything and decided to write and put together a music video in one day, as one does. Of course, I paired it with some colourful lyrics to express my utmost brotherly love and affection for him (translation: extol his persistently annoying behaviour and call out embarrassing moments in his life). To my surprise, he did enjoy it more than I thought he would, so that was a success! I've removed the lyrics for seriousness' sake in the PDF, but I hope you'll find something of interest in here. As usual, I am also always looking for feedback and ways to keep chipping away at my pieces even after I've written them. Are the two main themes different enough in character? Does the form feel awkward or bloated? Anything else of concern or note? One thing I will admit is that I probably should not have notated swing entirely with triplets, so that's something I've started to fix up at the moment... Promenade (2026).mp3 Promenade (2026).pdf

Hi!! Thank you for your feedbackk. I actually tried to imitate harmonies from as many Chinese composers as I could find (could only find a few so took some inspiration from some Japanese composers too) and I thought that I did alright. I was wondering, what made you think it's atonal? For reference, here were my biggest inspos: https://www.youtube.com/clip/Ugkx9sWO_07nOcVc31RWLQukpCSRIRGoLMvi https://www.youtube.com/clip/UgkxCY-tbOrbg9ovMKSOY2F8QWCYvY1tz2w6 https://www.youtube.com/clip/UgkximtvrASDQuNCaQ47ieLpRZ6iXuaxGym1 https://www.youtube.com/clip/UgkxJnJpo0JuB56eB7LF3MQe0J9b-F1EbNEy tytyyy btw !!!

Hi there! I wanted to ask if you wanted any feedback on the work? It is very cool regardless of the time spent composing! As a brief comment, I am unsure if the score is meant to look this way: The staves are all stacked and combined on top of each other when you look at the PDF through the website. It makes it really hard to read/ process the score currently.

Hi everyone! I'm currently working on a 4 movement Piano Sonata in E minor, and I've already written the first movement, at around a little over 10 minutes in length alone. Im 15 years old, and although I'm a classically trained pianist studying at the peabody preparatory, I'm a self taught composer, so I'd appreciate any feedback on notation, structure, and really anything else that could benefit the piece, which could help me refine further. The piece is in sonata form, with the A and B themes in the exposition both lasting from m.1-163 (A - m.1-82, B - m.83-163), a development section (with a brief 24 measure Fugato on the main theme from m.21-37) lasting from m.164-219, and then the recap from m.220-293. The piece goes through many modulations, occasional complex polyrhythms, chromaticism, complex late-romantic/impressionist harmonies, cross-staff textures, delayed resolutions, distant key relationships, using "deceptive" major keys, and it ends the exposition in B major, the dominant, rather than G major the relative major. The development begins with the fugato in D# minor, and then after going through A# minor, G# minor, Ab major, breaking the fugato, and E major, it begins the recap back in E minor, moving through a few more keys to finally reach E major in the end. For this sonata, I'm very inspired by liszt (both his more virtuosic showpieces and his more introspective late works), especially with how he uses thematic development and combines "mephisto" drama with lyrical spirituality. In the beginning of my piece, you have the main motive of the entire piece, what I call the "B octave motive", since it's just octaves in both hands repeating the note B, but this single motive (both rhythmically and melodically) can be found in almost every section of the piece, from the tempestuous A theme, to the spiritual, watery and flowing B theme. The polar opposite contrast between the A and B themes creates both immense technical and musical demands for the performer, while still being idiomatic. Additionally, many of the ideas in this sonata, come from my own improvisations over the years, which I think helps give me a little bit of a distinct voice, but I'd like to know the perspectives of others. As I already mentioned, all feedback is appreciated! Note: the first link is me playing a slightly cut version of the exposition, and links 2 and 3 show me playing the parts I cut out from the first link. Links: https://youtu.be/MyptBsYMNiw https://youtube.com/shorts/-kIa8oVrUg4 https://youtube.com/shorts/_eLFRSilBzs https://youtube.com/shorts/_lOHz4Nz5qE https://youtu.be/qlEPGqwAq64 Piano Sonata in E Minor - Full Score.pdf

Hello, all!!! I intend to participate in this competition! Looking forward to seeing how this plays out :)

Beautiful Renaissance Style Writing. Really intriguing and fun to follow. Although this next request unstylistic, I can't help but wish for articulations, and dynamics. I know blasphemy, but consider this is a "MIDI audio" competition (basically). I think secretly adding some articulations and dynamics would add and extra layer of interest.

Hello Mason! I can well imagine how much you enjoyed having the chance to play such a magnificent instrument that literally fills the entire hall or church. And—even though you’re a professional pianist—I don’t think playing the organ is your daily routine, so you took the opportunity to improvise, record a video, and share it with us—thank you so much for that. A few years ago, I also had the chance to try my hand at playing the organ—at Gethsemane Church in Berlin. And I recorded a video as well, but—given my piano skills, which are “barely good enough for playing at home”—I can’t post it; that would be too embarrassing for me and others … What I learned is that while the organ is indeed a “royal” instrument, it is also a “diva” that, despite the magnificent reverberation in a church, forgives no mistakes in articulation, and that it is very difficult for a piano “player” to play legato consistently without the support of a sustain pedal. What I particularly appreciated was that you’ve chosen the key of B-flat minor for your improvisation. For me, this key is one that expresses solemnity, and perhaps also a kind of sorrow or suffering. This impression is particularly influenced by the preludes and fugues in B-flat minor from both books of The Well-Tempered Clavier (where the famous fugue from the second book was one piece I tried to play at that time, along with one of my own fugues...)

It seems you haven't attached anything since you posted? I'd love to hear/see how it sounds if you get around to uploading some audio or sheet music!

Thanks very much for listening, and for your comments! It's probably because I'd been listening to so much Mozart before writing this that I included two minuets instead of making one a scherzo - but I also think the last movement provides that scherzando feeling. I'm glad you noted the modulations in the last movement; I got a kick out of writing that bit, as if the oboe realizes it got off at the wrong stop on its chromatic scale and then it takes a few tries to figure out how to get back to the right key.

Hey @Aiwendil ! Nice job on this elegant classical work! I would have called this piece "Divertimento in Bb for Wind Octet". But no matter - very enjoyable nonetheless! I love the unexpected discordant moments in the 1st movement! The 2nd movement almost lulls me into boredom, but soon enough a contrasting section brings renewed musical interest. The 3rd movement to me sounds like a peaceful countryside carriage ride. I'm surprised that you included two minuets in this Divertimento. I would have opted to write one minuet and a scherzo for variety's sake. But it certainly is vivacious and full of positive energy! The Presto movement is probably my favorite of the bunch! It's very scherzo-like with its constant sudden dynamic surprises. Another thing I wanted to mention is that the whole work is very well proportioned! Each movement is about 5 minutes long with no movement being more important than the others. Great job and thanks for sharing! I enjoyed it thoroughly! P.S.: I really loved the funny modulations in the last movement! They're full of Mozartean humor - almost like those polytonal moments in his Musical Joke! Thanks again!

Hello, this is my first time writing for choir. I am being commissioned by a local middle school to arrange Umbrella. I have just the bridge and a final chorus to add, but I wanted feedback. My background is percussion so I don't want to accidentally make anything to jumpy or impossible. Please be specific in critiques, I'd appreciate it! Thank you!

Hi @Fruit hunter ! Quite an interesting work full of extended techniques and giving each section of the chamber orchestra interesting parts - including the Violas! My only gripe as a composer and listener of your work is that in this case it seems like there is no justification or musical reason for any of your gestures. The piece seems to be made up primarily of interesting ostinati and various syncopated gestures. This somehow manages to create some musical interest. But, for my own taste, I prefer the musical justification for a piece's existence to come from the themes/melodies which from my perspective, this piece doesn't have. Still, it does work - and I could definitely imagine it as programmatic music for the approach of a black hole. I don't see the "falling in love" theme as very fitting to this piece though. But an approach to a black hole definitely could work. Thanks for sharing!

Things added: bass distortion turned down- key change and second chorus- effects to various instruments- bossfight progress 3.mp3

Hi all 🙂 Here's a short study for string trio in a rather oriental mood. Hope it will delight you. Best regards, Marc My Shéréazade.mp3 01 - Conducteur - Etude pour trio à cordes n°11.pdf

You should be our ambassador for gif badges haha.

I'll be the 1st to Accept this Badge.

Let this comment mark my intent of joining this competition. Good luck to anyone who may join and I am excited to see whom may take up arms in this fun little game of music creation!

Do we have to pay to know the ending this time? 🤑😜

It's Organum tho lol! The only term makes me laugh is "Contemporary Music" lol.

My String SEXtet must make you laugh lol Henry

Sextuplets (16th note triplets) JOINTS (head joint / foot joint / etc) pp Tutti

G String (orchestra, guitar, and ukulele) Nut (guitar and ukulele) Ogranum (organ piece with one pedal note held a very long time) Scat (A form of jazz singing that uses improvised nonsense syllables to create a melody... NOT animal poop)

Very nice! Reminds me of Mendelssohn.

The members have voted in this poll; Spring 2026 Competition Poll and have decided about the form and details of the next Young Composer's Composition Competition! As per the previous trend, this competition has no monetary rewards - only kudos and badges. Also in accordance with the results of the 2025 Halloween Satisfaction Survey, we are inviting the members/competitors to participate in the creation of the badge awards that will be dispersed at the end of the competition! So if you have any ideas for particular badges that would accord with the kind of music that will be submitted for this competition and the theme of this competition, let us know in the List of Manually-Awardable Badges thread and we will take your ideas into consideration! Please reply to this topic to declare your intent to participate in this competition! The winners will be determined by popular voting polls! Reviewing and Judging: The reviewing of the competition submissions will once again be spearheaded by our volunteer staff and those who wish to contribute their time and effort to reviewing the entries out of the goodness of their own hearts (and/or sense of fun!). You may use the Official Competition Reviewing Template, or jettison the template and review the submissions just like you would any other piece of music on the website! You could even make your own template! You will be rewarded for your efforts with "Ardent Reviewer" badges in three tiers: Featherweight Reviewer - for reviewing 33% of the entries Welterweight Reviewer - for reviewing 66% of the entries Heavyweight Reviewer - for reviewing 100% of the entries Thank you for whatever time and effort you're willing to give! Instrumentation: as per the poll, the members are free to compose for any kind of trio/quartet/quintet from a Pierrot ensemble to a kazoo trio to a quartet of Tibetan throat singers! Write for the serpent! You may use any combination of 3 - 5 monophonic or polyphonic instruments/voices. Pictures, Photos, Paintings: You may submit a picture, photo or a painting of the landscape you based your composition on. This is totally optional, but if you submit one, please do not use AI to generate your image. However, you may use a screenshot from a game. Or you can use a completely imaginary landscape. Duration: 3 - 7 minutes with a sweet spot of 5 minutes. Deadline: Tuesday, June 2nd, 2026 Entrants thus far: @Fruit hunter @MK_Piano @UncleRed99 @MrBelegro @Luis Hernández @Musicman_3254 @TristanTheTristan @Wieland Handke @L.S Barros @Some Guy That writes Music @therealAJGS @ferrum.wav @Monarcheon @InstrumentalistElle Here is the submissions thread for the competition where participants are encouraged to post links to their composition (rather than posting their piece directly into the pre-existing topic - make your own dedicated topic so the members at large can review your music there): We are instituting a policy of not allowing any AI generated works in the competition. Because of this you will be required to detail how you created your piece and submit a PDF score or midi file for the perusal of the staff and members at large. Original compositions only. The submissions are final at the time that they are submitted to the competition.

No you can review the submissions as they are being submitted. But the final public voting polls to determine who will get which badge will not be publicized until after June 2nd.

She...😉is going to get me coffee! Just friends, but she gets to live with a composer...

thank you man, it is definitely a quirky piece, much more on the experimental side. I actually took a bit of inspiration from prokofiev's march from the "love of three oranges", so it takes on an absurd, comical vibe. Give your housemate a bit of time, he will get used to it👍

The Capybara-I see you are like me a fan of augmented triads and other whole tone chords. I like it, but it's probably driving my housemate crazy...🤣

A lot of overlapping perfects. I see you tried to imitate birds and animals. I see you have done it in a creative way, so I gave you a 10.

"ALASKA" | V.I.P. Symphony Orchestra An Alaska Breeze ... is as cold as Ice ALASKA -Alternative Version 2.mp3

Regarding the "Classified-Information" of the software, i cant discuss that in detail, except to say , that's its the FASTEST way of creating Any type of music,extremely easily. The Video production/ photos / websites etc, are all using Basic software programs, that are decades old. I cant read music, so as pretty as the score pdfs look...........their meaningless to me. Launching a New software-Keyboard-Program,globally is no easy task, and will probably never happen.

Hi MK When you say is this "Generated-Media", i presume your asking is this : Artificial Intelligence ? NO definitely not . Im using an ALPHA/Pre-Release software keyboard that's currently unavailable. The Developer/Programmer/Coders ,have been increasing the flexibility of this software over time. This software does not have a Score-Creator, this Software is still in a release life cycle.

Hey Interlect! Interesting piece here; I will admit I have been seeing your increase in activity with a plethora of new submissions across the forum. However, I never see a score to look at with your music. I tried looking on your profile to see if you linked your scores elsewhere, but confess I did not find anything either. Can I ask how you go about creating these works? Do you make scores? Is this generated media instead?

It’s a meticulous piece of work and it sounds good; however, I feel that while the arpeggios work well on the harp and even the vibraphone, they don't seem very idiomatic when played repeatedly by the woodwinds (clarinets and bassoons) or even the cello. I think you’ve tried to be very faithful to the score, but the orchestra doesn't behave like a piano...

Hello, someone asked for this years ago, (I was newbie here) I said I could do one but our "woodwinds expert" Mr.McConaughey (Flint) said "nah, wrrrr, because grrrrrrr, and wrrrrr also grrrrr...." and he was Mod then, so I didn't say a word. I did one, just I'm not a Pro clarinetist, so I'd like you all who play clarinet watch this and tell me if you consider I should change something, the point here is to give a clear idea of which glissandos can be possible (for people don't play clarinet) because some people listens a glissando and say "oh you see, is possible" and write another one is NOT possible :P I'm not sure about the highest glisses. Glissandos are possible because Clarinet is a half whole half keys mechanism instrument, notes are determinated by keys make not gliss possible. how does it look to you ?