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Anna's Lullaby was the culimation of an instrumentation challenge posed to me by @MK_Piano , and a Piano Chord Progression & Motif that I came up with during my down time. It elicited, to me, what felt like a lullaby, or, a loving embrace. Which reminded me of one of the Family dogs that we had, growing up. Her name was Anna. She passed, in recent years, due to her old age, and she was one of the most memorable parts of my childhood. So I've dedicated this score to her memory. I feel it lays her to rest, in a careful and loving way. Feedback is welcomed! -Unc Updated - Added Oboe part, adjusted Harmonies, fixed Piano Ped. Mark Engraving. AnnasLullaby.pdfAnnasLullaby.mp3 P.S. Here's the most recent photo I had of Anna. I wish it were a better one. It's a screenshot of a video I took of her giving me a "5" or, giving me her paw. You can see her age in this photo. She was 17 when she passed.

Multiple users have inquired about the next competition, so that warrants a new Summer 2026 Competition Poll! The poll will close on Wednesday, July 22nd at 11:59 pm PST. Here are the givens that each competition will maintain: The duration of each piece should once again be between 3 - 7 minutes. Reviewing the entries will once again be spearheaded by the members/competitors at large. You are free to use the Official Competition Reviewing Template or you can review the entries in any way you see fit or create a template of your own making! There will be tiered "Ardent Reviewer" badges given out for this event: Featherweight Reviewer - for reviewing 33% of the entries Welterweight Reviewer - for reviewing 66% of the entries Heavyweight Reviewer - for reviewing 100% of the entries 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. The musical entries to the competition are final once submitted. This is for the sake of consistency of reviewing (so that each reviewer reviews the same piece of music without any changes). However, there are a few things we'd like the members to help us determine (in the poll): 1) What should the competition be about? To write background music for one of @chopin 's Retry Bro's YouTube videos. Explanation: @chopin has a new YouTube channel! It's called Retry Bros. and consists of him playing Super Mario Maker levels and coming up with entertaining narration from Mario, Luigi, Princess Peach, Bowser, and other assorted characters. There's also a musical element. So far, Mike has come up with some clever lyrics and used AI to make realistic sounding songs that go along with the video. Now, where you would come in is that you'd be writing background music for one of @chopin 's new videos! To write some kind of autobiographical piece with a paragraph describing how the music portrays the autobiographical material. This one is @UncleRed99 's suggestion. The idea is to "write a piece that simply tells a story about your life, and something meaningful within it. Utilize complex elements to express emotion, tension, or any other desired emotional or mentally relatable expression. Provide a brief summary describing the root of the story being told." @Thatguy v2.0 has bestowed his theme proposal to me. I had another idea for an "Excerpt Exchange". Basically composers entering the competition would send the staff an unfinished excerpt of their music for the ensemble that we'll be writing for in this competition (we'll find out what ensemble from the member voting to question no.2 below). By sending your unfinished excerpt you bestow upon others the right to work on and finish your composition. The composers will be given a random excerpt from a random composer without being told who composed it. Each composer will be tasked with making the best piece they can and finishing it to the best of their ability. The minimum length of the excerpt should be 8 measures. @Henry Ng Tsz Kiu has also bestowed his theme proposal to me so I decided to include another theme in the options: "Sound Mimesis - Acoustic Anatomy". The idea is to use the instruments at your disposal to mimic sounds in your natural environment (although the sounds don't technically have to be created by nature - they could definitely be artificial sounds, but should be mimicked by acoustic instruments). As an example watch this Talking Piano YT Video. Or watch this flute mimicking bird calls. @Omicronrg9 has also bestowed his theme proposal to me. This theme would be called "A Plenty of Persichetti Prompts". The composers would be given a choice to compose music based on prompt(s) inspired by exercises from Vincent Persichetti's "20th Century Harmony". There would be 5 prompts inspired by Persichetti's exercises (but not directly taken from the book) that the composers could use to inspire their music. These prompts would be based around various music theory ideas. I've amassed a document listing various such ideas that could be used in this competition: Musical Composition Prompts. @MK_Piano has proposed the theme - "From Nothing, to Something." What greater challenge of a composer than to take nothing and turn it into something! Your goal 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! This poem is short, but filled with evoking images of what summer can feel like. Attached is the poem in English: So, on a bright summer day it shall be: The great sun, my partner in joy, Shall make, amid the satin and the silk, Your dear beauty lovelier still; The sky, all blue, like a tall canopy, Shall quiver sumptuously in the long folds Above our two happy brows, grown pale With pleasure and expectancy; And when evening comes, the breeze shall be soft And play caressingly about your veils, And the peaceful stars looking down Shall smile benevolently on man and wife. The poem in French and English @Tónskáld has also bestowed his theme proposal to me. Another idea I had would be called "An Invitation to Dance". The composers would be tasked with writing music in the style of a dance in a modern style, that could actually be danced to and exhibited all the proper characteristics of said dance. The composers could choose from a list of dances including but not limited to the following: Pavane, Galliarde, Tarantella, Saltarello, Allemande, Courante, Sarabande, Gigue, Minuet, Bourree, Polonaise, Chaconne, Gavotte, Waltz, Mazurka, Tango, Samba, Mambo, Merengue, Rumba, Paso Doble, Cha-Cha-Cha. Note that the composer would be tasked with composing only one of these dances rather than a whole set (such as a Baroque Dance Suite). It would also be expected that the music be "dance-like" meaning that it's not just an instrumental derivation of one of these dances that aren't meant to be danced to. My own idea is for the members to write M&M&M's - Mock-ups, Mash-ups and Medleys. The idea is for the members to take 2 or more preexisting themes from different genres of music and to make mash-ups and medleys with them. The staff and/or members would vote about what pieces/songs to include in the following list of genres and the composers would then choose 2 or more pieces from the list to combine in a medley or mash-up (or both!): A single piece of Film Music A single piece of Video-Game Music A single piece of Early or Ancient Music A single piece of Classical Music (Baroque, Classical or Romantic) A single piece of Pop, Rock or Jazz Music A single piece of Rap or Hip-Hop Music A single piece of Anime Music A single piece of Modern/Avant-Garde Music A single piece of World Music 2) What kind of ensemble should the competitors be free to choose to write for? Solo piano/keyboard or solo polyphonic instrument (such as guitar, harp or accordeon) One monophonic instrument accompanied by one polyphonic instrument Choice of mixed trio/quartet/quintet of individual instruments Other mixed ensemble of more than 5 individual instruments not exceeding 10 Chamber orchestra (string orchestra) Full orchestra 3) How many months should the competition span? (1 month, 2 months or 3 months) Happy voting and let us know what you're happy about or what could be changed about the upcoming competition!

Hello dear UncleRed99, This is a wonderful piece. Since she lived to be 17, she certainly had a long life. Of course, I hadn't heard the piece before, but it has a lovely, nostalgic quality to it. It’s not nostalgia for a specific place or time, but rather the kind that comes from looking back on cherished memories. It has become a beautiful memory paired with a beautiful song. Your work is always so gentle and warm; it brings a sense of comfort. Thank you for sharing such a wonderful piece and your memories. Rest in peace, Anna. Best, Lithl.

Hi all! It's been since the first of the year that I posted here...so sorry for going dark for a while. Life got busy! But I wanted to share this piece I worked on in May and have since finalized. It's called..."The Duel". I leaned heavily into drums and keeping momentum going, trying to use some more articulations and varying techniques that are inspired by some of the music I was listening to at the time. I created this in FL Studio using a variety of VSTs...mostly from Native Instruments' Symphony Series. But including a cimbalom from Spitfire Audio in there also, as well as their Epic Choirs. Hope you enjoy the listen and can't wait to hear everyone's thoughts.

@Alex Weidmann @BlackkBeethoven Thank you for listening and commenting. Yes, virtual instruments do what they can, and well, I prefer to focus on the composition rather than on post-production with a DAW and so on. That’s why I use an editor (Dorico) with NotePerformer. There are indeed orchestral versions of Debussy’s preludes. Some are very famous, such as the arrangements by Colin Matthews or Stokowski. I must say I didn’t listen to them when I was working on my modest version. In fact, I didn’t even know they existed until I started exploring this piece. It’s been an interesting challenge because of the nature of the piece – so colourful, yet harmonically free and daring at the same time. It’s been a slow process, taking about two months, as I was working under the supervision (on a weekly basis) of a composer and teacher. I’m in a small group (four people) learning orchestration with him, and it’s fantastic… We usually work on shorter excerpts from pieces, but this one was the full work. In fact, there have been some subsequent modifications and improvements, but never mind. Soon we’ll be moving on to orchestrating pieces we’ve composed ourselves; we’ll see how it goes…

Okay!! Nicely done I will do my best to address your points for feedback as best as I can, but I am not the most experienced composer on the site, so I would keep your eyes out for better feedback later. 1. You have a few spots (really a whole section), starting at m.89 until m.96 where your beat 3 is completely unseen. It's a general rule of thumb to keep your 3rd beat clear, for reading purposes. 2. I enjoy the way your build up the piece, but I'm wondering if it would've been more effective had you established the melody a little sooner. Like even right after you state the iconic canon baseline - the melody starting in m.5 rather than the dotted qtr figure would help establish some familiarity (but disregard if this doesn't align with your vision for the piece). In my opinion, I just think it goes on for a little too long without the melody, especially since you mentioned this will be used in a game, I think having the iconic melody present from an earlier point would be nice. 3.This is just another one of those "in my opinion" things. But I would like if the rhythmic escalations were smoother. Like in m.6, if those 32nds were 8th notes or 8th and 16th notes (which would be 3 notes, but you get the gist). Up until that point you've just had qtr notes and 8th notes. Same thing in m.32, I would just prefer a rhythm that is different from what we've seen so far, but not jumping from qtr notes and 8ths and 16ths to 32nd notes. It's just a little jarring. This is part of what makes your inversion section successful to me. The rhythms are lining up and diverging in a way that seems smooth if that makes sense. By that point we've heard all of the rhythms you will use til the end of the piece and the 16th against the 8th makes sense and doesn't feel jarring. (This may speak to your 6th point above) I would say yes, however some of the times where I get a little lost are probably midi playback things and not issues with what's written. This is getting long-winded lol, so I'll end there. But thank you for sharing your work!! Hope my feedback was helpful.

I see, and thank you for explaining the meaning of each part. Once you finish those parts, feel free to share them! I hope it turns out to be a great piece for you. Best, Lithl.

Hi, Lithl Thanks for the feedback. I am still getting used to both the forum and Musescore so that’s why the storyline wasn’t explicitly there. So far, I have the: Children playing - first part Evil stepmother - second part Banished to the forest - third part Finding the house - fourth part After the huge B chord, at “p subito”, the right hand being eventually joined by the left hand is them seeing the witch. Parts I need to finish: The witch actually trapping them Children fight back The witch gets cooked (literally) and the children escape Finale I’m working on them! Plus, only one school week to go until summer break!!

https://musescore.com/user/96214813/scores/28405348 This is my second concerto, written in e minor for piano and orchestra. It consists of three movements. Mov. 1 E Moll Mov. 2 B Dur-E Dur Mov. 3 E Moll. My Internet is low so I won't bother with the details. Thx! Byeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee. -TristanTheTristan

Hi everyone! I took a break from composing for a while. Recently, I started composing again, and I would like to present my latest composition, an Impromptu, written between May and July 2026. Writing this piece proved challenging – choosing the right material was an endeavor, and most of the effort was spent on completing the coda section. Anyway, I hope you enjoy it, and I would love to hear your thoughts! Carl Koh Wei Hao

Ah, thank you for teaching me a new concept @PeterthePapercomPoser . I always just thought of that chord in question as a special dominant chord that is just a half step above the actual dominant chord, so in my mind it was flat because I saw it as a C7 chord, if that makes sense :) I think I see the logic of having it as a A# now. It's kinda neat how depending on the genre, can be seen different ways. Sorry @Martynas123 !!

Hello, It's so wonderful. I don't know why, but the part at 4:08 sort of feels off, like it should go on for a bit longer. It probably wouldn't be the case with an actual human performer vs MIDI file though. Maybe it's more of a performance thing vs compositional thing. In the Coda at 4:36, it sounds very familiar. I can't quite place it...probably a wonderfully sounding cliche that many greats have used before you? The ending has such a nice flair to it. That chord at measure 236. I wish I could give you a chef's kiss for that one. So elegant and wonderful and a bit bittersweet on top of it all. I like the choice to break with the RH pattern you did for most of the piece and just go at it hard with those wonderful consistent 16th notes in the RH. So whole piece feels like eating a lot of delicious sweets. It sounds/tastes so sweet, it can't be good for me if I listen to it too much right? ;) Anyways, those are my thoughts... I wonder what you had in mind when you were writing it? P.S. The notation looks beautifully done! So much attention to detail :).

I've just finished revising and completing my arrangement of Isaac Albéniz's España (6 Hojas de Álbum) for string orchestra. I hope you enjoy it! Any feedback is very welcome. 1. Preludio.pdf

Hey Tristan, I will admit that I had some reservations going in to this concerto. I recall commenting on previous piano works of yours and being critical of engraving and individual playability with the piano instrument. This time however, I was genuinely pleased with the musical content of this work. So much so, I wish to dissuade any critical notion I had and provide a comment and analysis beneficial to you. I like to annotate on PDFs and I wish to do so for the entirety of this work. However, I cannot do so in a quick manner and in the current state of this concerto. Here are my first thoughts and quick amends I wish for you to do: PAGE LAYOUT (using MuseScore Studio 4) Your overall page and score layout is... to be blunt, Bad. Only 1-3 measures per page (maybe four or five)... for almost 18 minutes? The page is too small for the ensemble size, or the measures are too big. In Musescore, you can fix this by going to the top of the editor and pressing Format>>Page Settings. Even if you do not expect this to be performed, there is ALWAYS a chance it will be one day. Thus, I think it best to always treat your music as practical versus theoretical. Specifically, think about how a conductor, someone who has NEVER seen your work, will see it and try to understand it. What about the players? Everything you write will have an effect on those who see it. Conductors. Conductors will have to control the score and turn the pages. You have 287 pages worth of music... This is very ineffective for a conductor and if a director was looking for music to program, even the length of the document can be a deciding factor. MUSESCORE Musescore has a feature to end movements properly. Go to your Palettes tab>>Layout>>Section Break. This will allow you to end a movement, have a pause, and redisplay the full instrument names for the next movement. It is essential to use this in multi-movement works. (In hindsight, I see you have done this, good job!) Use the Frames to create extra pages. Nowhere on the score does it state the size of the ensemble... aka how many performers. You can use vertical frames and page breaks to add extra pages. Front Matter. Use Frames and page breaks to create extra pages before the first page of music. (what is called the front matter) Then, to add text and custom text fields, click the frame you wish to add text, go to the top of your screen and hit Add>>Text>> Title, Subtitle, etc. I would like to do a proper analysis at another time, however I cannot promise when as it will be a large task for me. In the meantime, to make it easier for others, please amend the page layout and measure spacing. Good work!

Thank you very much for the detailed and extensive feedback! Cheers.

Hi Tristan! I really like this piece! There are definitely a variety of textures in the music and all instruments are utilised in their own unique way. The range also keeps the music flowing, which many pieces do not include (even I am sometimes a victim!!) Something to keep in mind is in the winds. There is a solo flute line of semiquavers which as a whole I really like. Just remember that real flutists would have to tongue very fast at that tempo to hit them accurately! Adding a few slurs can help immensely! You can leave some semiquavers, about two thirds, detached, but us fellow wind players’ tongues get tired when they are working that hard! Two more quick things: The viola plays an incredibly high note (relative to the normal range) at one point. Remember the alto clef is lower, so instead of placing a load of ledger lines, it’s no harm to change to treble! And near the beginning, the violin, again, plays a high note. I couldn’t exactly tell because of the ledger lines, so maybe edit this to an 8va? Overall, I really love this, although take my advice with a grain of salt. I’m no ensemble expert! gooberro

Hello, I tried to create a symphony from scratch again. Maybe this time I made a better version. It's only 1 movement, so it's quite short, 6:22 min. And I would like a review because I want to start a 2nd movement. Simfonija no 1 1 mov.mp3 Simfonija no 1 1 mov.pdf

Don't undersell yourself! This is quite a good attempt, and you've clearly put a lot of thought in the orchestration. I mentioned the slurs mostly because of the bowing/sound implications. With less bow to use for more notes, string player tend to play softer which in your case helps with the softer dynamics (in addition to the legato articulation). I know software can be finicky so totally understand your workaround. "...when Debussy orchestrated, he didn’t care about the number of instruments – it was all in the service of colour." I'm going to disagree with that somewhat. Yes, he wanted different colors, but he was very conscious about experimenting with different timbres/ranges of different instrument families. The harmonics issue: technically playable, yes...but writing 5th touch artificial harmonics is pretty rare in orchestral music. Unless those violinists have big hands, they'd have to stretch more than normal to play that. That's why 4th touch harmonics are better and the standard (I think you might be able to convert some of those)

Very Nice........ i really like the waltz style, and you've achieved a high level of professionalism the Melody is instantly recognized as a Melody, and stands above the rest of the composition well done.

Hi @danishali903 I appreciate your comments and will reply to a few in case anyone’s interested I don’t usually write expression slurs (legato) on the strings, except for very short groups of notes. Instead, if I want to do this, I specify ‘legato’ (as an articulation, which the software I use does recognise) and hide the text. Bear in mind that this is an exercise and that the economy of instrumentalists/instruments has not been the priority, although it was not intended to be used indiscriminately either. That is why there is a piccolo alongside the flute and the alto flute, because that line in bar 18 requires three instruments from the same family. The same applies to the four horns and the tuba. Another of the ideas is that, as far as possible, the families should sound harmonically complete, as in the chord in bar 9. As for the harmonics, they have all been checked and are feasible, though I may have made a mistake. I’ve had another look at the ones you mention and they’re fine. In this regard, I recommend this webpage, which lists all the natural and artificial harmonics that can be played (and those that are best avoided). https://conductit.eu/study-room/rehearsal/rehearsal-4/4-6-string-harmonics/ When it comes to orchestration, there are endless possibilities. Probably, by assigning a few lines to other instruments, I could have done without the piccolo or one of the two horns… But then again, let’s be realistic: when Debussy orchestrated, he didn’t care about the number of instruments – it was all in the service of colour. Best. Addendum The issue of legato slurs in the strings is something I’m going to consider writing about (always bearing in mind what they might do, as I understand it). It’s a more specific point. In fact, as I have a few final amendments to make to this orchestration, I’m going to include that point. Thank you. I’m still at 5% in my orchestration skills.

Here's a musical quote from Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi's Flow - The Psychology of Optimal Experience: And if you've gotten this far, thanks for reading!

This is a very evocative and Debussy-like orchestration! Some minor things: I think you can add slurs in the third measure when strings come in. The articulation is suppose to be legato and smooth, and slurs will help with that. Continue the slurs in the viola/cello/bass melody in bar 5 onwards. Same thing in bar 28...and since the violins are PP, slurs would DEFINITELY help. Probably can consolidate the 3 flute parts to 2, with the 2nd player doubling on alto and piccolo. Probably can remove the tuba too since it's mostly doubling the double basses. You might also be able to consolidate the 4 horns to 2. Play around with mixing bassoons or clarinets with horns. Some of the violin harmonics look suspicious...measure 19 specifically in 1st violins.

Hello! As other people have mentioned, this is pretty darned good for a second composition ever. Not finished, but plenty of material to work with and plenty of places to go I think.... I read the title of the piece (Hansel and Gretel), I listen and close my eyes and I can imagine Hansel and Gretel. So, I mean, mission accomplished! I played along a bit on the keyboard and there are some nice chord changes that capture the mood changes. It all seems fairly smooth. Transitions seem pretty good to me. There is enough variation to keep things interested. It really tells a story...I'd be interested in hearing/seeing more!!!

Thank you! I will keep this in mind, I am used to a digital so I have little experience with these things! gooberro

Great job!! I really enjoyed your contrast - one thing I would maybe consider is adjusting some of the evil stepmother section. That register of the piano can be very muddy if not approached correctly. I think adding some pedal markings would help ensure a cleaner performance. I also appreciate how you transitioned between sections. They're not abrupt and are very smooth. I don't really have any critiques - thank you for sharing and happy composing!!

Hi layneleefilm! This piece is amazing. The impact of the percussion is powerful and captures the feel of "The Duel." You have wonderful skills in both composition and music production. The composition is excellent, the way it quiets down at 1:14 and creates an atmosphere of something looming. I like the melody lines, too. I’m curious about what kind of music you were listening to when you composed this. I’d love it if you could share that with me! Best, Lithl.

This will be fun competition to partake in. The results will be interesting!

Hello! I come to you with yet another refurbished piece from over a decade ago. I welcome any of your comments, critiques, feedback or observations. Thanks for listening and I hope you enjoy! Edit: I've included a 2nd mp3 rendition of the piece normalized to get rid of clipping. A Scherzo in Bb.mp3 A Scherzo in Bb Print.pdf A Scherzo in Bb 2.mp3

Yes, in previous competitions, when people already had a piece pre-composed WAAAY ahead of time (like years) that fit the instrumentation and other requirements for the competition, they were able to submit it. However, such entries were obvious to the judges and it didn't predispose those entries to being judged favorably as they didn't fit the theme of the competition as nicely. But that doesn't and shouldn't keep the contestants from trying if they wish to do so. To concur with what @MK_Piano mentioned above, I do think we will from now on count the ensemble size by the number of performers/players not instruments. That can include just about any sound that a human being and their available tools at hand is capable of producing (although this can get pretty involved if you care to do so). Also there's a very easy way to get Musescore to only display staves that have events in them (if multiple instruments are played at once like in the case of an involved percussion rack or something).

I will let Peter reply officially to this. In the meantime, from what the sentiment was last time regarding percussion ensembles: 1. Ensemble size starts with the amount of persons and performers. NOT instruments. 2. Individuals can swap instruments. 5-10 instruments can also mean 5-10 persons. However, 5 percussionists can play 2-3 instruments depending on the part. This said, in percussion ensemble, you would not have 15 staves to show all instruments played. Instead, 5 staves (in this example) and use written instructions to showcase the performer changing instruments (see below): You use one stave to mark one performer, however, write in the part when they change instruments. So, for your previous submission, you would need to find away to only use 5-10 staves for 5-10 persons and not instruments. Whether or not previous submissions are okay? That is for Peter to answer.

The rhythmic elements reminds of Darius Milhaud. Quite enjoyable. Mark

Wonderful orchestration - lovely, lovely color! I find this orchestration to be incredibly balanced - fresh and innovative, while holding to the character of the original. As @Alex Weidmann said, I also think the flute choir was an excellent idea. Your choices feel very intentional, and I enjoyed listening to your orchestration! I would love to see how you might approach something by Bonds or Price.

Hi Luis, This is a great piece to choose for orchestration! I'm sure I've played this on the piano in the past. It uses one of Debussy's favourite tricks with its harmonic planing, and has some lovely impressionist touches. I wonder, are there any other orchestrated versions; or is yours the first? Using a choir of flutes was a neat idea, and I like your harp harmonics (near the start). Also harp with glockenspiel is an effective combination that I probably wouldn't have thought of. My only wish is that you had slightly better instrument libraries to do justice to your score, as the rendition doesn't always sound fully realistic.

Hello everyone! Today, I am sharing my newest and extensive work for the string orchestra. Set in three movements within the key of G-minor, this work was completed after two years since it's initial creation and has a runtime of 14 minutes. The original first movement was made back in April of 2024, while the rest of the sonata was both created and completed in the summer of 2026. The two years in between these milestones saw an exponential growth in my skill and after a summer of listening to a large sum of chamber music, I felt inspired to finish the set and diversify my collection of works. If you would like to know more about the score, please go to page 2 (or page 4 of the PDF) to view specific information at each movement. Thanks for listening and viewing the score! __________________________ If you have any comments, whether constructive, critical or positive, drop your thoughts on this thread! I will reply when able. G-minString_Sonata_AUDIO.mp3 G-minString_Sonata_SCORE.pdf

Definitely Different than your usual Compositions,the Instrument sounds are of far superior quality ,than Musescore Of course this must be YOU.............However the overall "NEW" orchestration sounds like someone else ?

Hello, L.S Barros! This piece has a medieval musical feel, yet the combination of instruments and sounds gives it a more ethnic atmosphere. This was fun to listen to :) I haven't been with YC for very long, but I'm happy to see you back at YCF! Best, Lithl.

Hello gooberro! This piece feels like it's portraying mysterious characters. It's a nice work, and each section feels like a different character or a different scene being depicted. Personally, I like how it ends. You mentioned it's unfinished, but which part specifically? As a small piece of advice, I feel like when you post a piece, if you include a bit of the background story or specify what kind of feedback you're looking for, people tend to react to it more. Not everyone is like that, but I think that's generally how it goes. Though I'm not really one to talk. Best, Lithl.

Hello gooberro and welcome to YC! I am honestly surprised that no one has given you feedback yet and this is your second piece, as it has a surprisingly high level of quality with interesting progressions and good themes. I appreciate your work very much.

don't worry i am learning flute next year 😁

Hi @Grant Weep ! Thank you for your feedback, and I am glad that you enjoyed the piece! I did consider extending the cadenza-like passage in measures 198-203, but ultimately, I needed to return to the main theme without making the transition too bland. That's a fair suggestion I will keep in mind in my future work – transitional passages are the hardest to manage in my opinion. Well, this section is actually a reprise of the slow A-flat major theme in E-flat major! I reused the melody in the coda to make it more memorable; otherwise, it would only be heard in the middle section. Hmm, that's a difficult question to answer. I can't really put it into words, as I wrote this from the deepest depths of my heart. All I wanted was something that sounded harmonious, would resonate with my listeners, and, most importantly, would feel great when performed. That has always been my philosophy of music composition. Thanks again for listening to my piece – I really appreciate it!

With respect to tempo/breathing etc. - the oboe part is NOT well thought out at all. You really need to learn about the strengths and limitations of instruments and players; whether you write for woodwinds, brass, strings or percussion. Best to talk to players and show them the score and learn from them. <ark

Ohhhh.... The Double -Barrel Big Guns !...very nice.....no wonder it sounds so good.......That will create alot of Inspiration

Regarding playback sound, I use Nucleus / Audio Imperia Flute & Clarinet, MuseSounds Bassoon, and Spitfire LABS Reverberant Ribbons Intimate Piano. It's just utilization of VST3 plugins to get that realistic playback sound :) Thank you for your kind words. I have more I have thought I want to add to this piece. Stay tuned, if interested. :) -Unc

What a Lovely little Doggy, immediately made me cry. I think some doggy's have a spirit that can be seen beyond the Fur The love they possess can be seen in certain characteristics , wagging their tale when they greet you excited about being taken for a walk, and of course Dinner-Time That kind of spirit can't be embodied by a mere human because its Far to PURE. Regarding this composition , i did previously say that your " Best is yet to come" And this is the first one, and the start of many more... perhaps your getting Guidance from someone, with the letter "A" ? --- The whole composition sounds like its being played by REAL people Because every Instrument sounds so REAL ! I dont know how you did this, but its BEAUTIFUL , just like Anna x

Thanks @Grant Weep for your review of @Martynas123 's piece! I would argue that the spelling of the chord in measure 12 is correct with an A# instead of a Bb because the function of the chord in question is a German Augmented 6th chord. The augmented 6th in question is between C and A#. In this type of chord, the C is expected to resolve down to B while the A# resolves up to B. One could argue that its function is similar to a tritone substitution dominant 7th chord which would in fact be spelled C, E, G, Bb. However this type of spelling is used in jazz music. In the classical period, the proper spelling and function was quite different from its conception in jazz.

Hello, I liked the galloping momentum of the song. And just when it sort of settles in and I'm banging my head to the music...the atmosphere change at 57 was unexpected and pleasant. Around measure 92 to 100...best part of the piece in my opinion. It sounds...almost kinda jazzy, but not really, I had to try it on the keyboard for myself. Where did you get the idea from for this part? While you did not ask for feedback on notation...I found that you would do this thing where you wrote A# instead of Bb and it made it hard to follow the music in the beginning. If you wanted other people to read your sheet music I would recommend looking into that. The first instance of this occurring at measure 12 in the right hand, I would replace the A# with a Bb

I am not at home, so I will do it as soon as I get back. I am pretty sure I had section breaks...

@danishali903 "...when Debussy orchestrated, he didn’t care about the number of instruments – it was all in the service of colour." OK, I think I didn’t express myself very well on this point. What I meant was that it’s not unusual for him to use a large number of musicians, precisely, as you say, to experiment with all those timbres and ranges. When you look at the instrumentation he uses in some of these orchestral pieces, you tend to think it’s going to sound ‘grand’ in the style of Mahler or something like that. But of course, he does it to create all those wonderful atmospheres. As for the harmonics played with a 5th touch, I agree, and that’s something I’ll bear in mind (i.e. using the 4th artificial harmonics). Cheers.

Hello @Martynas123 and welcome to the forum! I think symphonies are usually written for a string section with winds rather than a string quartet like you have here. Make sure you choose "Violins (section)" instead of "Violin" or "Violas (section)" instead of "Viola" in your instrument choices to get the full ensemble sound. Also, symphonies often also have Timpani and some brass (at least French Horns). A mistake I noticed in your score: You have a B natural in the Contrabass while the Violin 1 plays a Bb which creates a wrong-sounding cross-relation. I would change the Bb in the Violin to B natural and I think that issue would be fixed. But there's multiple times throughout the score where that happens so I'd make sure to peruse the score for those instances. Another thing is that you use this rhythmic motif very frequently: In order for the listener to not get bored of too much seeming repetition, it is advisable to repeat or sequence such rhythmic motifs at most 4 times in a row but not more. Those are just some things that stuck out to me upon hearing your work. Overall though I think you did a good job! It doesn't quite sound dirge-like enough to me though. The beginning is very funeral march-like but later on it starts to sound even perhaps a bit happy. Thanks for sharing!

A piano piece I wrote called Lazy Day. I think I could've elaborated more in some sections but overall fits the theme of the song 😄 Looking for feedback on the piano score as I know notation is not my strong suite. Thanks in advance & hope you enjoyed listening! Lazy Day Score.pdf