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Alright, let's get this out of the way. Why would anyone copy you over Rachmaninoff (which they can for free)? Or Mozart (which they can for free), or Beethoven (which they can for free), or... you get my point? Why the annoying diarrheic PCC over the score? Can't you just put your name as a copyright at the bottom of every page? Even if you want to keep your anonymousness, can't you still do that while saying PCC at the bottom? And if you're that paranoid, post it on Youtube or another platform that won't go under in the near future. Once you post online, your piece is copyrighted. And if you're STILL paranoid, why bother posting a score in the first place??? If you said, "hey, I don't feel comfortable posting the score online", no one would fault you. ANYWAY, I agree with our dear beloved friend Henry. Although, I like your more unique approach to the form, and I think it works. One of my favorite things to do musically is to take a form and expand or revise it in some way. Your piece isn't the "typical" sonata form, but you do a lot of cool, almost improvisatory things in the exposition and other moments that in my eyes make the form more of a guideline rather than a concrete formula. Very cool. I listened to this a few times (mostly without the score 😛), and the repeat was crucial to me. It helped create a picture of the form when I would get lost. Very nice. Just when I thought I was getting lost, and even if the themes felt disjointed in difficulty and material, the repeat made it all work, and helped me know where you were once I heard it. Disjointed material can work together, but maybe in the future I would continue to explore ways to make it bond more seamlessly. For instance, your tempo is very rubato throughout, and if you had more sections where we could feel even something as small as a constant rhythmic pulse could do wonders in making your sections more cohesive. You seem to have a flair for the drama, and those moments were my favorite. All in all, very unique to my ears, and a wonderful performance. I love all of the emotion you pour into this; I can feel it with your playing. Your music is thoughtful and evocative, and I'm excited to continue listening to your playing/music. Well done 🙂

Hello @Olof Darin! Welcome to the forum! I am listening with headphones as instructed. I actually think this is quite lovely with some unease and discomfort inherent in the slightly dissonant language you employ. But I think this proceeds quite logically and melodiously throughout! You might get even more attention from fellow pianists on this forum who have also played their own sonatas like you have such as @PCC and @Henry Ng Tsz Kiu, if you posted a score. Your playing is very good, especially in the fast parts! I don't think I've heard any obvious mistakes. I think I like the soft, chorale-like parts of this movement the best. The bell-like effect you achieve through your use of octaves in the extremes of the piano register is also quite creative! Thanks for sharing and good job!

As the poster above me asked: How well do you know your theory and the craft of composition? If it is simply that you're feeling stumped, or struggling to get it to sound how you want, then this is usually the source. I would also recommend you get a MIDI controller to input notes into Musescore that way if you don't already. It would be painfully slow trying to input it with mouse and keyboard. Your piano trio may go faster if you use a DAW and kontakt libraries instead of musescore. Then, you can just record your piece in real time, and with pianos, you don't have to worry about keyswitches and other MIDI annoyances. Honestly, it really isn't. Especially if your goal is concert/neo-classical stuff. It is better to put out 5 pieces per year that are amazing, then to release 10 middling ones just because you feel you have to hit a certain number. Even from the most iconic composers, only a handful of their pieces are really well known to the masses. In many cases, the composer spent anywhere from weeks to years writing them. Even bands, who typically are doing way simpler music than classical; each new album is a result of 1-2 years (or more) of songwriting and selecting the best ones for the album. Back in the days of record deals, labels would demand an album of X number of songs within a short time-frame, which is partly why "Girls, Girls Girls" is the only decent song on that album. Also, remember that Carl Douglas's only song of note was 'Kung Fu Fighting' 50 years ago and he wound up with a net worth of 5 million. In other words, if no one is breathing down your neck to get this done and paying you to do so, take all the time you need. Lastly, since you say you're in school it's safe to assume you're pretty young: Know that the field of professional orchestral and neo-classical music is not a pursuit for low-time preference individuals; it is mainly an old man's game. I lucked out when I was 18, and got my first professional job, but that is an extreme rarity. Most guys don't see any success (financially or otherwise) until they have DECADES of experience under their belts. So aside from the aforementioned advice, I'd say: Take your time, and just keep chipping away at your pieces. Even 1 bar a day is progress. Because as the saying goes:

Hi @PeterthePapercomPoser and @Hcab5861! I've modelled the overall texture and soundscape off of the bass aria of BWV 159 (which is imo the most beautiful aria Bach has ever written). The omission of a harpsichord continuo and the strings "harmonic halo" are both completely intentional - I want the mood of the music to be gentle, warm, embracing. In addition, I'm a little bit torn on Da Capo form. I think it works well in duets but by default I tend to avoid it. From a singer point of view I don't get excited about singing the first part of the piece exactly twice, and from a compositional point of view, your ritornello theme better be REALLY good to warrant a minimum of four exact repetitions (but more typically six to eight repetitions including fragments), at least for those themes that are tonally closed. I much prefer the scheme of ABA' in these cases (e.g. see the alto aria in BWV 197), where A ends in the dominant and A' ends in the tonic.

I've added the score.

Hello, Here's the first movement of my piano sonata. Hope you like it. The recording is kind of bad and my playing as well at times but oh well. You should preferably listen to it with headphones on! 🙂 Tell me what you think!

Thank you for the kind words! Interesting to hear what people think about the somewhat dissonant stuff. I'm quite used to it and as it's my own piece there's always a chance that I perceive it as more coherent and conventional than how others might perceive it. Ultimately I prefer slow moving, easy on the mind kind of music. As for a score... maybe in the future... but I'm ashamed to admit that I find that part of composing to be very painful 😄

Took me long enough to share this with you... the timing is also quite good if you consider some of my explanations I guess 01 hw1.mp3 Introduction Context Primer for the music itself Sorry for the walls of text lol, if you prefer just let the music speak for itself it is also fine.

Wow, 4 movements of your sonata? And you recorded all of them? Dude... congrats. Oh ... I see @Henry Ng Tsz Kiu already beat me to it... and he gave feedback on all of the movements? What is he... like everyone's best friend? DAMN Alright, if my bro Henry gave this SO much attention, it will probably BLOW MY MIND, RIGHT??? (I haven't listened yet 😄) I'll check out movement 1 first... brb

Wow, this is incredible! Is this vst or a recording (you?)... I can't even tell anymore. 😄 This was really moving for me personally. The racism I've experienced is nothing compared to Katie Manye, but the line of "I don't sing for people who don't see me" really resonated with me. There have been years of times where I've played guitar and sang for people who could have cared less how much work and love I've put into my craft. But to put hatred on top of that? I can't fathom, and it breaks my heart she left her love of music to pursue another life, but I don't blame her. I would like to think I would have done the same. And to then live for a career in aiding the sick? What a heroine, eh? ❤️ The music is very cool, and composed really well. I listened with and without the score. Without, whenever I got lost, I loved that you kept the "I don't sing" line going, and then I would catch more. With the score, it looks clean and well thought-out; I can tell this one meant a lot to you 🙂 Well done, this is one of my favorites from you.

Honestly, I love that you wrote all of the solo stuff out. How did you write it? The bass sounds real, is that you? Or is it digital? Idk anymore haha. I'm a guitarist, and I love making my tone sound as much as a GUITAR as possible. I've gone back to single coil pickups because of that. Also, I'm not sure why I'm saying any of this... Yeah dude, this rocks. I'm interested in how this is going to work out though. Are you having people record your composed music, then you're piecing it together with editing once you see the video footage? Or are you just responsible for getting the music side of it down with the instrumentalists, and you have no say so post production? All in all, you give everyone tons of space to solo. I'm curious though... I mentioned the solo writing because a lot of times the players themselves play their own take for a solo, especially with jazz. It's part of their culture. Are your composed notes gospel for the players to play, or is your audio an idea of what you want them to play? It was fun to hear the evolution of this. I don't think you overdid any of the soloing, since this isn't a stand-alone piece, it's for film (right?). Otherwise, a change in key or a varied chord progression would be a cool thought too. 😄 Nice job my guy

@ComposaBoi as well understood the beginning yet still gives a sense of the unknown, slightly unsettling, then the music breaks out I also liked the use of the different degrees of tonality and suspensions

Thank you for your thoughtful and complimentary review. Just to clarify, the intended harmonic structure (of the A section or main theme) is mostly a quick journey through the cycle of 5ths (loosely speaking): Em7 - A7 - Dm7 - G7 - Cm - Em7/B - Ab13 - A7 - Dm7 - G7 - C with a few random or nearly random dissonances thrown in. To me it clearly ends on the tonic (ignoring the random dissonances thrown in for laughs) though it's true it starts on 3m. Thanks again.

Hey @PeterthePapercomPoser, thanks for replying! I can definitely see that. I rewrote this piece from a much older piano-violin duet: at that point, I hadn't considered structure to be anything significant enough to study or follow (don't worry, I grew out of that phase 😉), so that unfortunately translated into the orchestral transcription. My music teacher also said as much when I showed the piece to her: she said it felt as if I composed linearly instead of harmonically. As an orchestrator, that hurt a little, I'll be honest. That being said, I envisioned the piece as being something more of a evocation of the feeling of a waltz instead of being a waltz itself: it acts more as an homage to the musical form than being of that musical form (if that makes sense). Or maybe I'm just bluffing at this point 🙃 But what do you think? I'd love to hear back from you 😄

@PeterthePapercomPoser I am glad my music is more accessible this time. I am always fond of making a symphony starting with a lyrical, grande Russian theme. I had thought of making a introduction before the theme, but I just find it hard to write a development to the theme without shadowing it (in terms of dynamics/ complexity). There could be lengthy long string chords holding but it may lose your (or at least my) interest. So I decided that to make it straight to the theme. For the ending section, there will be an attacca to the next movement. I don't want to end strong in first movement - would rather some momentum for second movement. @Aria Donn Thank you for your listening! I am quite surprised both of you recognized my music a "Mahlerian" work (in some place) - Perhaps there are some subconscious impact from him - but yes, that's my way of writing - passing the motive between different instruments and purposely stack them to develop new materials. However, in terms of harmonic langauge, my work might be more "harsh" than what Mahler did. That's my long developed style - perhaps my prefered way of writing - even I am already quite "conservative" in the consonant part (as compared to my other works full of dissonant stuff), I just can't help to add a touch of harsh feeling to it - like a drama cannot be complete just with pure joy - but usually coming with some twist and hopeless scene. After all, I agree it is a hard thing to balance two contrasting types of harmonic materials. And I hope I can master it one day.

Thank you for your input @PeterthePapercomPoser. It is a long composition indeed. The intro song was written years before the whole composition. Firstly i had arrange it all for piano. I used ewql symphonic choirs vst for the singing choirs part, with which you can achieve quite realistic results. Some parts of the composition come from years ago, while others were composed more recently. From an orchestrating perspective i follow my intuition, as i have taken some music lessons in harmony, but not yet on composition / orchestration, so i guess there would appear some issues like the ones you mention with the high pitch of the choirs.

It's nice how patient you are with the music. The music is purposeful with a clear direction. You really know how to create an atmosphere - for example at section G on page 7. I was moved by your music. Initially, I was going to say that "there were some moments where it seemed you were entirely in your own mind and the music was struck in a loop of meandering tension...." but then it finally arrived at the climax and thought to myself, actually that prolonged passage of tension was worth it. You are an excellent composer.

Timeless Dance.mp3 Hello, i have been learning composition in DAW for about one and half year. Looking for honest opinion about my work and maybe some advice how to improve. I hope your ears dont bleed to much while listening 😅

It's a smart way of classifying composer by their specialties rather than in general.

I had a similar issue while writing for orchestra, so I get that feeling. You can select the rit. and go to Properties (either go to View -> Properties or press F8) and change the slowing rate of the rit. to what you need. You can start at a slightly slower tempo if that helps the rit. slow just to your preference. If it's not to your liking (or if you knew that already), hiding them works too.

This opportunity is seeking composers from anywhere in the world who have heard no more than 5 of their pieces premiered across their life to submit (not including self-performed premieres) to receive: $400 paid commission to compose a 5-10 minute work for solo EFX clarinet (clarinet and guitar FX pedals) Premiere of the commissioned piece by professional clarinetist Chris Mothersole Professionally recorded and mastered track of the commissioned piece Professional engraving of the commissioned piece by Evan Erickson Sponsored by Dorico, a copy of Dorico Pro 5 ($579) Sponsored by Wallander Instruments, a copy of Noteperformer 4 ($129) Submissions close June 16th with no required entry fee. Click here for more details and the application form: https://www.evanericksonmusic.com/2024-call-for-scores

Hey this is cool, kind of like Brubeck type of stuff. There's a lot of fun rhythmic stuff happening, and I love all the crunchy chords. That's awesome your friend is having you do the music! Will we get to see the final project?? 😄 I think this definitely fits thematically for what you're going for. The static harmonies work well with the intense rhythmic drive. You don't have chord symbols for the music yet, I would definitely do that. You unfortunately have some things that are impossible to play on guitar, and an experienced guitarist might have a work around if you explain the harmonic intent (if you don't know what the chord is called). For instance: Is the guitar standard tuning? There's no way to play that Bb7 shape. You could lose the top voice, but then you would lose the crunch I feel like you're going for. Just be careful with intervals of a second, as sometimes that's hard to achieve. Guitarists can take advantage of open strings, but these shapes don't line up well. The first chord (maybe just write E nat for the top voice?) is comfortable in open position, but awkward up the neck. I dunno, just my take. You seem much more comfortable with piano writing, so just another reason to make sure to add the chords to the score. That way, if the guitarist knows a quick fix and achieves what you're going for, lots of time gets saved 🙂 Great start, keep us updated!

Hi all! Here's another fragmentary tripartite aria - it's about halfway complete. What do you think about it? What about the word setting?

I really like film music and in many instances, I don’t see it as a distinct genre from classical because several great classical composers also wrote music for film which is played alongside their non-film (like Prokofiev and lieutenant kije), the forces and style are often very similar and in its greatest instances I think film music can achieve the same depths and heights as great classical compositions, and furthermore, there is a very direct evolution from Wagner and incidental music towards cinematic music, as they are fundamentally the same concept. With that said, it can also be really cheesy and cliche, especially today. Nevertheless I have a lot of “highlights” from the genre…in the interest of restriction I’ll just pick one for today.

- Symphonies: Beethoven, Bruckner, Haydn, Mozart, Shostakovich (esp. 4th & 8th) - Operas: Mozart, Verdi - Piano pieces (solo): Beethoven, Schubert, Schumann - Piano Concertos: Mozart, Beethoven, Bach - Violin solos: Bach (undisputed master), Paganini - Violin Concertos: Bach (also double concerto), Beethoven, Brahms, Khatchaturian - Cello Solos: Bach (ultimate master) - Cello Concertos: Elgar - String quartets: Beethoven (undisputed master), Cherubini, Haydn, Mozart, Schubert, Brahms, Franck, Mansurian, Shostakovich (4th, 5th, 7th & 8th in particular), Martinu - String Quintets: Mozart (undisputed master, nothing like k. 516), Schubert, Bruckner - Piano chamber music: Brahms, Schumann, Mendelssohn Categories you had failed to mention: Overtures: Beethoven Oratorios: Handel Masses: Bach, Beethoven, Mozart, Haydn Requiems: Mozart, Cherubini, Faure Ballet: Tchaikovsky, Khatchaturian Organ Solo: Bach (undisputed master) Modern Choral Favourite Composer: Pärt Favourite Modern Contemporary (Living) Composers: Pärt, Mansurian, Sharafyan Some favourites I cannot quite place into a category: Rameau, Handel (concerto grossos), Dvorak