Justin Graff

A fun journey! Nice tonal shifts in the beginning section. My ear really wanted to hear a high-register octave during the empty space around 0:19 as a little ornamental afterthought. As a pianist, I would rather just read 15-22 as a regular treble staff. The transition away from tonality was elegantly executed, though I think the rhythmic energy should be kept up at the secondal bit. Also, I didn't even register that the opening was in 5 until I looked at the score- maybe it's because 5 doesnt sound weird to me anymore

I totally understand how you feel about the slow section. I was working with a very pressing deadline and my rationale was A) slow music takes up more time and B) I need *some* kind of variety, so why not use some kind of temporal variety. I've learned a lot since writing this piece, so I think at this point I would just naturally avoid awkward energy shifts like that. Thanks for the feedback!

For my first post on this forum, I'd like to share a little piece I wrote just over a year ago. The phrase structures and form are kind of dry, but it's a fun piece nonetheless. Thanks for listening! (P.S. The trumpet is in Bb)

Yeah this recording doesn't really do the piano justice, which is a shame because the piano writing is so good! I really liked the trumpet's cantabile melody at 1:47- it's quite beautiful, but I was sad to see it go away so quickly.

This was a very sensitively realized application of twelve-tone! I know you haven't gotten to dynamics or articulations yet, but I think when the piano gets more active at the 20-second-mark or so, having some swelling dynamics would make it the texture more compelling.

Also casting my vote for the second one- It's much more coherent but also more interesting.