RagtimeMax

In this case, I'm definitely doing tonal; more of less late-Romantic/early 20th-century. The two subject groups are in C minor and Ab major respectively. Thanks for the input!

Helps immensely - and gives me a little confidence boost moving forward with the composition. Thanks!

Greetings fellow composers, I have a quick question regarding sonata-allegro form in a symphonic movement: Is it generally frowned upon for the second subject group to actually be in a slower metric tempo than the primary subject group? E.g. in 6/8 time: Primary subject group: dotted quarter = 120 Transitional phrase: rit. e dim. Secondary subject group: dotted quarter = 80 closing phrase: rall. to fermata || Development: dotted quarter = 120 (Same applies for the Exposition repeat) I've heard of Rachmaninoff being criticized for this practice. Is there any basis in it being frowned upon? It works organically in my symphony so far, but I sometimes worry that it will be criticized as an architectural weakness. Thanks for any input! Max

I'm glad you like it! She apparently likes it quite a bit, and we have been together for well over a year now.

Thanks for the kind words! I'm very glad you like it.

Thanks for the comment! I put a lot of effort into my typesetting - I've replicated the publishing styles of about 6 of the turn-of-the-century publishers. I'm very glad you like the music. I try to write somewhat varied pieces (though my real love is composing classic rags influenced by Joplin, Lamb, Scott et. al.) and this is one of my deviations from the norm. Over the next year I'm going to be working on my first symphony, supported by grant funds, and I'd love to solicit some opinions from YC members such as yourself at some point. Thanks very much for your insight! Best, Max.

This is a brilliant piece - as others have noted, you have a great talent for writing counterpoint, something all too many composers these days seem to ignore. Your style and harmonic sense are wonderful - I'm reminded of Mendelssohn; specifically the overture to "St. Paul." The only advice I could possibly think to offer, if to perhaps work on bringing out a very well-defined theme/melody idea. There are recurring patterns and chord progressions in this, of course, but personally I found that there wasn't one that stood out to really "define" the overture. But really that is not a problem with this piece - phenomenal work, and I can't wait to hear the rest of the suite!!

All of these are lovely, melodic pieces! My advice is to always be vigilant to use the best voicings possible; you do this fairly often in your pieces, but then there are some other voicings that could be improved. For example, in Mov't 3 (measure 3) you have written a D7 harmony, but omitted the crucial 3rd of the chord (F#.) Also - even in a form like a minuet, be ambitious and use some full-textured chords! Most parts of these have no more than 3 voices at once, which sounds great with your voicings, but can be even further improved with some added "oomph." All that nitpicky stuff being said, these are wonderful and stylistic pieces, and you are a very talented composer. Keep up the awesome work!

This is a piece I completed recently. I wanted to write a piece with an introspective classic rag feel like some pieces by Joseph Lamb, since I had not written like that in the past couple years. Thanks for listening! Northern Lights Rag

I really enjoyed this! You make good use of the textural and sonorous capabilities of two pianos. I also like the way you elaborated on relatively simple harmonic progressions by using substitutions and a variety of overtones. My only suggestions are to work on the formatting and layout of the score - with some tweaking, respacing and layout adjustments, you will acheive a better visual aesthetic. Additionally, the syncopations you have written starting in m. 32, Piano 2 RH, should be divided at the middle of the bar line i.e: dotted quarter - two tied eighths - dotted quarter. Nonetheless this is an excellent piece. Kudos.

I can play, write and improvise stride piano, so I guess that counts!

I quite liked this! What strikes me most is your careful attention to voice-leading and harmony. You use good "correct" chord voicings with proper doublings and note distribution. Your variations use pretty standard devices and in this you do very well, but my ear longed for more harmonic variation. You could really move things along with extraneous chord progressions within the harmonic directions you have already set out. All this aside, it's a very very good work and I enjoyed it thoroughly.

Awesome piece! I really like the textures you use in your arrangement, and your part-writing is terrific. Plus, you're working with some great musicians! Kudos.

Thanks for your insightful remarks, Mr. Graham! When I first began composing music, I was entirely self-taught, and unaware of academic criticisms on writing in a historic genre. I simply wrote rags and related forms because I loved (and still love) that kind of music; it's my native musical language, and many of my inspirations find themselves in ragtime form. I agree that historic practices are starting to fall at the altar of "modernism" and "uniqueness." Oftentimes composers try to distance themselves from old practices and conventions rather than building upon them; this results in music that, while different and unique, entirely misses out on the virtues of established techniques. I should hasten to note that I am not condemning modern styles of composition, and am just offering my personal opinions on it. To answer your question, my influences aside from Joplin are quite numerous, including: James Scott; Joseph Lamb; John Philip Sousa; Delius; and the usual Romantic-era greats (ever notice how Joplin often used very Beethovenesque chord-voicings?)

Thanks very much for your remarks.