Henry Ng Tsz Kiu

haha you know what, I actually will find all these format ok and I find your score here easy enough for me to read through while playing my part.

Never lol

Hi @HoYin Cheung! The use of extended technique is flawless and well fitting to the Halloween mood, and the style is very much Bartokian with some very percussive passages (the col legno). I really like the F section. The strings sound very much like an organ itself which fits to be "In a church"! Very professional scoring and engraving as well. Thx for sharing! Henry

Hey Kyle @UncleRed99! I am going to agree what @Omicronrg9 said wholeheartedly, as I enjoy this one very much. This one sounds very seamless in creating the spooky dancing mood of a Halloween in the fast sections. And this one has some sadness in it too. If an accordion (the main instrument of @Omicronrg9) is added in the score it can be a totally beautiful Spanish dance. I really like the opening Andante section for its emotions. However, for a Halloween piece I think it's a bit too beautiful and tragic to be here! I may just cut the entire section out and have it developed as an individual piece, and start this piece right at rehearsal mark B! Or I will at least make the A section a bit more spooky to fit into the festival! The B section is a wonderful mix of sadness, spookiness and a bit of fun with the dance rhythm. B.36 with the polyrhythm even weirdly reminds me of the first movement of Mahler's 2nd!! I absolutely love your usage of Bassoon and bass clarinet. They really enhance the grotesque mood of the piece. Beware of the Cb in b.40, they should be B natural. The C# in b.66 should be Db. Thx very much for sharing this wonderful piece to us Kyle! P.S. I am sure you brain flows into my own Sextet right? Say Yes!!!!! Henry

Hey Damniel my boy @Omicronrg9! This one is goddamn grotesque my man. The beginning is a bit frightening as fitting to a Halloween themed music, nice repeated pizzicato motive used on the violin. But to me what stands out is after the first section in b.31 when an innocent Mozart k.331 like theme appears. Even it starts normal, I still don't believe its apparent naivety, and you mix that apparently naive theme so well with the Halloween grotesque mood with those dissonant but not overly dissonant harmonies, making the music somewhat dragging between naivety and evil like a darkened version of Alice in the Wonderland. This feeling is amazing to portrayed to be honest. I like starting from b.92 all these elements are put tighter together for an even more exciting and wonderful contest of moods. Maybe adding some glissandos in the violin and flutter tongue in flute will make the music even more evil. Thx very much for this weirdly wonderful piece! Henry

Hi @Demertzis! I will say this one is more like a Waltz than an Etude, as this will be too easy for an etude haha! But it's a nice and short G sharp minor waltz nonetheless. Henry

Hi @Petr Kopuletý! The 1st mov sounds very funny with the offbeat rhythms as well as fleeting harmonies. I would hope to the music invite some moments when the rhythm and harmony become more static. In the 2nd movement the interesting rhythm remains though the mood is somewhat a bit less fleeting and volatile. It sounds like a dance to me. I don't think the tempo fits "Lento" marking; it's more Andante to me given how the "con moto" feeling appears here. The 3rd movement reminds me of some Japanese Anime music and somewhat the style of @ferrum.wav's music, with a somewhat more light-hearted style comparing the prior two movements. It even gives me some improvisatory feeling, sometimes with abrupt shifts of mood and rhythm between different sections. The ending sounds inconclusive to me though. Is the music in any musical form? I personally don't find it too demanding to listen to but will welcome your self analysis of your own music haha. I think of your style a less dissonant Prokofiev. Will be great if you can provide a score as well! Great job as an 18-year old! For sure you write better than when I was 18 haha. Thx for sharing your music! Henry

Thank you Sam! Sorry for my late reply as I forget to do so! The emotional direction is completely unplanned to be honest, maybe because I was in such a state of mind when I composed this! The jazzy section is indeed intentional as I want to write something nihilistic. I really love the development section and the build up to climax in it too! Playing this piece is really difficult, thx for your appreciation! Henry

LOL I even forget to reply to my Baby Vince!!! Thx man! Practicing this one is particularly difficult, not only technically, but because playing this every time is like keep revisiting my dark days, but luckily I do write my dark feelings out so I can have a more positive outlook for myself! I play and write what I feel so what you describe here is all what my feeling was when composing and playing it. The confusion of form happens because I was in a confused state when composing it. I actually like those abrupt transitions because I usually write with smooth transitions and I think it's a good try, plus this treatment really matches the music and my feeling. The nihilistically scherzo part is my first try on blues music, I hope my attempt isn't too embarrassing LOL. I do like those passages. Henry

Thx man! I always play my own Piano pieces to prove its playability! Also it gives me chance to modify my writing once I try playing it on a piano. Henry

Yeah Peter, I wrote completely with instincts at that time! Yup, I intentionally didn't try to expand it. I know I am more than capable to complete and expand that fugato section if I want to right now especially after those 5 and 6 voice fugues in my Quintet and Sextet respectively haha, but I wanna give integrity and respect to the 16 year old Henry as well. I know the 16 year old Henry tried his best to write, and even if he didn't do that well, I as the future Henry should retain his integrity, instead of correcting his passages for good! Henry

Hi @TristanTheTristan! This one has a cool atmosphere in it! And I like how you vary the theme. I am more on the playability issue here. The quadruple stops in b.31-38 are unpractical to be played on a real violin, like in b.32-36 any notes lower than the E string would be unplayable with the E string to achieve the quadruple stops. The double pizz. in b.152 variation can also be difficult to play too, as well as the seconds in b.198 for 2nd piano and the octaves for pianists in b.296. Also, I hope there are moments when the first piano's melody isn't the same as the violin's melody! Nonetheless, good attempt to write in a variation form! Henry

Oh my gosh it's casting again! I really like the contrast you bring between the vocals and the brass, with the consonant harmony of vocals constantly disturbed by the brass. I'm thinking of the harp writing as in b.8 it may not be playable as the F pedal is played with the # pedal in b.7 end but need to be immediately turn to a natural pedal in b.8, and the F cannot be replaced by E# pedal either in b.8, nor F# played by Gb pedal in b.7. Thx for sharing this interesting music! Henry

Hi @Maxthemusicenthusiast! Thx for joining the competition! The use of motives is very noticeable in the whole piece, and I love the sinister mood you portray in the piece with the crunchy dissonances. I feel like (subjectively) the piece is a bit too long because the music doesn't really move forward especially in the slow sections. I think it's fine in the slow opening, but when you reach the reprise of those slow sections after the fast middle section, I think you can cut the ending a bit, or at least add more varieties in it, for example invite more polyphony and interactions between instruments. For both the Andantino and Allegro sections I feel like the tempo can be faster to make the basso nova feeling more lively, and like b.58-66, having more individual voices instead of just the melody and the rhythmic bass. Thx for sharing! Henry

Hi @sebastian Pafundo! Thx for joining the competition! Gonna agree on both of them. I like the dark mood in it, even though I think the music can move forward a bit more in around 2:00. The motive of the piece is quite noticable with the hiccups of rests. I also agree with @Thatguy v2.0 on the ending, it definitely sounds inconclusive which could possibly be developed more. But, given the length of the piece I think the development of material is quite OK to fit into the mood! Henry