MK_Piano

Thanks for the feedback! As a little lore to this, I originally wanted to write for Piano Quartet using the woodwind families. I started music on the Bb-Clarinet, and in college, became the Principal bassoonist for our symphonic band for two semesters. When beginning to write, I was really inspired by the Nightmare Before Christmas and Danny Elfman as a whole. However, I just never found any concrete ideas with this instrumentation. It all felt too stereotypical. Thus, I went even more traditional and back to the orchestral setting for this work. I never thought about another name. One user suggested increasing the tempo slightly, and there more I listen back, there more I am beginning to agree with it. I don't have any new ideas for a name, but after this contest concludes, I may revisit it, add those changes, and change the name. Maybe, while I am at it, add another movement or installation and make it a chamber set. Thanks again!

I appreciate the feedback!! I'd love to talk more about some of the theory behind elision(s) when applied to structure. I felt that if I did a pure 4-bar phrase, it would become too stagnant due to all the repetition. As I wanted to keep your attention, I Elided the violin to carry the listener into new directions. I will admit most of my choices in this piece came from a point of wanting rich sound and low registers. I thought that going high in each instruments tessitura would not benefit the character I was striving for. To add, I was pressed for time in my already busy schedule, and I did not feel it worth to aim for complex development of the motivic structure. I did try to keep it simple instead of going for a level of sophistication that would take me a few weeks -> months to really refine. Structurally speaking, I employed transition phrases to connect either a new texture change or section of the piece. Measures 21-24 and 33-37 are such places. It was for these moments where I did not want to exercise new motives, but as I type this, I see this now it could've been a chance to do a dependent transition and allow the motif or texture to start developing as or before the third statement of the theme comes in the Piano. The development is when I broke the classical mode and tried to create a section purely for the effect of Halloween. I wanted something not active in texture to contrast the opening and just go for simplicity at it's finest. Also, not too much I can do about similarities to other works. There are only so many keys and I really wanted to use C-minor for this lol Thanks for the comments, it has given a lot to think about.

@UncleRed99 I can understand some of the confusion. As this was created and submitted for this Halloween event, my original goal was to make a skeleton dance. I was explicit in conveying that in the title and the brief description of the work. For some context, yes, I did mean to use “Esultante” to convey a jubilee as you are hearing the music from this dance reach a close. We are hearing the music from this grand gala. However, what is “chaotic” to us is fun for them as the “DJ” or Host raises the energy to close the party. To your point about the articulation in the cello, there comes a point in performance practice where you find out that articulation markings also convey bowing information. There are multiple ways to play a staccato within the string family (on or off the string staccatos). The context of the works implies that they need to lift or bounce the bow off the string and attack for the slur with another, single-bow movement. In the context of the work, they will bounce between their C and G strings respectively. In terms of blurriness of the chromatic notes? Clarity and hearing each individual note is not the intention, as it is meant to convey a little “rush” or “wisp” motion into the downbeat(s). Thanks for the comments.

Yeah, it feels nice to have someone else notice those decisions. In all honesty, I did not realize the Viola never had the melody until I did the A-minor Modulation lol So, I tried a solo Viola part at the section, but I know if played live, it was going to get lost in the heavy texture at Forte. So, I doubled it with the Cello to support as the Piano was doing the bass pattern. Also, 100% correct on the enharmonic spelling in the Viola, it was purely for voice-leading purposes versus trying to imply a different harmonic function. Thanks for the comment! 🙂

@Omicronrg9 That was a long reply, so I may just focus on one aspect versus all of it lol. In all of the accompaniment work and chamber playing I have done, I would say most, if not all, of the scores had smaller staves for non-piano parts. I will attach a collection of links from IMSLP showcasing Piano trios from Mozart and Beethoven. Both Henle-Verlag and Bärenreiter-Verlag use reduced staves. Since smaller works do not need a conductor, the pianist usually gets the full transposed score. Allows us to follow along and coordinate with the musicians more specifically. With the stave spacing, I feel I should clarify that it is fine to read as is. I have no issue following along with it of course. It was more of a taste comment versus a "better or worse" comment. In my personal style, I like to space the staves by three to six measures if able. I think seeing it a little bigger on the paper can be easier for the performers eyes. Myself and other peers read our music off a tablet and use a bluetooth pedal to turn the pages. So for me, page turns are not an issue if there are more pages. Lastly, with system dividers, again, it's a preference. You'll see on these IMSLP scores that even big-publishers will put some kind of measure indicator. On ASCAP and J.W. Pepper, composers will use rehearsal marks. On IMSLP, publishers will put system numbers or sometimes measure numbers every 10-measures. If they are doing it, why can't we? I recommend other composers to put some kind of measure marking as we have to remind ourselves that other people will be playing the music with no previous understanding of it. It's a small cosmetic change that doesn't affect the music, but will add a convenience to anyone who plays our work. If you were to compare to mine, I go so far to ensure that a new rehearsal mark goes at the beginning of a new system when I can. A little visual detail that coincides with any new idea or important spot in the score. At the end of the day, this is some food-for-thought! 🙂 IMSLP: Mozart | Trio in C-major K.548 Beethoven | Trio in Eb-major Op.1 no.1 Beethoven | Trio in Bb-major Op.11

I must confess, that with enough time, it could be possible for myself or peers to sit down and play this. However, mainly because myself and my friends are high-in-skill concert pianist's capable of complex repertoire. My logos in thinking comes from the idea of the music being "theoretical" or "practical". In my opinion, practical music is a lot stronger than "theoretical" music. While on surface level/ on paper, this score seems possible in theory. This does not mean it is the most practical or effective way to write the music. You have to keep in mind the type of performer capable of playing this. Humans need time to move the hand, their fingers, turn the page, and more. A high schooler or middle school pianist will not be able to play this unless they have had extensive training. Even I hesitate to pick it up because simply be looking at the music, and comparing it to all the music I have played, I can tell it will be uncomfortable to play in certain spots. If I were to give this to my mentor, who is a student descendent of Chopin, he would never play 4 note tremelos, only 3 notes long and switch. On the trill variation (no.3) he, and myself, would only play the trills as mordends versus proper quarter note trills. This said, challenging music is okay to make, as you can't write music to conform to everyone. Two things can be true at once, and while it may be a challenge to play, it is also uncomfortable for the average pianist. To end, your ideas are good/ fine, and I don't mean to say this piece has no merit. Instead, if you were to ask 3 musicians to sit and play this, they would have a tough time and may ask you if changes in their part would be okay.

I believe you have misread my opening statement(s). I said "Forums" not "Forms". I have a thorough understanding of musical forms, however, appreciate the sentiment lol

It depends on your goal. Your intuition allowed you to make a piece of music that a normal person would say sounds fine/ cool. For a more refined level, you can take that intuition and apply things like chords or melody structure. All of which will allow you to replicate your work more consistently versus "doing so because music theory is essential for writing good music". If you want a free, collegiate-level, link to start learning music theory, consider checking out Music Theory for the 2st Century Classroom. This site is the one I used as a Freshman and Sophomore. It's pages of music fundamentals to complex theory; it is also paired with exercises and worksheets for when you want to practice these skills.

Hey Red! I've been making it goal to comment at least once on the halloween submissions and here I am! In our separate conversations, we have already spoken a lot on the piece, from how you created it, to how a new key/ scale can affect it, and how engraving can make or break a musicians understanding of the work. For those who have known your previous works over the last few months -> year, there is a clear sophistication in this work. I can see the clear sense of structure and harmonic language you presenting and I cannot state that enough. In the halloween sense, I am a big fan of the little dance after the A-section. It is very fun to listen to. Good work my friend! Let this only be a stepping stone to your greater works 🙂

What a wonderful piece of music. Musically speaking, I greatly appreciate your abilty to develop the motif over the course of the work. It was entrancing and even went it felt dissonant, I was listening with intent. I do have specific critiques on the engraving/ format of the score: I think it would be a better decision to increase the margins of the entire score. All printers have a margin where they will not put any ink on the outside of the paper (This is called the bleeds). If you were to view your PDF and hit the print button, it will automatically update the margins. (I have attached two screenshots to show this). I also think you can space out the measures more in certain spots (mm.31-58) even when instruments are playing. A pianist would read a part with all 3 instruments on there to help with coordination and having it spaced out may be a nice convenience. Lastly, I recommend adding system dividers to separate the score and to add rehearsal marks so one day, a trio can actually rehearse and use specific places in the score to practice. Lovely video to accompany this as well! 🙂

In the modern landscape, this, to me, was refreshing to listen to. I have experienced listening to bad post-tonal works where my peer thought more noise and crazy writing benefited the music or hall being played. I appreciate the landscape you painted and would not mind listening to this again in the future. Of course, on an objective level, this piece is difficult. I think it would be effective when played live, however, I would be the one to pass off learning it and give it to the next musician due to the ensemble difficulty lol. When applying it to Halloween, I think you have succeeded. Maybe not in the terms of the 'trick or treat' or lighthearted celebration that happens each year, but in terms of capturing the eerie and scary images a haunted house or creepy film shows. Good work!

@Justin Gruber I appreciate this submission a lot. Some of comments or ratings seem to come from a place of tonality and western structure versus the post-tonal lens this casts. For the style, I think the execution works well. This said, this will take time for performers to nail due to the syncopation playing tricks on their ears, however, I think it is a better condition for it to be challenging on an ensemble level versus a soloistic level. (I have a feeling you already know this to be true lol) For my personal style, I would space the measures out more and keep it to 4-6 measures versus a long stave of 8 measures. Even though you can fit 8 measures in one system, it grows to be a little "cluttery" at times (Measures 56-80). My final critique is when you apply this piece in the sense of "Halloween". I am not 100% convinced this conveys Halloween. It seems to cast the fall season in my opinion. I did not feel a "spook" or sense of "creeping" when listening. Other than these comments, I found your work to be enjoyable! Love to see when people employ some good front matter and proper copyright information. 🙂

@TristanTheTristan As I am still getting accustomed to the site, I have taken it upon myself to get familiar with some of the other forums and type of music people have put on YCF. I have been interested to explore what people have to offer, and from my curiosity, I decided to also start giving feedback on scores submitted by people for this Halloween Competition. This said, to whomever I comment on, I will be treating them like a professional and write based on the expectation that they know, at minimum, intermediate music theory. For now, I will avoid making a table of my rating, however, please find the following to be my review of your submission. As a final note, I like to be straightforward with colleagues, and by no means am I coming from a place of bad faith. I want to push my peers to new heights, and I will be honest with them so they know the truth and can evolve from there. __________ While fitting the criteria of the competition, I do not see this piece as a practical work made for performance. I have noticed multiple errors where a professional concert pianist would have a high level of difficulty playing this work; specifically "Variation 4" where you employ single note tremelos. However, they are not uncommon to use as Liszt, and Debussy used them in their music. Liszt in the Friska from "Hungarian Rhapsody no. 2" and Debussy from the Prelude "...Ce qu'a vu le vent d'ouest". In comparison, your usage of them is more difficult due to the amount of note shifts a pianist will have to do, versus the raw technique. In a similar mindset, I do not believe the first section from measures 1-40 to be realistically playable on the piano. Continuing on, the engraving for the score concerns me heavily. The measures seem to be too small or placed too closely together throughout and in spots, like measure 128, you have two different spellings for the same note (G# and Ab). Musically, is it rather interesting and I did enjoy the theme you created. I love to write in D-minor when given the chance, and I was vibing with the "sinister" nature the key provides in your theme. If you would like to talk more or explore these comments, I would not mind doing so. Thank you for taking the time to read this 🙂

Thanks for the rate! Just to clarify: Based on this table, wouldn't the average be 9.6875 and not 8.4?

[DO NOT REPLICATE - ALL RIGHTS RESERVED] The last calendar year has seen the most growth in my music writing. In June, 2024, I was given the opportunity to work with the Huntsville Youth Orchestra in Alabama, and their resident composer, Robert Bradshaw. I stayed with them for one week preparing my piece "Mountain Storms and Valley Peace" for performance. (You can listen to the world premiere of spotify!) I cannot express the amount of information I received during this experience. It changed me for the better as a composer and as a musician. So much so, it inspired me to write my first suite for Symphonic Orchestra: Chariot to the Moon, Apollo. Over the course of 5 months from August, 2024 - December, 2024, I composed this five movement-long suite detailing the achievements of man in the conquest of space; specifically, the Apollo Program. If you would like to know more information regarding the work, you can read my notes in the "About" section on page three. ___________ This suite takes about 24 minutes to listen to in its entirety. I have decided to share the entire score, with a watermark added, for your enjoyment and to help with following the piece as it plays. I would love to hear your thoughts in the comments! Thanks for taking the time to look and listen to my composition!