Polonaise in A flat major "Polonaise: Homage to Chopin"

Greetings.

This is my very first post on the Young Composers community, and I would like to share one of my piano compositions that I had composed several weeks ago. This piano piece is a polonaise, which was written to imitate Frédéric Chopin's compositional style.

Due to my busy schedule, I did not have the time to practice and record this piece. So instead, the audio file was exported from MuseScore 2.3.2.

Any feedback would be appreciated, and I hope you will enjoy it!

Carl Koh Wei Hao

Wow - you did a very nice job of imitating Chopin which I think was your intent.  You are obviously well studied!  I bet you could write a more original Polonaise if you weren't so concerned with writing like Chopin.  Also - I feel like the piece just stops at the end and would need a more substantial coda in order to sound finished especially given how well developed this Polonaise already is.  Great job!  It's a delight to hear.

Very nice, certainly captures Chopin's style very well.  Personally, I think it is a bit repetitive, could be tighter structurally and I also echo Peter's comment about the ending being too abrupt, definitely coda of some sort would help a lot.

Hi Peter and Bkho,

Thank you for taking the time to listen to my work.

I agree with your opinion about the ending – it may sound abrupt probably because the ritardando wasn't enough compared to other parts.  Anyway, it's a good idea to add a coda to make the music sound more complete.

9 hours ago, PeterthePapercomPoser said:

I bet you could write a more original Polonaise if you weren't so concerned with writing like Chopin.

For me, this polonaise is special compared to my other compositions simply because it imitates a composer's style.  Most of my pieces are written in my style – if not, it'll be a compilation of the styles of various composers.

8 hours ago, bkho said:

Personally, I think it is a bit repetitive, could be tighter structurally...

I used a certain degree of repetition in my music because I believe it is essential for the melody to be memorable.  Thank you for highlighting this statement, and I will be more aware of it to avoid my future works sounding too bland.

Carl Koh Wei Hao

Goodness, what a lovely piece. Imitate Chopins style, it sure did. I won’t judge by how close it gets to his style, rather I will judge solely by the way I feel listening it. And it sounded lovely, and to think that this was computer generated. Makes me wonder how beautiful it would be when performed.

Congrats, I will be following you on this forum and will be looking forward to your next posts!

That opening is so familiar. I guess it's from Chopin waltz no.2! 

Really chopinistic composition here! The melody, modulations,ornaments, expression, style, everything. Really good job to pay homage to Chopin.

The modulation to E major in the middle section in 2:33 comes from Chopin's Polonaise in the same key? Oh I am wrong!! it's in C sharp minor!! Really showy passage here and after. Some elements from Chopin's mazurka also appears here though not in triple meter. Good job here! Love it.

I think it's fine to end here by repetition of the A theme, as many Chopin's smaller scaled piano works also end in this way. But adding a coda will also be fine. It really depends on how you perceive the piece.

Overall a really nice piece! My only complaint: Really want you to post your previous 51 pieces here too! Also this post is 1 year before. Do you have any new compositions? Really would like to check that out too! Great job!

Henry

Hi Henry,

Thank you for your positive comments!

On 12/19/2022 at 12:45 PM, Henry Ng said:

Do you have any new compositions?

Yes, I am planning to post one of my newest compositions in conjunction with Christmas this year. I am glad that you enjoyed my piece, and once again, thank you for taking the time to listen to my work!

Carl Koh Wei Hao

6 hours ago, Carl Koh Wei Hao said:

Yes, I am planning to post one of my newest compositions in conjunction with Christmas this year. I am glad that you enjoyed my piece, and once again, thank you for taking the time to listen to my work!

That will be amazing to hear! Will that be also a chopinistic piece, or piece in new style?

10 hours ago, Henry Ng said:

Will that be also a chopinistic piece, or piece in new style?

The piece will be Christmas-themed, written in my style, but it won't deviate much from the Romantic style. I will be posting it in a few days or hours. Stay tuned!

G'day @Carl Koh Wei Hao,

I know I'm not going to say anything new here, but just wanted to say that I'm really impressed by this polonaise. Accurately imitating Chopin takes a lot of skill in its own right!

Quinn St. Mark

Hi @Quinn St. Mark,

Thank you for your kind comments! It is not an easy job, for sure.

Carl Koh Wei Hao