Woodwind Quintet No. 1 - Halloween Competition Submission

https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1TZJ7a6jue0wpKBrUJ4AWOg8HYsBcfwSd?usp=sharing

This is my submission for the 2025 Halloween Composition Competition, Woodwind Quintet No. 1. When I composed the fast section of the piece, it had a bossa nova feel. I liked this feel enough to want to develop it further. I decided to slow it down in sketch form, and the result was something that sounded like a happy-go-lucky, yet sinister, ice cream truck. 

Nice Quintet! I find a lot of dissonance used, nice!

Sadly, it is slightly boring to me. Otherwise, it is good!

Very original piece of music. 

Average: 7.875 Standard

Hey Max

This is great, I love woodwinds. 

On 10/12/2025 at 9:33 AM, Maxthemusicenthusiast said:

When I composed the fast section of the piece, it had a bossa nova feel. I liked this feel enough to want to develop it further. I decided to slow it down in sketch form, and the result was something that sounded like a happy-go-lucky, yet sinister, ice cream truck. 

This was my favorite part! 

I know midi doesn't do ANY music justice, but I think it's especially true with your piece. The eerie nature and sparse texture you were going for was really cool, and the winds can really bring it to life. But the midi makes it kind of drag, whereas I think a live performance would really highlight the silence between the notes and well as the shrill colors the instruments are capable of. 

Speaking of the bossa nova feel you were going for, I really hoped you developed that more. The slow part before it felt like a prelude, building to something faster. When it came, it was over so quickly, then back to the slower section. The ABA works, but I think it should be an "aBa" instead of an "AbA". Maybe there was a time issue, or maybe it's just hard to know how much of a chunk your piece is of a slow or fast section. It's fine as is, these would all be thoughts on future music, but that's the impression I got. 

Wonderful stuff here, you should share more when you write it! Don't be afraid to poke around the forum too, lots of great people around here; they'd love to hear thoughts from you. 

Be sure to vote too!

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

the mp3 file wont open for some reason. is there a fix?

@therealAJGS I attached it here.  

I hope you do not mind, @Maxthemusicenthusiast!

If this had any bossa feeling, you made sure to change it completely. One can still perceive the rhythm but it's something utterly different.
Hi Max, and welcome to the forums!

Interesting notation here:  I am not too used to it and I myself don't use it, but it's cool and convenient for some and I totally understand why!

I agree with @Thatguy v2.0, first part of the piece seemed like a prelude and I liked it despite of the MIDI sound (that doesn't actually bother me because of videogames I played in the past, I believe). I also agree that the fast part ends a bit too soon to my taste, but you created a very nice theme, really I think you found some gold combining the slowed down bossa nova rhythm with these dissonant passages. You take your time and don't go farther away, which I like, as sometimes we are tempted to break rules in all directions due to having broken some on a single one. I am glad you did not do that, consciously or not.

You make good use of dynamics, articulations, and your writing contains nothing incredibly difficult. This piece you submitted suggests me you do know your craft, you did not rush the end, and I feel balance when I listen to your piece over and over again. 

It doesn't sound very Halloween-ish to me, though, but it doesn't really need to. The work is sober, but solid, and it does a good job by portraying some indeed sinister place in my honest opinion. It does transmit uneasiness to me, but at the same time, it doesn't let me go far away and keeps me there, uneasy, but enjoying nonetheless. Shall I repeat again, the ending did convince me. Very good job. 

Thank you for your submission, I hope you stay around!

Kind regards,
Daniel–Ø.