American Cryptids - Fall 2025 Halloween Submission

Here is my submission. The whole string quintet is 5 movements, but I've just given the first 3 to fit the time slot. It's a link to the Google Drive folder with the WAV files and score. https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1MD4VU4YyL0m1n5gULbGStdbZU396P_oN?usp=sharing

I hope I put this in the right place- I'm quite obtuse when it comes to this website. 

 Entry: American Cryptids 

Average score: 9.5 (very good) 

Review: 

Each movement captures the character of Cryptiad! 

Execution: the competition was to write a 3-7 minute piece with a sweet spot of 5. This a multimovement work. However, it is scored solo strings. And it is quintet.  The total running went over.   I think it was close to 8 minutes.  8

Score/Playability: There were some minor details. But...maybe, submit each movement seperately. 9.5.

Originality:  Definitely original 10

Hi @Micah!

Personally I don't think this piece fits into the Halloween Competition at all with the mood the pieces create, but I have to say each of the three movements you submit has mature writing and effective technique used, and I love all 3 of them! All three features very good use of techniques for strings: Sul Ponticello/Tasto, Harmonics, col legno. You love to use contrast of pizz. vs arco plus p vs f together and it's effective! 

For the 1st piece Mothman I like the opening texture since it kind of reminds myself of the beginning of my very own String Sextet lol! I like the 5/4 dance as well, though I would love to see more varieties in the texture! The contrast here is well done nonetheless. 

I love the 2nd piece The Letiche, it's a nice bluesy C# minor dance in my favourite key! The glissando in b.33 for sure adds the sad but mesmerising mood. 

For the 3rd piece I really love the texture you have in b.35 with a high harmonics, pizz. and a rhythmic arco. It kind of reminds me of Bartok String Quartet texture. 

On 10/29/2025 at 5:31 AM, Kvothe said:

Execution: the competition was to write a 3-7 minute piece with a sweet spot of 5. This a multimovement work. However, it is scored solo strings. And it is quartet.  

You math is wrong again I think lol!! The three pieces adds up with 2:50+2:38+2:31=7:59 lol!! And it's a Quintet, not Quartet!

Thx for joining and sharing your music!

Henry

basically what @Kvothe said.

average: 9.125 (very good)

Wow, I'm truly amazed with your music here. What an incredible contrast between movements and I absolutely adore how you use tonality together with contemporary expressions/ effects. The flow of music is very natural and quite exciting to listen to, keeps attention very well. The score is really well done, very clear and clean. Overall the music corresponds with the theme you've chosen so I had to comment simply to express my amazement, keep it up! ^^

Entry:  American Cryptids - Fall 2025 Halloween Submission by @Micah

Average Score:  10.00

Review:

Mothman - I really enjoyed this one!  I can immediately imagine the fluttering of the Mothman’s wings portrayed by the arpeggiation of the stack of 5ths that’s so well and idiomatically set for the Violin, Viola and Cello.  The non-vibrato Violin harmonics portray the red light shooting out from the Mothman’s eyes like lasers!

Letiche - Moderate swing for string quintet?!  Quite unusual to say the least!  But it creates a very slithering character very appropriate for this cryptid.  And the glissandi really make it sound like it’s creeping around the corner and sticking its head out of the swamp here and there.  Very cool!  You’re not the first in this competition to use glissandi to very effectively creep us out!  Great job!

La Chupacabra - Very quiet to start off with to portray the stalking behavior of this predator, which then transforms into a chase scherzo.  I can imagine the running reptile-like hound chasing its prey and sucking the blood out of it.  Very grotesque - I would have enjoyed hearing even more of this movement!  Although I know you’re limited by our time constraints.  I encourage you to post the complete finished work for us once the contest is over!  I think your work definitely deserves more attention.

I enjoyed listening to this piece so much that I forgot that I had to score it!  Thankfully, there is little to criticize here.  What really stands out in your pieces is their very effective characterization of the different cryptids which just brings a whole other dimension to the music and the overall experience.  Also, despite this not having been written with this competition in mind, it fits the theme of Halloween very well and I am glad that you entered.  Because of how different the character of each of your pieces is, it could be a contender for just about any of the Halloween specific badges that we’ll be giving out!  We’ll see how people vote.  Congratulations on a wonderful achievement and I look forward to hearing the whole thing!

This is a submission I’ve very enjoyed. Usually, in a string quintet the instruments blend more together than in a woodwind one, the sound of your arrangement preserves the personality of the single instruments very well, thus producing imaginations of the creatures you describe in your music – perfectly matching the Halloween theme.

Your score looks very professional and clear (even there is a typo in the title: „crytpids“ instead of „cryptids“ 🙂 )

A bit problematic is that its a work with three movements which together exceed the 7min maximum playing time, thus only a 5 for „Form Development, Structure, Time“.

Average Score: 8.5

Mothman has an avante-garde feeling, which helps portray a specified mood. In my opinion, the mood does not represent horror or panic, but more of an awakening, with some friction. Perhaps this could represent certain aspects of Halloween, so, that's why I gave this movement 5.5 out of 10 for execution of challenge.

The Letiche is an awesome movement, and has the best rhythm out of the three. Highly articulated and lyrical, extremely fun to listen to! Makes you want to dance, possibly with spirits in the room! More Halloween-esque.

And finally, my favorite of your movements was El Chupacabra. I feel like this one represents Halloween the most. And the melody, hands down, exceptional. Everything leading up to the melody is perfect, because you do a great job building up that tension. The rhythm here is actually really good too, maybe even on par with Letiche, it's just less pronounced (this is not a criticism). Letiche is more deliberate with its rhythmic changes, this piece, is VERY smooth!

* For certain metrics, my scores will be in order from Mothman, Letiche, and Chupacabra (a + b + c). Otherwise I will give one score for metrics such as score presentation, playability, etc.

Melodies and Harmony: Honestly, overall you have excellent melodies and supporting harmony. Mothman had the weakest, but that was clearly by design (that's why I separated the scores)

Form creativity and score presentation: Beautiful score, ultra clear form broken up by movements, and very creative!

Playability: Although challenging with the articulations, and other techniques used, seems playable to me.

Execuation of challenge: Mothman just feels like it's meant for a completely different type of listening experience. The Letiche is more in line with Halloween I think, given the mood and fun rhythmic patterns, and I feel like Chupacabra is spot on with the Halloween vibe.

Taste: I love them all. Even my least favorite of the 3 is awesome. You show discipline in writing for a specific mood, and it seems like you have a lot of experience with music composition.

pretty cool, you should comment on others' music!

On 10/28/2025 at 5:46 PM, Micah said:

I hope I put this in the right place- I'm quite obtuse when it comes to this website. 

Hi! Drive links are fine, but you can also just drag your files here and they will be automatically shown. Welcome to the forums!

 

14 hours ago, Wieland Handke said:

A bit problematic is that its a work with three movements which together exceed the 7min maximum playing time

In fact it seems like a work with five movements according to the PDF itself, but the OP submitted 3 here. 


Multi-movement works are fine, it's a shame you had to split it up. Do not hesitate on publishing the rest anyways! 

On the engraving plane, I would recommended you to mark the beginning of each movement with its subtitle. Just a detail, but a neat one if you ask me! 
There are some overlaps here and there  but overall the score seems idiomatic for strings. Other users, better acquainted with these instruments may disagree or agree, but I see that you let them "breathe" (except at some spots, e.g: M19-25 on the Scherzando, Violin I, but still probably not too difficult to get) and that you have not written anything incredibly difficult. Articulations are detailed, harmonics are marked, there's a good use of dynamics...  

First movement starts off decently, but what I liked the most was the groove that it takes sometimes. Wish it had lasted more! This movement alone could have been enough as an entry for the competition, and I find it more or less appealing after a few listens! 

The second movement also has this groovy feeling that appears and disappears. It takes a bit of time to actually get started and make full use of that swing! This also happened to a degree in the prior movement, you seemed to intentionally try to make the piece not too rooted in that catchy rhythmic pattern. Not sure if it was the best choice or if the way to avoid it was optimal.

The third one was the most tense and there were some really GOOD moments in there, but I can't get off the impression that you added unnecessary passages to increase that tension. It may be just me, though. 

All in all, a great submission. Many thanks for showing it here 🙂 and good luck in the polls!

Best regards,
Daniel–Ø.