Landscapes Competition Submission -- Amidst the Clouds & Flowers

Hiihiiii!!! This is my submission for the Spring 2026 Landscapes Competition :)

For my landscape, I've chosen the mountains of Zhangjiajie, China. The first time that I saw these mountains, I was awestruck by just the sheer scale of them. Massive peaks and towers, overgrown with centuries-old moss, reaching beyond the clouds. Really just gorgeous. I wanted to try to write about them.

The piece starts off zoomed outwards, depicting the sparseness of the clouds, until eventually, a melody begins to creep towards the first real theme--which I call the garden theme. The focus is on the garden now, zoomed in, it's a sort of natural oasis along the side of one of the tall mountainous pillar. It's beautiful, lush, full, until the garden begins to die as winter comes. The harmony because sparse and vague again, with large spontaneous gusts of wind... just very dry sounding overall. That is, until months later, the clouds darken, promising a heavy storm. Anticipation builds, until eventually, rain comes pouring down, so densely that it's almost like a wall. It's the first rain of spring!!! After the rain settles down, the garden comes to life again with the re-entry of the garden theme!! The piece ends as the focus zooms back out onto the clouds, and the tension finally resolves again.

My goal with the piece was to try to represent the life cycle of the plant life out in the setting of Zhangjiajie. I hope you all like it !!!!

AmidstTheCloudsAndFlowers.pdf

Edited April 11Apr 11 by InstrumentalistElle
(cont)

55 minutes ago, InstrumentalistElle said:

Hiihiiii!!! This is my submission for the Spring 2026 Landscapes Competition :)

For my landscape, I've chosen the mountains of Zhangjiajie, China. The first time that I saw these mountains, I was awestruck by just the sheer scale of them. Massive peaks and towers, overgrown with centuries-old moss, reaching beyond the clouds. Really just gorgeous. I wanted to try to write about them.

The piece starts off zoomed outwards, depicting the sparseness of the clouds, until eventually, a melody begins to creep towards the first real theme--which I call the garden theme. The focus is on the garden now, zoomed in, it's a sort of natural oasis along the side of one of the tall mountainous pillar. It's beautiful, lush, full, until the garden begins to die as winter comes. The harmony because sparse and vague again, with large spontaneous gusts of wind... just very dry sounding overall. That is, until months later, the clouds darken, promising a heavy storm. Anticipation builds, until eventually, rain comes pouring down, so densely that it's almost like a wall. It's the first rain of spring!!! After the rain settles down, the garden comes to life again with the re-entry of the garden theme!! The piece ends as the focus zooms back out onto the clouds, and the tension finally resolves again.

My goal with the piece was to try to represent the life cycle of the plant life out in the setting of Zhangjiajie. I hope you all like it !!!!

As a chinese person, I appreciate your love for my motherland.

Anyways, the music is atonal. I think that isn't the BEST way to describe this place.

The structure is weird too. I liked the brief g major chord parts.

Melodies Themes Motives 2

Harmony Chords Textures 1

Form Development Structure Time 7

Originality Creativity 10

Score Presentation 10

Instrumentation Orchestration Playability 8

Execution of Given Challenge 6

Taste 6

Average 7.5

12 hours ago, TristanTheTristan said:

As a chinese person, I appreciate your love for my motherland.

Anyways, the music is atonal. I think that isn't the BEST way to describe this place.

The structure is weird too. I liked the brief g major chord parts.

Melodies Themes Motives 2

Harmony Chords Textures 1

Form Development Structure Time 7

Originality Creativity 10

Score Presentation 10

Instrumentation Orchestration Playability 8

Execution of Given Challenge 6

Taste 6

Average 7.5

Hi!! Thank you for your feedbackk. I actually tried to imitate harmonies from as many Chinese composers as I could find (could only find a few so took some inspiration from some Japanese composers too) and I thought that I did alright. I was wondering, what made you think it's atonal?
For reference, here were my biggest inspos:
https://www.youtube.com/clip/Ugkx9sWO_07nOcVc31RWLQukpCSRIRGoLMvi
https://www.youtube.com/clip/UgkxCY-tbOrbg9ovMKSOY2F8QWCYvY1tz2w6
https://www.youtube.com/clip/UgkximtvrASDQuNCaQ47ieLpRZ6iXuaxGym1
https://www.youtube.com/clip/UgkxJnJpo0JuB56eB7LF3MQe0J9b-F1EbNEy
tytyyy btw !!!

A lot of overlapping perfects. I see you tried to imitate birds and animals. I see you have done it in a creative way, so I gave you a 10.

Overall, it isn't very bad.

Did you check out these?

or piano

I was expecting this type.

Edited April 12Apr 12 by TristanTheTristan

😯

Wow... This piece really transported me there. Therefore an amazing submission, outstanding work.

You seem like you may be a string player with your preference on hand position, and your pfp, but I still must say, this is some very difficult music to play. If I were to find out that a chamber group was going to play this, my first question no matter the group, would be if they could pull it off. But if I trusted the group, I would NEED to hear this.

i love the texture in this. its very subtle but it goes really well with your description! it is imaginative in a way that i could visualize the imagery. for example the gusts of winds starting on b.28 using the dynamics, or the rain on b.52. the beginning usages of harmonics to represent the clouds and the subsequent ones are also pretty cool

the string writings are lovely in my opinion, in the way that you took advantage of the different individual string timbres of the quartet. those low C string cello notes are powerful and prominent, especially on b.48 where, i think, it indicates the start of the "wall of rain" section contrasting the high register notes of the preceding section

and finally, im fond of the way you use the variety of dissonances and added notes, it feels very effective and not over bearing that you're drowning in a chromatic porridge

Melodies Themes Motives 5

Harmony Chords Textures 9

Form Development Structure Time 10

Originality Creativity 10

Score Presentation 10

Instrumentation Orchestration Playability 7

Execution of Given Challenge 10

Taste 9

Average Score: 8.75

final note: its peak.

Edited April 15Apr 15 by ferrum.wav

Hello, I will do the overall judging of your piece.    

First, let me talk about the program notes and also your stunning picture out of curiosity though have you took this to yourself?  Anyways, you give a very interesting concept so I’ll see how that ties in with the music and you’re very descriptive.

I like to say at first that I enjoy the use of the artificial harmonics

This gives a very alien in what I like to call crystalline atmosphere. Almost glassy in a weird good way. I also enjoy the dynamic use as well.   As for the change structures, this is the only thing you really listening for so nothing is really a pallet cleanser however, though this is a five minute piece so there’s no need for one.

Melodic material : 3.5

Harmony and texture: 8.3

Structure and development 3

Original creativity 7.56

Score presentation 9.79

Orchestration 8.9

Execution 9.04

Taste:7.9

This average is out to a 7.25

Entry: Amidst the Clouds & Flowers

Average Score:9.3

Review:

There were some engraving errors in the score I have noticed. Thorough out the score, you were constantly with the placement of expressions. And there was collision issue with one of the expressions. You have to make sure everyone can be readable and is constant!

I personally enjoy the string harmonics throughout this piece! They create rich deep texture. Although this is out of comfort zone, it was enjoyable to listen to. It was with in taste for sure. I would not mind hear more of this!

Hi @InstrumentalistElle !

I really enjoy listening this entry. To me I love your concept here that you submit a descriptive music just like a portrait, rather than a narrative music. This makes this entry really fits for this particular competition.

The constant use of artificial harmonics really enhances the mysterious and sublime quality of the Zhangjiajie mountains. To me this entry is more moody and descriptive in nature, hence it is somewhat unfair to have a low score for melody, as I think the variety of timbre and mood and hamronic color completely compensates the less noticable melodic element. I love the harmonies throughout the piece, its non-triadic nature definitely provides some eerily beautiful sound which fits the mystery of nature. I also enjoy the occasional non-harmonics passages, it really contrasts well with its own earthly character as you usually use the lower register of the instruments for the melodies in these parts, comparing to the heavenly harmonics passages.

Also you use register really well. By means of register you portray a narrative, rather than relying on melodic materials. That's really great job!

Thx for joining the competition!

Henry

Average Score: 8.8

Review:

Melodies/Themes/Motives - Rather than melodies, what I perceive are sound structures that follow one another and sometimes echo one another. It’s an approach reminiscent of the work of the great John Cage.

Harmony/Chords/Textures - In this respect, I think the piece is outstanding. The textures are very rich; at times they are homophonic, or almost so, whilst at others they take on a polyphonic character, with transitions that feel very natural. The combination of harmonics with more basic sounds is also very effective. At times, it feels as though the soul of the piece is breaking free and soaring...

Form/Development/Structure/Time - I think the length is just right for conveying what it sets out to do. I believe that, once again drawing inspiration from those composers who created their own forms, the piece is a format in its own right that unfolds primarily through its textures. 

Originality/Creativity - It is truly creative thanks to the originality of its form, the judicious use of harmonics (which reveals a clear understanding of the subject) and the freedom with which it unfolds – all of which, I feel, capture this landscape very well. 

Score Presentation - The score is understated, yet very precise, clear and elegant.

Instrumentation/Orchestration/Playability  The string quartet is well suited to the requirements. The piece does not display any great apparent virtuosity, although the execution of natural and artificial harmonics requires a certain degree of mastery.

Execution of Given Challenge – It fully meets expectations in terms of duration, the spirit of the challenge and implementation.

Taste - It’s exactly the sort of piece I like. I love its originality and freedom of expression; the virtual sound is excellent, the presentation of the score is flawless, and the use of techniques such as harmonics is incredibly fluid. And I find it quite moving.

Avg: 8.2

This is gorgeous and very cinematic. A very well done mood piece. I feel a much greater sense of tension. There is a great deal of tension with this piece, and it makes me wary about being on or near this mountain! Or perhaps the area around this mountain has a deep secret. A perfect score for a mystery movie. Overall, I love the harmony and the mood.

Average 7.9

Good sound, very good string writing! I suspect you play a string instrument? Overall nice quality and conveyed the landscape well, but structurally, nothing really happened. There was no direction except the beginning really. Kind of meandered. Overall though, I enjoyed the piece

After reviewing eight of eleven contributions to the contest, there are now three ones remaining which challenge me the most. That are the ones of @InstrumentalistElle , @BipolarComposer and @HoYin Cheung . The reason for this is that they have so much in common, both in terms of their qualities and their style and mood. Since my comments would hardly differ, I have decided to copy and paste passages verbatim, which I will therefore highlight in blue, while my individual thoughts are written in the standard color as usual.

With your submission(s), you have presented compositions that best meet the expectations one might have given the “Landscapes-Soundscapes” challenge: Pieces that depict a landscape as a “still life”, utilizing every conceivable timbre of the instrumentation, blending, etc., to create true “program music”. When listening, one can easily imagine a scenery from the nature: clouds, trees, a quiet lake or sea, a sunset etc. All this has been executed very well.

On the other hand, the piece(s) are sometimes hard to memorize because there is few or even no thematic material in the sense of a recurring melody that is developed throughout the piece, giving it its own unique and memorable character. In fact, to be honest, as I listened to them in a loop —which is exactly what I did during a walk to familiarize myself with all the submissions—I sometimes thought the next section was coming up in the first piece, when indeed the next one had already begun. So I could imagine that this kind of music would work well as “ambient music”, for example, a CD someone might listen to at night if they have trouble falling asleep.

Melodies Themes Motives:

The motivic or thematic material of the piece(s) is used primarily to create a „soundscape“ depicting the certain scenes or images, such as the clouds, trees, mountains etc. The development of the motifs does not create any melodies but ongoing sound structures which themselves produce an interesting progression.

Harmony Chords Textures:

The texture is amazing. Together with the dissonances, the piece – while being slow in pulse – creates scenes with constantly growing tension or, vice versa, release, thus having a very cinematic character.

Form Development Structure Time:

The composition is not in a specific traditional form, the different sections or passages could be considered as „episodes“ or different „pictures“ of the entire imagery, which is fine for a piece intended to portrait a certain scenary from the nature.

Originality Creativity:

The creativity and originality clearly arises from the way how the different motifs create „sound snippets“ which finally draw the „soundscape“. Even if there is no „melody“ – which usually makes it more difficult to memorize a piece – the entire impression based on its mysterious mood and timbre makes it unique.

Score Presentation:

The score is easy to read with no engraving issues.

Instrumentation Orchestration Playability:

You’ve mastered to evoke an astonishing colorfulness from the string quartet, particularly by applying natural and artificial harmonics and flageolets, whereas that might be challenging to perform.

Execution of Given Challenge:

You have clearly mastered the challenge of the contest with excellence, creating an inner imagery for the listener with your „soundscape“ that depicts the „landscape“ as described by the posted picture. And the term “soundscape” perfectly captures the nature of the piece.

Taste:

It's very nice for relaxing, though I prefer music that focuses more on thematic material and form (perhaps that's why I'm more of a fan of the Baroque or Classical periods than the Romantic one).

Average Score: 8.75