Chinese Fugue -- Landscapes - Soundscapes Competition Submission

This is a very short piece of music I composed, and it contains three parts, which are Chinese instruments. I do not have a specific photo this music is based on, but a close one will be

This one. It is 'A hundred birds saluting the phoenix', as the trills and tremolos can be interpreted as bird-songs.

The piece is in A Major, (A Dur), and approximately 1 minute 20 seconds long. (I think.) It contains 78 bars of music.

The instrumentation is Guzheng, Dizi and Erhu. (古筝，笛子，二胡。)

Please enjoy!

https://musescore.com/user/96214813/scores/34228625

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Chinese Fuge.pdf

Entry: Chnese Fuge

Average Score:5.2

Review:

Execution: Failed to meet the meet time requirement of the challenge. It would not pass the first round!

Form: this supposed to be fugue? All three voices start all the same time...

Score: the score was presented in clean manner. There were no errors that I saw.

Playability; I can not judge this area because of instrumentation.

Creativity: It was creative and original

Texture: There were unique themes from each instruments that interacted each other. This is not a fugue. But more imiition.

Taste: It is interesting to see a different take on what fugue is. But i was confused by it? I felt lost... :(

Themes: Each instrument had unique theme,

18 hours ago, Kvothe said:

Thank you!

Edited Wednesday at 09:00 PM5 days by TristanTheTristan
Done

How did you get 5.2?

Just now, Kvothe said:

How did you get 5.2?

the mean of all the values.

Updated score.

Hi @TristanTheTristan !

There's nothing fugal here but it's definitely Chinese. Sadly there are no available soundtrack for dizi and erhu, as if they are used it will for sure enhance the unique color of the piece!

Just like @Kvothe said the piece is too short, as the compeition requires an entry to have a minimum time of 3 minutes, while here it's not even 2 minutes long. I like the heterophonic nature of the piece, and I think you can have added more details in it like dynamics and slur markings even it's for Chinese instruments. To me it sounds like a typical Chinese music with its pentatonic harmony, maybe you can add some contrasting episodes so that the music will exceed 3 minutes mark and make it more interesting. Thx for sharing!

Henry

Average Score: 7.6

Review:

Melodies/Themes/Motives - The piece is rich in melodies and interwoven motifs. 

Harmony/Chords/Textures - The polyphonic texture is consistent. I think it would have been better if the three instruments hadn’t been playing all the time.

Form/Development/Structure/Time - I think the structure is fine, and the length too; I prefer shorter pieces.

 Originality/Creativity - Of course, the choice of these chimes—which sound familiar yet are different—is a key point.

I also think that oriental sound has been recreated very well.

Score Presentation - The score is correct and easy to read.

Instrumentation/Orchestration/Playability In this respect, I think the dynamics and accents are missing, which makes it sound a bit flat. It would have been nice to have a brief explanation of what each instrument is.

Execution of Given Challenge - I think the author has succeeded in achieving his aim.

Taste - Although I think it would sound better with those instructions, I like this piece because of its exotic character.

Avg: 8.2

I think your scene is incredibly difficult to portray, but I hear the cultural influence of your piece. It brings me back to perhaps the 1500s. Definitely a solid melody, and fugue-like parts (perhaps more like a hybrid fugue - invention maybe?) Nevertheless, even though your harmony is simple, I do like that you changed keys halfway through.