Sunset Suite in C minor ( music for the Landscapes - Soundscapes Spring 2026 Composition Competition.)

I tried to make this as solemn and expressive as possible.

This was made using musescore

here is the pdf.

here is the link

I hope you enjoy!

Edited May 19May 19 by Musicman_3254

@Musicman_3254

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Ok, you should try it now

Edited May 19May 19 by Musicman_3254

Entry: Sunset Suite

Average Score:5

Review:

Score presentation: While this score is present in a clean manner, there are technical issues that are connected to idomatic writing for strings (I will address this next). First let us address the over score.

Idiomatic writing; There is a lot of ground to cover. 1) The 8va and 8sub above and below the string parts are not idiomatic writing. You would see that keyboard works. 2)rolled chords are not possible in string writing. If there is triple or quadle stop that is used marked by pizz or is rolled. Hower, the triple stop you wrote is not playable. 3) Harmonics are wonderful. They are used those notes outside the natural range of parts. When is there is divi, the voices are not clear.

Form: There is no clear with this piece. It seems to be continuous melody. It is not rather if there are sections or not.

Creativity/Originality: Yes, this is original and creative piece.

Harmony, texture, chords: The over texture is monophonic. There is no sense of harmonic motion.

Theme, melody, motive: The melody is way to repetive.

Taste: It is relaxing to hear something like something once a while. I want to see this member grow his craft. Mimalism music is hard to write. Raise to challenge!

This is actually quite beautiful.

Reminds me of ambient video game music - running through the valleys of Cyrodil slaying goblins and fighting back the hordes of the overlord.

Just now, Markus Boyd said:

This is actually quite beautiful.

Reminds me of ambient video game music - running through the valleys of Cyrodil slaying goblins and fighting back the hordes of the overlord.

Thank you.

Hi @Musicman_3254 !

First, one thing for the scoring: as this competition signifies

On 4/1/2026 at 1:50 PM, PeterthePapercomPoser said:

You may use any combination of 3 - 5 monophonic or polyphonic instruments/voices.

It would not be appropriate to use divisi for the strings, unless it's for a string orchestra. The soundtrack and the scoring suggests that this piece is for a string orchestra rather than a string quintet, which could have been resulted in disqualification. The octaves sign aren sometimes not realized in the recording, and you should write the notes out instead of using the sign anyways, like those in the beginning section.

But put that scoring aside, I quite enjoy your music here! I like how you achieve some varieties with a simple unchanging melody by changing the instrument to play the melody, the register, the thickness/thinness of accompaniment, I especially like the moment when you invite motions of semiquavers in b.50 which really makes the music more exciting. Use of tremolos are great too to enhance the drama.

Maybe one suggestion is that you can vary more with keys and mood. The piece is in C minor with the same melody throughout the whole piece which is fine for me, but it will be more interesting if you can somewhat modulate to other keys. For example even with the original melody you could have a Eb major chord supporting it and make the mood change.

Thx for sharing!

Henry

Average Score: 6

Review:

Melodies/Themes/Motives - The melody is lovely; much of the piece is structured as a melody with accompaniment. Given its length, one would expect a little more development of the motifs so that it doesn’t sound too flat..

Harmony/Chords/Textures - The harmony is beautiful and has a certain modal quality. I would also have expected some kind of modulation or other change, particularly given the repetition of the motif.

Form/Development/Structure/Time - The piece appears to be in ABA form.

Originality/Creativity - The original touch is choosing the viola as the solo instrument.

Score Presentation - The score is confusing due to the constant crossing of voices and the choice of certain clefs for the staves, etc..

Instrumentation/Orchestration/Playability Multiple stop orders are placed without considering whether or not they might actually be executed. It also exceeds the number of instruments that are supposed to be used.

Execution of Given Challenge - As for the atmosphere it creates, I think it’s just right, but when it comes to the technical aspects, not so much..

Taste - Nice.

Hello, I listen to this a few days ago in the car so my memory may not be as fresh, but I didn’t have time to actually review anything. From what I could remember, the composition technique was good and the piece itself was good. It’s just good to keep note that you’re using multiple string instruments per section.

At most, this is supposed to be a quintet. You’re calling for multiple violins, violas, and cellos as well with the samples corresponding to such. Anyways, I’m going to be listening to your piece again and I’ll give feedback there.

Score presentation is also kind of interesting. A lot of the notation you use isn’t usually found in modern string Orchestra stuff for example like those repetition things that you put into the following measure in a lot of octave lines that’s usually used only for piano stuff.

Also, some of the stuff that you may have presented may be difficult for some string players along with some double stops you have presented

Your score average is 7.45 Like always keep up the good work

Avg: 8.9

Your Melody, Theme, Motive is wonderful. Right away I could hear what you were doing in the bass. Extremely clear and intentional, and it's a beautiful entry. Also in the intro I like how you seem to interweave the theme while modulating upwards. I can see this representing a sunset in an old western movie perhaps. The biggest criticism here would be playability. Is it playable? Sure, but the way it's written, its for a larger ensemble. This most likely could be formatted for a proper quintent and not lose too much of its texture.

Unfortunately, your entry—like two others submitted —did not meet the competition’s requirements, as the piece was apparently composed for a larger ensemble than the specified maximum of five instruments: In the accompanying string parts, you notated “chords” that could not be played by a single performer and therefore marked them as “divisi.” Given this, this may not be an unintentional mistake, but rather a more or less „relaxation“ of the rules on your own behalf. Please excuse me for pointing this out right at the beginning, but it puts me, as a reviewer, in the uncomfortable position of having to break the rules myself, too, if I give you a review taking all (other) criteria into consideration and do not skip your piece due to disqualification.

Melodies Themes Motives and Harmony Chords Textures:

There is a distinctive melody which appears throughout the entire piece and makes it therefore memorable. However, I would have liked more development in the melody and more modulation in the harmonies to avoid that the piece gets its repetitive character.

Form Development Structure Time:

The piece has an ABA-Form where the B-part can be considered as a variation of the development of the theme in the A-part.

Originality Creativity:

Despite the somewhat repetitive nature of the piece, the memorable melody allows you to achieve a sense of originality that sets it apart from other similar submissions depicting a quiet scene.

Score Presentation:

As already mentioned by the other reviewers, the score is not easy to read due to the crossing of parts, the unusual notation for rests, and the octave brackets. From an aesthetic perspective, the measures could have been better distributed across the pages (for example, measures 30–32), and I do not understand the purpose of the final measure 158, in which there is only a rest in the violin part.

Instrumentation Orchestration Playability:

The solo viola and the accompanying string quartet are a good combination for achieving the piece’s solemn mood. Perhaps the solo viola could have a more expressive timbre to stand out better from the accompaniment. As for playability, the “chords” cannot be played by individual instruments, which leads to the main point of criticism mentioned above.

Execution of Given Challenge:

Considering that the piece really depicts the tranquil atmosphere of a sunset (unfortunately you haven’t posted an image which inspired you), you have executed the challenge of the contest well. Sadly, it does not meet the formal requirements of the contest.

Taste:

It's nice to listen to in the background, but the monotony makes it easy to lose focus.

Average Score: 6.875