Dusk - Landscapes & Soundscapes (Extraneous Competition Entry)

Heyo! This was the piece I was thinking about entering, but too late did I realize it was composed for a larger ensemble than the competition asked for. Nevertheless, I’d like to hear feedback. I wrote this in high school, about the sunset, the night animals coming out, and the following sunrise. Please use your imagination with some of the Noteflight playback, like on the percussion rolls.

https://www.noteflight.com/scores/view/9a6240a2f89f631e24a47c955afe7d222913aca7

Edited Monday at 08:46 AM3 days by JP S.

9 hours ago, JP S. said:

Heyo! This was the piece I was thinking about entering, but too late did I realize it was composed for a larger ensemble than the competition asked for. Nevertheless, I’d like to hear feedback. I wrote this in high school. Please use your imagination with some of the Noteflight playback, like on the percussion rolls.

Glad to hear you nonetheless participated in writing a Landscapes - Soundscapes themed composition! Where is the link to the music?

14 hours ago, JP S. said:

Please use your imagination with some of the Noteflight playback, like on the percussion rolls.

Indeed we need our imagination as there's no link here 😜

Would love to see what you worked on, but your post is only text! We need something to view/listen to!

-Unc

@PeterthePapercomPoser @Henry Ng Tsz Kiu @UncleRed99 Lol, I put the Noteflight link in the first time but for some reason it didn’t go through. I reinserted it now, so hopefully you can see it

Hello @JP S. !

I get what you were going for but the music sounded much too martial to me to match any specific landscape. But it does nicely portray the events you described. I think the final portion is meant to sound like the sunrise and the awakening of the animals right? But I can't help but notice a slight similarity to the theme from "Spaceballs":

Anyway - there's only a slight resemblance. I enjoyed your music so thanks for sharing!

hmmm. The C Section sounds more rustic/medieval to me. I also think that, technically, it would benefit from being written in 6/8 time, starting in the C section, then time modulate back to 4/4 again during your transition into the D section when it goes to 6/8, originally.

Overall though, I agree with Peter. It doesn't really strike me as a landscape representation, as much as it strikes me as a short story. I also thought that the D section sounded eerily similar to the Superman theme, though, a bit sped up. 😂 though, Personally, the title "Dusk" doesn't strike as relevant to the music that's written, in my honest opinion.

However, none of that detracts from the complexities you have in this score. There are some things you've done very well, such as the percussion parts. They lend well to the orchestration as a whole and I don't think this piece would be what it is without that aspect. Speaking of the orchestration, there were a couple places where you (unintentionally) used parallel fifths in the harmonies, which weakened the strength of them. Try to avoid that, and instead harmonize from a 5th interval to a major/minor third interval, as they tend to be more rich in the way they sound.

A Cool piece, nonetheless!

-Unc

On 6/16/2026 at 11:02 AM, UncleRed99 said:

hmmm. The C Section sounds more rustic/medieval to me. I also think that, technically, it would benefit from being written in 6/8 time, starting in the C section, then time modulate back to 4/4 again during your transition into the D section when it goes to 6/8, originally.

Overall though, I agree with Peter. It doesn't really strike me as a landscape representation, as much as it strikes me as a short story. I also thought that the D section sounded eerily similar to the Superman theme, though, a bit sped up. 😂 though, Personally, the title "Dusk" doesn't strike as relevant to the music that's written, in my honest opinion.

However, none of that detracts from the complexities you have in this score. There are some things you've done very well, such as the percussion parts. They lend well to the orchestration as a whole and I don't think this piece would be what it is without that aspect. Speaking of the orchestration, there were a couple places where you (unintentionally) used parallel fifths in the harmonies, which weakened the strength of them. Try to avoid that, and instead harmonize from a 5th interval to a major/minor third interval, as they tend to be more rich in the way they sound.

A Cool piece, nonetheless!

-Unc

Thanks for the positive feedback! Where specifically did you see I used parallel 5ths? It would help me to go back & relook at them. I composed this before I even knew what a tonic was😂

8 hours ago, JP S. said:

I composed this before I even knew what a tonic was😂

9 hours ago, JP S. said:

I composed this before I even knew what a tonic was😂

7 hours ago, PeterthePapercomPoser said:

8 hours ago, PeterthePapercomPoser said:

And now you know!

17 hours ago, JP S. said:

Thanks for the positive feedback! Where specifically did you see I used parallel 5ths? It would help me to go back & relook at them. I composed this before I even knew what a tonic was😂

Actually, I was mistaken. The areas I heard weren't parallel 5ths, rather, parallel 4ths. Which are still just as weakening to the overall harmony, in my opinion. places like in measure #51 between the clarinet and flute, for example.

(b. 51 Flute & Clarinet)

two parts moving at a 4th or 5th interval back to back like that is something to be avoided, as a good rule of thumb, when it comes to composition.

(P.S. I've said this before, I think, but GAWD I hate noteflight's navigation... 🤣... Makes me wonder why most, if not all of us just simply use musescore, but to each their own!)