Search the Community

Hi all, Any comments would be greatly appreciated, particularly on the piano part as I'm not a pianist. I wanted to write something that would give the pianist a chance to shine, but also am aware that pay for professional accompanists is low for all that they do, and that it just isn't possible to ask them to spend hours practicing a single three-minute piece for a single concert if they are going to make a living. If thinning down some of the fast chords would be a good idea for the sake of practicality, pianists, let me know. I don't want to go any slower than this tempo; the choir would risk running out of air. There is a lot of beautiful, slow music for choirs, so fun, fast pieces are always in demand to balance out a concert program. The text describes the mating dance of a cloud of solitary wasps, observed by American husband and wife entomology team Phil and Nellie Rau near St. Louis in the early 1900s. "The whole was not a helter-skelter commotion, but a merry whirl to the music of a faint, eerie hum of many wings, with every few moments a rather musical crescendo, which sounded like “zip!”, when a whirling pair would suddenly dash off at triple speed on the wing, in the final fling of joyful abandon..." - from"Wasp Studies Afield," published 1918. Furtak-Sun Dancing.pdf

Program Note: Each movement of this piece is inspired by and musically depicts the plot of a poem with the same name by Robert Frost. These poems tend to reflect on the sentiment of individuals as they observe and react to events taking place in nature. Spring Pools These pools that, though in forests, still reflect The total sky almost without defect, And like the flowers beside them, chill and shiver, Will like the flowers beside them soon be gone, And yet not out by any brook or river, But up by the roots to bring dark foliage on. The trees that have it in their pent-up buds To darken nature and be summer woods - Let them think twice before they use their powers To blot out and drink up and sweep away These flowery waters and these watery flowers From snow that melted only yesterday. Fireflies in the Garden Here come real stars to fill up the upper skies, And here on earth come emulating flies That, though they never equal stars in size (And they were never really stars at heart), Achieve at times a very starlike start. Only, of course, they can't sustain the part. Gathering Leaves Spades take up leaves No better than spoons, And bags full of leaves Are light as balloons. I make a great noise Of rustling all day Like rabbit and deer Running away. But the mountains I raise Elude my embrace, Flowing over my arms And into my face. I may load and unload Again and again Till I fill the whole shed, And what have I then? Next to nothing for weight; And since they grew duller From the contact with earth, Next to nothing for color. Next to nothing for use. But a crop is a crop, And who's to say where The harvest shall stop? Dust of Snow The way a crow Shook down on me The dust of snow From a hemlock tree Has given my heart A change of mood And saved some part Of a day I had rued.

A two minute score for chamber, written to accompany underwater and coastal footage. Hope you like it! These are fun to put together 🙂 Would welcome any and all feedback!

Come critique me! This 10-minute piece is my 4th complete piece over the past year (ever) and is in 3 movements, which are shown in-video. Inspired by the mountains of the world, this piece is a way to express my love for nature and my desire to explore the world around me. Video :https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1GcnyomDeMk&feature=youtu.be Score: https://www.dropbox.com/s/h1zs3c4acoxht17/Mountains_Suite.pdf?dl=0 Thanks to anybody who provides constructive feedback! (This was copy and pasted from a reddit post on r/composer, so excuse the fact that it links to a dropbox. If this is against the rules or it needs verification (it's a pdf file), please let me know in the comments.)

Hello Everybody, This is my latest work, about the power of nature. I hope, you'll like it, and share it. If you don't want to miss my newest tracks, follow me on Facebook! Write your opinion below! https://www.facebook.com/olivercomposing/

Hi all! I've been busy with small business busy season, but I'll be a bit more present on this site after the Christmas rush is over. Here's a short fall piece I managed to put together. I'd love to hear any feedback, particularly any comments about my piano reduction notation, since I don't actually play piano. I simplified a few rhythms to try to make the choral counterpart actually playable, but if you can think of better solutions, let me know. If anything looks like it would be easier played with the other hand, or my enharmonic equivalents should be switched from sharps to flats or the reverse, please let me know. Notation that's just a little "off" always slows down rehearsals so I do want to do it right, but I don't always know the best way to do it. I've attached a pdf of the score. And here's a video with the score rolling by: -pateceramics Furtak-The Rake.mid