PROF

COMPOSITION

SCORE

Themes/ Melodies

Orchestr.

Harmon.

Develop.

My taste

Originality

REVIEWER COMMENTS

Josh's Rag

Bach Fantasy

7.60

An uninteresting approach to fugue / contrapuntal writing: there is no clear theme that gets dutifully stated by each instrument, nor is there a proper development. Too homogenous, with absolutely no straying from quarter/eighth notation. Perhaps would be better as a prelude, and J.S. in fact did a much better job at spelling his name in his last contrapunctus (re: Die Kunst die Fuge). Too bad he died before completing it. A worthy effort, and you start to show promise at around m.112 - - THAT is what you need to sustain throughout, and the trick is to remain consistent while making the other parts do wilder and independent things themselves - i.e., 16th/32nd note runs, syncopated accompaniment, or outright tunes by themselves so that you've got two pieces that can play both by themselves AND together. These are just some ideas and suggestions. Keep writing, and make the effort to breathe more life and excitement into a piece whose style is often misinterpreted to be stodgy and clock-like. In the hands of a Bach, it's more a salute to the spinning atoms that comprised both us and the music we hear.

Rozhnik

7.60

Well, finally a real melody - and completely uninspired accompaniment. Simple, easy to listen to, but is in desparate need of more development. I love the melody, and with the author's kind permission, I'd like to orchestrate in myself. Drop me a line if that would be ok... ok?

A Little Weird Song

Edit J. Forever

Symphony C minor mov 1

7.80

little comment, except to say that your efforts are appreciated. Too long, though.

Symphonydenada

Trio Opus 44

8.00

"Have klesmer, will travel..." Very fun to listen to, even though at times I got very tired of hearing the "chromaticism-as-theme" approach. Inventive and clever counter-melodies, properly syncopated. Say, you're not from France, are you? I could've sworn I saw an organ-grinder's monkey jumping from stave to stave...

Concerto 53

7.80

* yawn * Excellent form, adherence to style, a thorough knowledge of how strings ought to accompany solo instruments - - and completely unoriginal in it's execution. The last movement is practically a complete rewrite of one of Mozart's Horn Concertos in E-flat, and while this is an impressive achievement in it's own right, it does little to impress my sense of originality. Pretty? Absolutely. Great? No more than Salieri was great when stacked up next to Wolfie.

Piano Sonata 3

8.00

Beethovenesque in style and scope, it's fairly good - and actually playable to boot.

Brandenberg Echoes

8.00

J.S.Bach on a rather heavy thorazine drip. Lordy, the spectre of originality must rear it's ugly head here: if there's anyone who can appreciate the work and attention to detail that went into this work, it's me - and, in spite of the nifty tools at our disposal to basically "suck up" into our sequencers virtually any music at all (which we can then edit / change / enhance), there is still much going on here to be appreciated. Unfortunately, in order to really appreciate it, one must be a raging schizophrenic.

The Lost Flamenco

9.60

Another gem! Odd pitch bending at times, but brilliant stereo effects, as well as excellent use of background percussive accompaniment. And it's in authentic flamenco style! Great!

Journey

8.50

Radio Afghanistan? LOL - loved the Middle-Eastern flavor, effective use of timpani / percussion, and astonishing propensity for chords chocked with more dissonance than a beef slaughterhouse in Wisconsin. Very thoughtfully done, and therefore good.

The Blue Sea

Freddy's Morning Daybreak

8.00

Nice little tone-poem, short and sweet. Some of the tracks need to be heard more, but otherwise completely inoffensive.

The Depot

7.00

no comment

Day Dream

Yukon Territory

Final Battle

8.20

Fun as hell to listen to - did you catch those James Bondian chordal progressions? LOL - fun and talented use of drums, and the start/stop syncopation really gets your blood going. Good work!

Opening Fire

7.60

"Mike Connors as MANNIX!" LOL - fun, but predictable. I've heard similar in DOS-based computer games.

Spanish Impressions

Never Forgotten

7.40

Hmmmm... right up there with the moving - yet canned - accompanying music to patriotic, quasi-religious commercials, complete with the Mormon Tabernacle choir and tubular bells. Just my opinion, but too sappy for my tastes. High marks for great crescendos.

When I Dream of You

Trio Fugue in G minor

8.80

Not bad! The part writing reminds me of Mozart's efforts in the same genre - which, on the face of it, sounds like a huge compliment, until you find out that fugue-writing was one of things that he ultimately sucked at. Again, in fugal treatments, once you've gotten out of the gate with your three or four statements of the theme, you MUST develop it, not just pass the theme from voice to voice - and in the development, there must be a strong counter-theme, and it must have more going on than quarter / eighth notes, however oddly syncopated these may be. With your kind permission, I'd like to illustrate what I'm talking about by writing my own perception of a fugue with your undeniably striking theme. Drop me a line if that would be ok... ok?

Introit and Kyrie

7.80

no comment

Violin Concert 1, mov 1

7.75

Not very interesting to me until around m.57, and then you lapse back into those extraordinarily boring chord progressions. Another moment of brilliance at m.94, which you were able to sustain quite a bit longer. The finish on open 4ths was a crashing disappointment. Surely you can properly finish this work? PLEASE??? It has fantastic potential, but needs much work, especially with those pesky chords that I just KNOW were your attempt at evoking a sense of grandeur - but that's not going to happen if the part-writing doesn't improve. There's very good reason why parallel 5ths, crossing voices, and hackneyed, repeated C-major chords are verboten.

Will you be my Valentine

Opus 11 v2002

7.40

Again, too homogenous, essentially basic part writing. You were onto something good at m.140, and if you could've kept up that level of activity (particularly with the clever use of triplets against an almost contrapuntal countermelody), it would've made a much stronger piece. Why are so many folks afraid of getting their feet wet with a melody?

Spinnaker

2nd Symphony, vivace

9.60

I bet I know who wrote this - and it deserves a huge round of applause. I hear interesting orchestrations, playful Prokofiev-like melodies, excellent development, with a "free-form" approach that still retains a good deal of form and structure. Many surprises, outstanding build-ups and denouements. LOVED the fugato at measure 169 or so. Some of the instruments (bassoon, flute - probably because of my soundfont) were out of range, but very, very well done.

Under Attack

7.90

no comment

Forty

Wiraqcha

Flight of Fancy

9.50

Almost perfect. THIS, in fact, is "music without pretension." Extraordinarily pleasant to listen to, makes no other demands upon the listener other than to forget about how complex and well-constructed other pieces are - and that's not easy to achieve. Laden with simplicity and purity of expression, it sets a modest goal for itself and hits the bullseye dead center. Written well within the range of the instrument (I wish I had spent more time learning how to write for the guitar in my last piece - it might've sounded as good), it beautifully transports the listener to a different time and place.

TOTAL AVERAGE

8.09

#DIV/0!

8.09

#DIV/0!