Thread: TalkClassical Composers Competition: Round 1 Judging!

1. Piano piece in c minor
2. Fugue and variations
3. Der Wecker

Some really interesting pieces here and it was hard to choose, but those 3 just stuck out for me. Looking forward to the next round!

1. (8) Piano Piece for the competition :P
Fantastic jazzy piece with Monk's dissonances. I love jazz and this piece has absolutely won my vote!

2. (9) Piano Piece in c minor
Very catchy theme and nice motif development, but also very repetitive and too long. After 4:00 becames boring.

3. (4) Medley in C
Interesting virtuostic work with big contrasts between moods and themes.

I really like this competition and I hope that there is a bright future in front of it!

My votes are:

1. Fugue and variations
2. Fughetta
3. Ahrpia

The last one stumbles a bit after the midway point, but I was sold on the first half.

Really a hard decision. I would like to give points to more than only three pieces.
Well, here is my vote:

1. Piano Piece for the competition :P
2. Medley in C
3. Ahrpia

My picks would go to

1. Piano piece in C minor
2. Medley in C
3. Alarm Clock

Good job everyone!

My Favorites...

1. Fughetta
2. Der Weckner
3. Piano piece for the competition

if I had a fourth pick it would go for the fugue and variations

I am really enjoying listening to these pieces. As someone with absolutely no compositional skill at all, I am in awe of your collective creative talents. It was actually quite hard to choose three favourites since they are very different pieces with very different moods.

1. Fugue and Variations - Everyone likes a fugue. Very well executed.
2. Alarm Clock - Didn't really sound like an alarm clock to me, but more like a Bartok dance. Very enjoyable though.
3. Piano Piece in C Minor - I like the catchy melody and the classical style. Although it is not too long at all, keeping within the time limit should have been possible.

As an aside, how were the recordings made? I am assuming that some are played recordings and others are played by computer? Which is which? It might have a bearing on how I view the pieces. Sometimes HOW the composition is played makes a big difference as a computer is incapable of intepreting a work beyond the basic score and some computers might also sound better than others.

Originally Posted by crmoorhead

I am really enjoying listening to these pieces. As someone with absolutely no compositional skill at all, I am in awe of your collective creative talents. It was actually quite hard to choose three favourites since they are very different pieces with very different moods.

Thank you And I'm glad you enjoyed it!

Originally Posted by crmoorhead

As an aside, how were the recordings made? I am assuming that some are played recordings and others are played by computer? Which is which? It might have a bearing on how I view the pieces. Sometimes HOW the composition is played makes a big difference as a computer is incapable of intepreting a work beyond the basic score and some computers might also sound better than others.

How things are played does make a big difference yes, and was something that concerned us, but I don't think it is too big a deal here. The computer sound for a piano isn't too bad in general (voice is probably the worst). I cannot answer for others, but I used a standard computer MIDI sound, still my score is littered with performance markings, so that it might at least sound like at an attempt at musicality. I believe Fughetta is the only one played on a real piano, though I could be horribly wrong and end up offending someone . There are better and worse computer sounds: this may have more of an effect when we try different instrumentation. Here, though, I think that here the difference caused by quality of sound is about as minimal as we could hope it to be.

This looks fun! I'll respond to the pieces in a minute - but first, am I right that this was a competition for talkclassical members? It sounded like it, but I didn't see any guidelines for how to submit anything - maybe I'm just late. Will there be an open submission stage for the next competition?

Originally Posted by Mephistopheles

This looks fun! I'll respond to the pieces in a minute - but first, am I right that this was a competition for talkclassical members? It sounded like it, but I didn't see any guidelines for how to submit anything - maybe I'm just late. Will there be an open submission stage for the next competition?

We did have plenty of talk here leading up to it. I'm sure if you ask Ramako he can tell you what's going on and give you access to the youtube channel for the next competition, though submissions aren't open yet as we haven't decided on instrumentation or set a deadline.

tl;dr: Stay tuned!

OK, my votes are for:

1. Der Wecker. Looks like lots of people like this one - I agree with earlier comments about its folkishness and inventiveness. Very good.

2. Fugue and Variations. Bonus points for making me like a fugue for once!

3. Piano Piece in c minor. It was hard to pick a 3rd place because I liked most of others to a similar extent, but I went with this one in the end even though it could perhaps have benefited from sticking to the five minute guideline.

My choices:
1. Piano Piece for the Competition
2. Valse Fromage
3. Fugue and Variations

I was amused by some of the "suggestions" YT posted on the right-hand side of the page. Really, what does Clint Eastwood's speech at the RNC have to do with this playlist? Then again I was pleased at how well these pieces worked as a playlist. I ran the whole list several times. Congrats to all composers of new music!

1. Der Wecker
2. Fugue and Variations
3. Piano piece

Good job to everyone who participated! Here is my vote (coincidentally it is the exact same as Crudblud's):

1. Der Wecker - This was a fairly clear decision for me. It was very cute and a delicious fusion of Bartok and Haydn.
2. Fughetta - Very well-written. It did not grab me at the beginning, but rather consumed me slowly—well done.
3. Piano piece for the competition :P - This was very good harmonically. Perhaps some of the nuances were a bit repetitive, but it was nonetheless very successful.

1) Fugue and Variations
2) Ahrpia
3) Piano piece for the competition :P