Thread: TalkClassical Composers Competition: Round 1 Judging!

Hi everyone!

This is the first round of what will (hopefully) become a regular TC composers competition, happening every month. In order to judge the winner we hope for as many members as possible, composer and non-composer, to judge between the compositions on Youtube.

To judge, pick your favourite three and order them, if possible. These will then all be added up to find out who is the winner after two weeks. No expertise is required unless you choose to supply it - this is simply a competition on which piece is liked most by most people. Scores are optional (no one has provided them) because we are more bothered about music as sound than squiggles, and want as many judges as possible. It is hoped this will allow the composers' section of the forum to attract more attention.

The Youtube playlist description:

The inaugural unofficial Talk Classical composers competition.

This round, entrants are tasked with writing a solo piano piece with a guideline upper limit of five minutes duration.

There are no specifications concerning form and scores are optional.

The competition is anonymous to help prevent bias. A fair few guesses can be made, but there is no harm in that. Also composers are unable to vote for their own pieces - any such vote will be ignored.

Two more things: I would also like to point out that there is a guideline upper length of five minutes - but this is only a guideline so please take the time to listen to any over this time limit and to judge fairly compared to the rest. Also, please try to bear in mind that this is a composition contest, not a sound-engineer one, so please try to judge the composition not the sounds. I don't think this is a huge issue here though, surprisingly.

Here are the links to the Youtube pages. They are in order of submission (i.e. more or less random). A playlist has also been made for people who live in the 21st century (not me).

Playlist:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hsIbw...e=results_main

Individual links:

1. Fugue and Variations:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hsIbwu9nr-U

2. Valse Fromage
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3VExJruHWw8

3. Ahrpia
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=InnRG2tA1Hs

4. Medley in C
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eZR7I7JrcDA

5. Der Wecker (Alarm Clock)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GSR_UnajH1I

6. Piano Sonata in c sharp minor movement 1
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P41y9ilOht4

7. Fughetta
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wdgK60etBKc

8. Piano Piece for the competition :P
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bLhFvcusoxI

9. Piano Piece in c minor
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AuiLjW8ZeAU

I would like to thank all any member who takes the time to judge. All comments that are not completely destructive are welcome - even on pieces you haven't included in your top 3, and any kind constructive criticism is very much appreciated.

Also, thanks go to every composer who has submitted an entry - and best luck to all!

I thought I would post the first judging post so that people can get the idea.

My favourites are

1. (5) Der Wecker (Alarm clock)

This really attracted my attention. I thought it was very clever (I don't know why) but I do know that it really got under my skin effectively (part of the point I imagine) and held my attention. Good ideas went into this, Though perhaps a touch repetitive 3/4 of the way through, I won't place too much emphasis on this since my attention was held anyway.

2. (7) Fughetta

This didn't so much stand out but again grew on me as it progressed, the under-the-skin phenomenon.

3. (2) Valse Fromage

This piece was fun and more in your face than the other two. I can't say the ending was my favourite bit - unfortunately - but I did think it had some good tunes and it was coherent and entertaining overall.

The links are messed up. Fughetta links to Valse Fromage, Valse Fromage to Piano Sonata Movement, and Piano Sonata Movement to Fughetta.

1. (1) Fugue and Variations

2. (6) Piano Sonata in c-sharp minor, I.

3. (2) Valse Fromage

Originally Posted by Klavierspieler

The links are messed up. Fughetta links to Valse Fromage, Valse Fromage to Piano Sonata Movement, and Piano Sonata Movement to Fughetta.

Thanks! Should be sorted now.

If everyone sees the pieces in the same order as everyone else, doesn't that make it biased?

Originally Posted by Toddlertoddy

If everyone sees the pieces in the same order as everyone else, doesn't that make it biased?

Not enough to bother about it.

ok here's my favs. They were all good though:

1. Piano Sonata in c sharp minor movement 1
2. Piano Piece in c minor
3. Medley in C

hard to choose though. there is no science to this stuff

Originally Posted by nicecomposer

ok here's my favs. They were all good though:

1. Piano Sonata in c sharp minor movement 1
2. Piano Piece in c minor
3. Medley in C

hard to choose though. there is no science to this stuff

You obviously are biased to the key 'C'.

Picks

1. (5) Der Wecker

2. (7) Fughetta

3. (8) Piano piece for the competition :P

Some quick comments

Fugue and Variations - Very well constructed and consistent, I felt, and I certainly appreciate the humorous concept.

Ahrpia - I think sounds like a nice set of ideas but ultimately comes out sounding like fragments to me. However, I think it would work well as a longer piece, or perhaps a cycle of pieces.

Medley in C - Very dramatic opening, reminiscent of Beethoven, which isn't a bad thing. Hell, the whole thing is reminiscent of Beethoven. Some very exciting sections starting around the 1:40 mark.

Der Wecker - Wonderfully folkish melody evoking Grieg and Bartók. I really like this one.

Piano Sonata in C-sharp minor, 1st movement - I'm not particularly fond of the rampant of the runs and arpeggi, which dominate most of the piece. I'm afraid this one just isn't my cup of tea.

Fughetta - Very surprising in its stillness and openness, there's nothing fanciful covering it up, it's just good a good nuts and bolts kind of piece. I like that.

Piano piece for the competition :P. - Hmmm, I wonder who this could be... A nice change from the decidedly European pieces thus far, I much enjoyed the more swing-like rhythms and contrasts presented here.

Piano Piece in C minor - Some nice bits, but I think you perhaps could have been more concise, and I'm not just saying that because it's over the time limit. The repetition was a bit much for my taste, but again I think there were good bits, and probably this will appeal more to fans of classical/early romantic period music.

My vote:

1. (1) Fugue and Variations.

I felt the piece very round shaped and effective, very well crafted. Although I would have appreciated a more interesting harmonic development, I think it's too conservative.

2. (2) Valse Fromage.

I enjoyed a lot the humor in this piece. I would have appreciated a more interesting interaction between the two hands, a more interesting counterpoint, the constant 3/4 drive sounds unimaginative sometimes (yeah, I know it's a watz, but still...). I loved the harmonies and I loved the end. .

3. (7) Fughetta.

The most simple of all the nine pieces, but I liked a lot the mood and the 'sincerity', it strikes you in a very visceral way.


Also, special mention for 'Der Wecker'.

I really appreciate the uniqueness in each piece. However, these three stood out the most to me:

1. (5) Der Wecker
2. (4) Medley in C
3. (9) Piano Piece in C minor

This is a really neat idea and I hope to hear more enjoyable pieces in the future.

I listened 3 times to the works, and then I focused on several that were very close in my mind. By the time I was finished, I thoroughly enjoyed the whole process. Thank you to all the composers. My vote:

1. Fugue and Variations
2. Medley in C
3. Piano Piece in C minor

Der Wecker was a very close 4th.

1. Fugue and Variations
2. Medley in C
3. Piano piece for the competition :P.

Who has disliked all of our vids?

1. Der Wecker
2. Fughetta

These 2 pieces is obviously the best. They both got strong very strong personalities, which i think the other pieces lacked.

If i had to pick a third, it must be valse fromage. i wanted to pick "Piano piece in c minor", but then i realized how long it was, it never ended :P

Anyways, well done everyone.