# TalkClassical Composers Competition: Round 1 Judging!



## Ramako

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:





Individual links:

1. Fugue and Variations:





2. Valse Fromage





3. Ahrpia





4. Medley in C





5. Der Wecker (Alarm Clock)





6. Piano Sonata in c sharp minor movement 1





7. Fughetta





8. Piano Piece for the competition 





9. Piano Piece in c minor





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!


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## Ramako

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.


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## Klavierspieler

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


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## Klavierspieler

1. (1) Fugue and Variations

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

3. (2) Valse Fromage


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## Ramako

Klavierspieler said:


> 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.


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## Toddlertoddy

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


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## Klavierspieler

Toddlertoddy said:


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


Not enough to bother about it.


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## 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


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## aleazk

nicecomposer said:


> 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'.


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## Crudblud

*Picks*

1. (5) Der Wecker

2. (7) Fughetta

3. (8) Piano piece for the competition 

*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 ._ - 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.


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## aleazk

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'.

:tiphat:


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## Trout

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.


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## mmsbls

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.


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## jani

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

Who has disliked all of our vids?


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## Ravndal

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 

Anyways, well done everyone.


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## beetzart

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!


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## contra7

1. (8) Piano Piece for the competition 
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!


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## paulc

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.


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## juergen

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 
2. Medley in C
3. Ahrpia


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## clavichorder

My picks would go to 

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

Good job everyone!


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## Avengeil

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


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## 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. 

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.


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## Ramako

crmoorhead said:


> 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!



crmoorhead said:


> 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.


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## 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?


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## Crudblud

Mephistopheles said:


> 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!


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## Mephistopheles

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.


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## Lunasong

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!


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## emiellucifuge

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


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## Turangalîla

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  - This was very good harmonically. Perhaps some of the nuances were a bit repetitive, but it was nonetheless very successful.


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## tdc

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


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## Ramako

Just to remind people that the voting will be closed as of the evening (GMT) of Monday 17th of September 

Currently we have a very close competition for the top place between Fugue and Variations standing on 28 points, and Der Wecker on 27 points.


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## Mephistopheles

Will we be getting a thread about Round #2 some time soon? There isn't much time until the deadline!


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## Ramako

Mephistopheles said:


> Will we be getting a post about Round #2 some time soon? There isn't much time until the deadline!


Not here, either on the other thread - http://www.talkclassical.com/20828-tc-composers-competition-11.html - or in the group.


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## Turangalîla

Make sure to vote for Der Wecker!!!


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## jani

CarterJohnsonPiano said:


> Make sure to vote for Der Wecker!!!


Der wacker is great but Fugue with variations is better!


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## Lunasong

CarterJohnsonPiano said:


> Make sure to vote for Der Wecker!!!





jani said:


> Der wacker is great but Fugue with variations is better!


Gentlemen, please! I can't abide this trash talk. Please, let's keep it civil.


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## jani

If i get everyone's permission i go and post each one of our vids as a video response to more popular videos so we get more views (again i know that we don't need them, but i wouldn't hurt! More views= More listeners and feedback).


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## Turangalîla

Lunasong said:


> Gentlemen, please! I can't abide this trash talk. Please, let's keep it civil.


Sorry...

And just for the record, I did not "trash talk" Fugue and Variations _directly_...


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## mleghorn

I vote for:

1) Piano piece for the competition 

2) Der Wecker (Alarm Clock)

I hope it's OK that I only voted for two.

Nice job everyone.


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## Crudblud

mleghorn said:


> I vote for:
> 
> 1) Piano piece for the competition
> 
> 2) Der Wecker (Alarm Clock)
> 
> I hope it's OK that I only voted for two.
> 
> Nice job everyone.


Phew, I think you just barely made the deadline!


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## Ramako

Round 1 Voting is officially over!

The three winners are as follows

1st Der Wecker
2nd Fugue and Variations
3rd Piano Piece for the Competition 

The table of entries with their authors and points scored (by voting) is as follows

1. Fugue and Variations: - 28 - composed by juergen
2. Valse Fromage - 7 - composed by Crudblud
3. Ahrpia - 4
4. Medley in C - 12 - composed by beetzart
5. Der Wecker (Alarm Clock) - 29 - composed by Contra7
6. Piano Sonata in c sharp minor movement 1 - 5 - composed by jani
7. Fughetta - 14 - composed by Klavierspieler
8. Piano Piece for the competition  - 17
9. Piano Piece in c minor - 15 - composed by Ramako

Congratulations to Contra7, our first TC composers competition champion!

Congratulations to juergen also for a close second! You almost won too, if it were not for that last minute vote. Congrats also to our bronze, as yet anonymous winner too.

Two temporarily remain anonymous I'm afraid. Hopefully I will receive responses soon and edit this.

Many thanks to all our composers and voters, everyone who helped organise and define the ideas for this competition, and especially to Crudblud and Klavierspieler who went to the trouble of advertising this thread on their sigs :tiphat:

For more discussion please go to the dedicated thread: http://www.talkclassical.com/21460-tc-composers-competition-round.html#post358300


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## PetrB

I had thought to ask the age of each composer involved, this post judging, but then realized info of that nature could affect / bias the judging of their future entries....

Ergo, Never Mind


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## tdc

Congratulations Contra7.

On a side note _Fughetta_ was a great little piece and would have come in a close 4th in my voting, maybe even broke in for 3rd or 2nd, but there seemed to be some odd background noise there I found a little distracting. Regardless nice work Klavierspieler!


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## Turangalîla

tdc said:


> Congratulations Contra7.
> 
> On a side note _Fughetta_ was a great little piece and would have come in a close 4th in my voting, maybe even broke in for 3rd or 2nd, but there seemed to be some odd background noise there I found a little distracting. Regardless nice work Klavierspieler!


I agree-congratulations everyone, and I also really enjoyed _Fughetta_.


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## juergen

Congratulations to Contra7 and his Wecker!

I want to say thank you to all who have taken the time to listen to our pieces and to judge them. A special thanks to Ramako who had the the idea for this competition and organized it. This was a great (and exciting) competition.

Of course, I am particularly grateful to Billy McBride, whose Symphony No. 23 (see this thread: http://www.talkclassical.com/20154-my-symphony-three-5.html) inspired me to the piece "Fugue and Variations".

I am looking forward to the next round of the competition. New round, new chance!


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## Ramako

Well, I thought this whole thing was very fun to do. I enjoyed listening to all the pieces, and it even had a last minute vote which entirely re-arranged the 3 winners 



PetrB said:


> I had thought to ask the age of each composer involved, this post judging, but then realized info of that nature could affect / bias the judging of their future entries....
> 
> Ergo, Never Mind


In the future they ought to be anonymous while the judging was going on, making it not matter so much I suppose. On the other hand, I don't know how much people would want to answer that question :lol:


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## Ramako

I have just been told that aleazk is the composer of Piano Piece for the competition , which came third. Well done aleazk!


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## Crudblud

What the hell? I was convinced that was BD. Well done aleazk, you had me fooled!


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## Klavierspieler

tdc said:


> On a side note _Fughetta_ was a great little piece and would have come in a close 4th in my voting, maybe even broke in for 3rd or 2nd, but there seemed to be some odd background noise there I found a little distracting.


Sorry. My mic sucks, and I'm not much good with noise removal.



> Regardless nice work Klavierspieler!


Thanks!


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## tdc

Ramako said:


> I have just been told that aleazk is the composer of Piano Piece for the competition , which came third. Well done aleazk!


Wow, I am also surprised. So much for aleazk's claims he is a crappy composer!

@ aleazk - you have some serious compositional potential!


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## BurningDesire

I'm sorry that I didn't participate in the contest. Congrats to everybody that did, and to the winners ^^ I did eventually finish the prelude I was writing for it, I'll need to record it though, it doesn't work in MIDI.


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## contra7

Thanks everyone for congratulations!!
It was real pleasure writing the piece and participating in competition! Congratulation to everyone who have participate and thanks everyone who have supported us. And very BIG THANKS to Ramako who realized the idea of competition and invested a lot of time and effort to develop this. Without him, this would not be happening. 
I'm looking forward to next round!!


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## nicecomposer

hey there. sorry, i was wrapped in other crap for a while. i just got fired from a grocery store. anyways, i wrote Ahrpia


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