# New Young Piano Composer - thoughts?



## ClassicalFan80 (Jan 31, 2019)

A friend of mine has started serious composition for piano, and debuted a movement of his new sonata (the 2nd/slow movement) this weekend. I've heard the other movements, and will be excited for him to record them, but wanted to get your thoughts on the 2nd movement in the meantime.

Tim Stopulos - Sonata in Eb Minor (2nd Mvmt) - 




Thanks for listening!


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## BrahmsWasAGreatMelodist (Jan 13, 2019)

It's a nice piece; very enjoyable to listen to. I really like the style that he's writing in, and although it isn't the most "original" piece of music, (1) that doesn't really matter that much and (2) I'm sure the "originality" will come over time. No need to stress about that.


I guess my initial constructive criticisms would be...

I would like to see a greater variety of textures... even within the same iteration of, say, the main theme, it would be nice to see some more variety. (Was this influenced by the 2nd movement of the Appassionata sonata? I'm definitely getting that sort of vibe. Anyway, Beethoven has very SUBTLE changes in texture, often caused by changes in rhythmic structure, both between and within the variations that maybe your friend could take inspiration from).

I think the "climax" (the part right before 4 minutes in) is a bit overdone, especially considering the scope, ambitus, and range of musical expression in the movement.

This might be a critique of the performance more than the piece, but I thought it was a bit slow... I actually ended up listening to it at 1.5x speed and liked it better. I understand that this may interfere with the balance between the movements, but maybe he could write more music to it?

That being said, I really liked:

The harmonic language (although I also thought there could have been a bit more variety, especially in the middle of the movement)
The humble simplicity that I found in most of the writing (as a composer, I understand that sometimes leaving out the superfluous notes is the hardest thing)

Your friend definitely has talent and skill, and I really hope he keeps composing. Keep us updated please!


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## Vasks (Dec 9, 2013)

Pop/Contemporary Church music inspired. Not Classical. Meh


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## Phil loves classical (Feb 8, 2017)

It sounds nice. It is very improvisatory rather than composed and sounds like lounge music. It could be a bit more challenging to the ears. But he is very technically sound.


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## Larkenfield (Jun 5, 2017)

I’m sorry that I am not more impressed. This does not sound like a movement from a piano sonata but more like extemporaneous playing in the moment with some of its jazz voicings. But he does seem to have a nice touch on the keyboard. Still, I don’t hear outstanding talent as a composer and it doesn’t sound like he has had that much training as one. Nevertheless, I wish him well in his musical career and perhaps more time to develop is what he needs.


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## BrahmsWasAGreatMelodist (Jan 13, 2019)

Larkenfield said:


> I'm sorry that I am not more impressed. This does not sound like a movement from a piano sonata but more like extemporaneous playing in the moment with some of its jazz voicings. But he does seem to have a nice touch on the keyboard. Still, I don't hear outstanding talent as a composer and it doesn't sound like he has had that much training as one. Nevertheless, I wish him well in his musical career and perhaps more time to develop is what he needs.


I mean, I agree, but try to be nicer haha. That's the approach I took.


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## janxharris (May 24, 2010)

ClassicalFan80 said:


> A friend of mine has started serious composition for piano, and debuted a movement of his new sonata (the 2nd/slow movement) this weekend. I've heard the other movements, and will be excited for him to record them, but wanted to get your thoughts on the 2nd movement in the meantime.
> 
> Tim Stopulos - Sonata in Eb Minor (2nd Mvmt) -
> 
> ...


https://www.talkclassical.com/today-s-composers/


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