Length: 7:08

Gosh, how old-fashioned. Almost a mid-nineteenth century tone poem for piano. Melodic content not really terribly distinguished, and many of the gestures are really somewhat second-hand. The problem with this kind of piece is that it is bound to sound like the improvised score to a silent movie from the twenties. There is little sense of adventure in the composer’s approach, relying instead on tried and tested solutions, and I had no sense of terror from this music. All that said, there’s plenty of salon music over a hundred years old with which this piece almost compares. I’d like to be more positive since the composer understands how to make effective textures work on the piano, but at seven minutes the piece outstays its welcome. Try to be a bit more adventurous next time. I suspect you can do it if you really want to.

By: wobbie

This piece also disappointed me, it sounded very improvised. The greatest improviser of the French organ school of the 20^th century Pierre Cochereau always emphasised that improvisation in order to succeed must be structured otherwise it becomes doodling at the keyboard. That was my impression here, a lot of gesture but unconnected and the smell of danger was never present. One thing to remember when improvising at the piano is that to create “orchestration” effects and mood changes you must exploit the extremes of the keyboard. Both hands should play high for a scene to depict the flames, think here of Wagner, Magic Fire Music. They should also play very low to give the impression of danger getting ever closer. Playing in the middle of the keyboard for most of the time or doing arpeggios from top to bottom doesn’t really express anything. At least though you did try to give some impression of fire and had obviously looked at the picture.

By: Judge No. 1 (See Notes)

By: Judge No. 2

General

1. Complexity - Very mild in complexity. I love it.
   

2. Instrumentation - As a piano solo, there isn't much to say, except I wonder if it was you who played this piece. Very well performed. Considering this is a piano solo, I can't give this much judgment, however...
   

3. Composition - Has a nice variety of themes within this composition. There are both major and minor tunes to this composition and all of it is very enjoyable.
   

4. Initial Inspiration - The description of each part of the song is played and well represented. Has a nice dramatic flow and as well as a peaceful essence. Both of which I see in the picture.
   
   

Specifics

1. Opening - After listening to the intro, I thought to myself, 'Wow, a possibly performed piano solo.' This alone made me want to listen to the rest of the song.  I can feel the intensity already.
   

2. Middle - The major parts of the piece is so beautiful. Played very gracefully as well. So much enjoyed within this piece, and as I've said, this song has a strong major theme.
   

3. Ending - I love how the minor theme in the opening sounds minor and is played in what I believe is major at the ending. The ending is good.
   

Bravo!

From the composer of: Abysmal Flames

From the composer of: Affordable Wisdom

From the composer of: Blisters

From the composer of: Forest Fire: A Brief Tone Poem for Orchestra

This was the case for me with several of the moments in this piece. Why tell me what I’m supposed to listen for when it’s solely the music’s job to convey that image or emotion? If one needs to rely on a detailed program to support the music’s message, then the music isn’t doing its job as well as it could, and we are steered into hearing a forest fire when we might otherwise have heard something else.

This piano piece was well-written, and managed to hold my attention for the seven-odd minutes it lasted. I enjoyed the variations throughout, and the composer didn’t throw themes at you any more than necessary. Although the use of sequences is apparent throughout, the harmonic vocabulary impressed me.

I question this piece’s relevancy because without the provided program, I would not (have made) the connection to a forest, let alone a fire in that forest. This sounds less a programmatic piece to me than it does a concert work.

From the composer of: Inferno

From the composer of: Music for Trumpet and Strings

From the composer of: Of Desperation, Death, and Hope

From the composer of: Prelude for Solo Piano

From the composer of: Tell Me About The Forest

• Harmony: The Romantic / Pop feel is nice. Nice use of triads. If this is an improvised work as it sounds, this is an impressive feat.
• Development: Sounds like a "theme and variations" (piece) to me. Pure musical expression directly from the piano. I hear somebody expressing his/ her soul in this piece. Hearing the same chords over and over with different content gave me a sense of unity even though this piece was really one musical idea following another.  
• Orchestration: n/a
• Form: One idea after the next. The piece tends to be drawn out and babbling. I think if the creativity here was coupled with compositional craft, we’d have some very nice works coming from you.
• Overall, your writing style is still young and your technical ability is that of someone who is still beginning his craft. However, you make the piece work in spite of these limitations. Good job.

Musicality [20/20]:

• Very pleasant to listen to. Good piano playing :)

Relevance [18/20]:

• A Eulogy for a burnt forest. I think it works.

Overall Thoughts [C+ / Satisfactory]. This is a composition competition. I feel kind of robbed that you didn’t give these wonderful ideas the benefit of having a well crafted home within a musical form on manuscript paper. I bet it would have turned out well.

From the composer of: The Dance of the Clumsy Bear

From the composer of: The Wildfire Suite