Length: 3:03

Part I is about the time before the wildfire in the forest. It should express the harmony and happiness in the forest and the relationship between the two deer.

In Part II the fire breaks out and the flames engulfed the whole forest. A cry for help of one of the deer is symbolized by the French horn. With strong trills, short marcato strings and a strong percussion section the flames chase the deer through the whole forest.

In Part III one of the deer finds the corpse of the other and begin to lament for his dead partner.

Sugar-coated Copland in his open-air style to begin the piece. Epic-dramatic for part two with castanets! A fire on the Spanish Costa Brava perhaps? And a rather too-obvious lamenting violin to conclude. All very short. Just three minutes, with three or four decent ideas, NONE of which were developed. All tried and tested and reliable, but really not terribly inventive, despite being well put together. Again, sometimes less is more. Try a bigger scale with less material, but developed more thoroughly. It would probably work well. Certainly the beginnings are there…

By: wobbie

It was a shame that this piece wasn’t twice or three times as long.  You know, you can repeat sections - the public like to hear passages a few times. Look at Tchaikovsky - he always repeats his musical material 3 times, (and) only the third time (around) does he change something so that it dovetails perfectly into the next passage. You could have done that here so that we as listeners can understand what you are doing, and try to see the scene as you see it, and have a chance of remembering your themes/melodies. This is a general criticism of many of the entrants: Be careful if you use minimalist techniques that you don’t overstay your welcome, and if you write conventional harmony, be sure to repeat it often enough for the listener to know it the next day. The second section here was far too short in relation to the first part, and I am still trying to locate the reunion of the two deer. The fire needed more importance in this piece, the deer are peripheral to the picture but dominate the composition.

By: Judge No. 1 (See Notes)

By: Judge No. 2

General

1. Complexity - The song has serenity, the song has intensity, the song has tragedy. So many elements in a song. Here's to you!
   

2. Instrumentation - The instrumentation was beautifully done. The violin towards the end came it at the perfect time. I loved the trilling strings as well, but there was a tapping percussion, like a spoon tapping on a piece of wood or something, towards the ending of the middle theme.
   

3. Composition - A major score dealer. So nicely done, the strings created such a nice melody, and the violin as well.
   

4. Initial Inspiration - As I said in the complexity, your description depicts the picture nicely. Nothing else to say.
   
   

Specifics

1. Opening - A beautiful way to open the song. Almost seems a bit sad, when hearing what happens next.
   

2. Middle - Where the song gets intense. I thought that was a nice turn of events. Great, but there was a certain percussion I had to disagree with. Makes the song sound more ethnic, when it's more about nature itself. The ending of this theme was a little too sudden though.
   

3. Ending - Here we go, it starts picking up on sadness. I felt that. The violin snuck up on me, and it is most definitely tragic
   

I got into the song very easily, it's just that one percussion that I got a bit annoyed with. Other than that, I have to say, I love that violin at the end.

From the composer of: Abysmal Flames

From the composer of: Affordable Wisdom

From the composer of: Blisters

• 1^st section - Very nice, with the original melody and everything, percussion etc.
• 2^nd section - I could have sworn I heard a part of this segment from "the Contender" theme, but nonetheless you made it your own :) Only the chord progression was the same.
• 3^rd section - I felt this part was a little bit too short for a ending. Nice ending instrument though.

Short and sweet. Very appealing for 3 minutes of music.

From the composer of: Fate of the Forest

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

I was very impressed with this composition.  The transitions between slow and fast seemed a bit sudden but they were handled nicely.  The use of strings at the beginning accurately portrayed the forest.  However, what excited me the most was the middle section.  I thought this music was absolutely flawless in its portrayal of a fiery chase.  The ostinato strings combined with the repeated rhythmic figure was a great compositional decision.

I thought the change from part 2 to part 3 was sudden and abrupt.  I felt that the middle part did not last as long as it could have.  An exploration and development of the rhythmic ostinato would have been very satisfying. 

Overall I think this is one of the finer compositions in this contest; I think if the material were more fleshed out and explored (in all three sections, even), it would definitely rank up there for me.

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 harmonies are extremely simple using traditional associations between the major mode and happiness as well as minor and sad. Aside from the middle movement, the pieces are harmonic static. Good use of a triadic language but overly simple for my tastes.  I do like the serenity of both outer movements as well.
• Development: Almost entirely lacking. I didn’t feel you even bothered to see what you can do to explore your different ideas. The piece was entirely musical cotton candy with little to no substance in it.  I strongly suggest studying scores from Beethoven’s string quartets. This will start you off in the right direction.
• Orchestration: Too much handclapper. Rattle, rattle! You have a good idea of what the instruments do and you apply this well. I personally really enjoyed that folk violin at the end of the piece.
• Form: Composing in a ‘suite’ with a program in mind was a good idea. Rather than a multi-movement unified work, I got the impression that this was more of a medley from a game soundtrack. Well this isn’t a bad thing, the title is misleading. I felt your thematic content was weak and rather lacking in shape. While the supporting lines were good, no melodic element really gained precedence at any point in the works. For instance, the folk violin just repeated a similar shape over and over.  While this piece works as a game music medley, it lacks the formal and developmental continuity that would make it a self-sufficient work.
• Overall, this piece is sound with no weak points that really stick out but it doesn’t stand out either. The piece is really pretty but it doesn’t have a theme that will stick with someone. Good, but not great. Interestingly, the piece reminds me of Sakuraba’s compositional style. Do you like the Tales series by (any) chance?

Musicality [16/20]:

• I like the violin melody in the Lament. I really do like folk music. This music is pleasant and would fit in happily in an RPG.

Relevance [15/20]:

• Fires burn stuff, they don’t beat people up. Hello battle music.

Overall Thoughts [B / Good Work].

From the composer of: The Dance of the Clumsy Bear