The first few minutes are a spoken introduction.  Wish I hadn't done that, and I suppose I could edit it out, but I'm too lazy.  Hope you enjoy.

Percy's Song (Bob Dylan Cover)

This is the 2nd draft of my 1st piano conerto - 1st movement.  I'm working on a piano cadenza to be inserted before the closing, which will be in B-flat and another key.  The orchestral and piano parts all need tweaking here and there.  I'm very much open to constructive feedback, especially with these issues:

The instruments are:

2 picolo
2 flute
2 oboe
2 English horn
2 bassoon
contrabassoon
2 horns
2 trumpets
coronet
2 trombone
timpani
strings

I'm wondering if the conventional wisdom of brass instruments being either muted or absent in a piano concerto is warranted.  Any thoughts?  I happen to like the brass, but in places it does tend to drown out the piano, so I've used them rather sparingly.

I'm thinking of some variation in the key.  I don't think I'll add a minor key section, but some short passages in minor might add some variety.  Thoughts?

Piano Fantasy No. 2 in B flat major, Opus 15 Allegro con brio (MuseScore - open source notation)

I finally finished the 2nd movement to my 2nd piano sonata.  Adagios aren't really my thing, so I appreciate any constructive comments.  The movement formally marked as IV will now be marked as III, since I don't have a 4th movement planned.

Sonata No. 2 in C sharp minor, Opus 14, No. 2 (II: Adagio)

I wrote this in about 2 hours.  I've done some other preludes, but I think this is the best so far.

After the Wine - Prelude for Piano No. 9 in G major, Opus 16, No. 1

This is another orchestral piece that I composed a few years back.  It's probably one of the better pieces I wrote at that time.  Of course now I'm more satisfied with the pieces I've written over the past year.  There's no score available for this piece.

Scherzo

Design of Life - Prelude No. 1 in C major, Opus 10, No. 1

This is the first movement of a new Piano Concerto I'm working on.

Conerto No. 1 in C major for Piano and Orchestra, Opus 17

This is the 2nd movement of my first Piano concerto.  It's an adagio in 3/4 time and in the keys of C minor and E-flat major.  I'll post the movement with the cadenza once I'm finished composing.  It will be a 3-5 minute cadenza for solo piano.

Inspiration:

"No man is an Island, intire of it selfe; every man is a peece of the Continent, a part of the maine; if a Clod bee washed away by the Sea, Europe is the lesse, as well as if a Promontorie were, as well as if a Mannor of thy friends or of thine owne were; any mans death diminishes me, because I am involved in Mankinde; And therefore never send to know for whom the bell tolls; It tolls for thee."

John Donne.

The first two piano cords at the beginning are intended to mimic the tolling of a bell.  I guess I could dedicate this piece to all the dear friends I've known who are no longer with us.

Instruments:

Picolo
Flute
Oboe
English Horn
Clarinet
Bassoon
Contrabassoon
French Horn
Trumpet
Trombone
Strings

And of course, Piano.

To see the score for this piece, go here:

http://musescore.com/user/10791/scores/55875

To view a video demonstration using this piece to show how orchestration is achieved for optimal MIDI playback using MuseScore Open source notation software, go here:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QNSUxyo2rdE

To see this video played while viewing the score, go here:

http://musescore.com/node/55876

Concerto for Piano and Orchestra No. 1, Opus 17 (II - "Ask not for whom...")

This is the 3rd and final movement of my first piano concerto.  It's a celebration, so have fun with it.

Instruments are as follows:

Picolo
Flute
English Horn
Clarinet
Bassoon
Contrabassoon
French Horn
Trumpet
Trombone
Bass Trombone
Military Drum
Timpani
Piano
Strings

Concerto for Piano and Orchestra No. 1, Opus 17 (III The Sound of Two Hands Dancing)

This is the completed and expanded version of the 2nd movement to my piano concerto, with the cadenza included.  A cadenza is an additional solo part for the piano.  This extends the movement from 9 minutes to over 12 minutes.  I hope you enjoy.

Concerto No. 1 in C major, Opus 17.2 Ask Not for Whom...(version with cadenza)

I am an amateur classical composer as well as a singer/guitarist of mostly folk and blues music.
I studied music during my first year in college at the original campus of Douglas College in New Westminster, BC, Canada in 1980.
I studied piano during my last two years of high school in Salzburg, Austria (1978-1980), as well as taking lessons earlier in my youth.
I'm mostly self-taught with a little feedback and input from friends who are themselves classical musicians.I also listen to a lot of classical music - primarily from the classical to romantic eras.
I currently live in Southern California.  If you are interested in accessing the scores to any of my compositions, please contact me.  It would please me greatly to have a good pianist play my pieces.  Also, I'd like to say thanks to all the SoundCloud composers who have encouraged and inspired me since I first joined.  This is truly a great site to explore what others are doing with composition.  It give me not only great stuff to listen to, but great ideas for future projects.  So a big THANK YOU!!! to everyone.

All of my compositions are created using MuseScore open source notation software.  I support open source software.  MuseScore is the best alternative to the expensive professional notation platforms, and it's free.  The app can be downloaded from the app section of SoundCloud.  If you're going to use MuseScore, I suggest changing the sound font from the default MIDI font to an appropriate alternative.  There are many alternatives that you can find for free on the web, including several from MuseScore.  If you'd like some assistance with this, I'm happy to provide it.

The sounds that you hear on my tracks are the playback from MuseScore (with considerable tweaking for expression), and not my own performance.  You can get quite a natural sound with the right sound font.  MuseScore continues to make improvements to the software such that with the new release, the sound is much more optimal than with previous releases.

I've recently begun to post my folk performances from YouTube.  These songs aren't professionally produced in any way.  I sat down in front of my computer with my guitar and recorded the videos raw using my webcam - mostly in one take.  Some have been overdubbed with extra guitar work and vocals, but for the most part, they're just me with a guitar.  You also get the added touch of dogs barking in the background, and my creaky chair.  I also mess up on the words here and there, but that would probably occur in any live performance anyway.  I enhanced the sound using GarageBand; which came free with my Mac computer; so don't think I'm a sound technician in any way.  Enjoy!!!


Brandon Ward 4