The Polonaise in F-sharp minor, Op. 44, is a piece for solo piano written by Frédéric Chopin in 1841. It is often referred to as the "tragic" polonaise, due to its dark nature. The polonaise is dedicated to Princess Ludmilla de Beauveau, a prominent member of the Polish émigré community in Paris.

Despite its title, the polonaise is a composite work in ternary form. The piece opens with a short menacing passage, and soon develops into a dark and often furious polonaise theme. The central section of the piece is a mazurka in A major that provides a romantic contrast. The mazurka soon gives in to darker harmonies and the polonaise returns after two isolated torrents of notes. At length, the reprise seems to lose force and momentum, and Chopin concludes the work with a surprising fortissimo double octave on F#. One of the largest polonaises, a typical performance of the work lasts around eleven minutes.[2]

The piece is often considered the first of three "grand polonaises", (the other two being the Polonaise Op. 53 'Heroic', and the Polonaise-Fantaisie Op. 61) in which Chopin largely abandoned the old formula derived directly from dance practice. The time had come for polonaises subjected to free fantasy, for more heroic dance poems.[3] In fact, Chopin was known to have said to the publisher, ‘I  have a manuscript for your disposal. It is a kind of fantasy in polonaise form. But I call it a Polonaise’.

Produced and Arranged for full orchestra by Phil Justin

Chopin: Polonaise in F sharp minor, Op. 44 for Orchestra

Franz Liszt: Orage (Années de pèlerinage, Book 1, No. 5) for orchestra

"Première année: Suisse" ("First Year: Switzerland"), S.160, was published in 1855. Composed between 1848 and 1854, most of the pieces (Nos. 1, 2, 3, 4, 6, 8 and 9) are revisions of Album d'un voyageur: Part 1: Impressions et Poesies. "Au lac de Wallenstadt" (No. 2) and "Au bord d'une source" (No. 4) received only minor revisions, while "La Chapelle de Guillaume Tell" (No. 1), "Vallée d'Obermann" (No. 6), and especially "Les cloches de Genève" (No. 9) were more extensively rewritten.[3] "Églogue" (No. 7) was published separately, and "Orage" (No. 5) was included as part of the definitive version of the cycle.

Orage (Storm) in C minor – Liszt's caption is again from Byron's Childe Harold's Pilgrimage (Canto III, canto 96): "But where of ye, O tempests! is the goal? / Are ye like those within the human breast? / Or do ye find, at length, like eagles, some high nest?"

Arranged for full orchestra by Phil Justin

Full score can be found here: https://youtu.be/uWZ7cG1Ajtg

Franz Liszt: Orage (Années de pèlerinage, Book 1, No. 5) for Orchestra

The Piano Sonata No. 14 in C-sharp minor, marked Quasi una fantasia, Op. 27, No. 2, is a piano sonata by Ludwig van Beethoven. It was completed in 1801 and dedicated in 1802 to his pupil Countess Julie "Giulietta" Guicciardi. The name Moonlight Sonata (German: Mondscheinsonate) grew popular later, likely after Beethoven's death.

The piece is one of Beethoven's most popular compositions for the piano, and it was a popular favorite even in his own day. Beethoven wrote the Moonlight Sonata in his early thirties, after he had finished with some commissioned work; there is no evidence that he was commissioned to write this sonata.

The stormy final movement (C♯ minor), in sonata form and common time, is the weightiest of the three, reflecting an experiment of Beethoven's (also carried out in the companion sonata Opus 27, No. 1 and later on in Opus 101, namely, placement of the most important movement of the sonata last. The writing has many fast arpeggios/broken chords, strongly accented notes, and fast alberti bass sequences that fall both into the right and left hands at various times. An effective performance of this movement demands lively and skillful playing, great stamina, and is significantly more demanding technically than the 1st and 2nd movements.

Of the final movement, Charles Rosen has written "it is the most unbridled in its representation of emotion. Even today, two hundred years later, its ferocity is astonishing".

This arrangement for orchestra was meant to capture that ferocity and unbridled behavior. Was Beethoven just the metalhead of his time? :)

Arranged and produced by Phil Justin. Scored in Sibelius 8 and NotePerformer 4. Mastered in Adobe Audition.

Full score on YouTube

https://youtu.be/pi2jwSOdC3w?si=KXbkv4lmkBxt69_m

Beethoven: Moonlight Sonata Op. 27 No. 2 Third Movement for Orchestra (arr. by Phil Justin)

Orchestral transcription of Franz Liszt's Après une lecture du Dante: Fantasia quasi Sonata.

Après une lecture du Dante: Fantasia quasi Sonata (French, 'After a Reading of Dante: Fantasia quasi Sonata'; also known as the Dante Sonata) is a piano sonata in one movement, written by Hungarian composer Franz Liszt in 1849. It was first published in 1856 as part of the second volume of his Années de pèlerinage (Years of Pilgrimage). This work of program music was inspired by the reading of Victor Hugo's poem “Après une lecture de Dante” (1836).

Background

Introduction
The Dante Sonata was originally a small piece entitled Fragment after Dante, consisting of two thematically related movements, which Liszt composed in the late 1830s. He gave the first public performance in Vienna in November 1839.When he settled in Weimar in 1849, he revised the work along with others in the volume, and gave it its present title derived from Victor Hugo's own work of the same name. It was published in 1858 as part of Années de pèlerinage

Composition

The second subject is a derivation of the first
The piece is divided into two main subjects. The first, a chromatic theme in D minor, typifies the wailing of souls in Hell. D minor is a common key for music relating to death, as evidenced by other compositions such as Liszt's Totentanz and the statue scene of Wolfgang Mozart's Don Giovanni. The first theme also heavily uses the tritone (augmented 4th or diminished 5th); this interval was known as the Devil's interval (or "Devil in music") and further reinforces the hellish imagery. The second theme is a beatific chorale in F-sharp major, derived from the first, which represents the joy of those in Heaven. The key is also symbolic here, being the signature for other uplifting works of Liszt's, including Benediction of God in Solitude (part of Harmonies poétiques et religieuses) and Les Jeux d'eaux à la Villa d'Este (Années de pèlerinage, vol. 3, no. 4).The secondary theme may also represent Beatrice, as it is interspersed within chromatic areas, similar to the character's appearances in hell. The piece ends with a rapid chromatic octave section that when played at speed seems to split into three distinct themes, reflecting Satan's three faces in Dante's Inferno.

Arranged and produced by Phil Justin.

Liszt: Dante Sonata for Orchestra

Been wanting to write a chamber piece recently, so I wrote a sextet for piano, two violins, viola, cello and contrabass. It's pretty morose, but hey, such is life sometimes :D And isn’t alot of chamber music morose and dismal anyway? ;)

Enjoy!!

Done in Sibelius 8 with Note Performer strings and Alicia Keys piano. Composed, arranged and produced by Phil Justin. ©2025

#classicalmusic #composition #soundtrack

Imaginary Friends: Sextet for Piano and Strings in A minor

Ludwig van Beethoven's Piano Sonata No. 23 in F minor, Op. 57 (colloquially known as the Appassionata, meaning "passionate" in Italian) is among the three famous piano sonatas of his middle period (the others being the Waldstein, Op. 53 and Les Adieux, Op. 81a); it was composed during 1804 and 1805, and perhaps 1806, and Beethoven dedicated it to cellist and his friend, Count Franz Brunswick [de]. The first edition was published in February 1807 in Vienna.
Unlike the early Sonata No. 8, Pathétique, the Appassionata was not named during the composer's lifetime, but was so labelled in 1838 by the publisher of a four-hand arrangement of the work. Instead, Beethoven's autograph manuscript of the sonata has "La Pasionata" written on the cover, in Beethoven's hand.
One of his greatest and most technically challenging piano sonatas, the Appassionata was considered by Beethoven to be his most tempestuous piano sonata until the twenty-ninth piano sonata (known as the Hammerklavier). 1803 was the year Beethoven came to grips with the irreversibility of his progressive hearing loss.

Allegro assai

A sonata-allegro form in 12/8 time, the first movement progresses quickly through startling changes in tone and dynamics, and is characterised by an economic use of themes.

The main theme, in octaves, is quiet and ominous. It consists of a down-and-up arpeggio in dotted rhythm that cadences on the tonicized dominant, immediately repeated a semitone higher (in G♭). This use of the Neapolitan chord (i.e. the flattened supertonic) is an important structural element in the work, also being the basis of the main theme of the finale.

As in Beethoven's Waldstein sonata, the coda is unusually long, containing quasi-improvisational arpeggios which span most of the early 19th-century piano's range. The choice of F minor becomes very clear when one realises that this movement makes frequent use of the deep, dark tone of the lowest F1 on the piano, which was the lowest note available to Beethoven at the time.

Arranged, orchestrated and produced by Phil Justin. ©2025

Beethoven: Appassionata Sonata for Orchestra

Dreamy piano andante in F major.

Composed, performed and produced by Phil Justin

#elohim #pianosolo #sibelius

Elohim

Remastered Version of a project I did with Malaysian soprano singer Jamie Ong several years back. Vocals and lyrics in Mandarin Chinese. Enjoy!

Lyrics:

我虽然被遗弃在废墟之中
wo sui ran bei yi qi zai fei xu zhi zhong
Even though I was casted out into the ruins, abondoned,

但庆幸我自己还知道痛
dan qing xing wo zi ji hai zhi dao tong
I'm glad I can still feel the pain...

有人说过: "美丽的爱就像玫瑰
you ren shuo guo:"mei li de ai jiu xiang mei gui
It has been said, "Love can be compared to roses;

有多少人被玫瑰弄到流血都说不痛"
you duo shao ren bei mei gui ci dao liu xie dou shuo bu tong"
How many have been pierced and hurt, but claim it wasn't painful?"

爱的信徒啊
ai de xin tu a
To the believers of Love,

若你真的幸福了
ruo ni zhen de xing fu le
If you are truly blessed,

怎会三更半夜不睡觉
zen hui san jing ban ye bu shui jiao
Why are you still lying wide awake late at night?

编导幸福的剧情
bian dao xing fu de ju qing
Painting the facades of happiness...

演绎不同角色的对白?
yan yi bu tong jue se de dui bai?
Playing out the different images in your mind...

要用什么来衡量爱的价值?
yao yong shen me lai heng liang ai de jia zhi?
What do we use to measure Love's value?

不被爱的爱方显珍贵?
bu bei ai de ai fang xian zhen gui?
Is the one who hasn't had his love reciprocated more valuable?

有人说过: "美丽的爱是场误会
you ren shuo guo: "mei li de ai shi chang wu hui
Someone once said, "Beautiful love is often a misunderstanding.

很多时候被你仰慕的只是虚构人物"
hen duo shi hou bei ni yang mu de zhi shi xu gou ren wu"
The person you adore is actually fictional characters we created in our minds"

爱的信徒啊
ai de xin tu a
Believers of Love...

如果你的爱对了
ru guo ni de ai dui le
If your love is right,

他有一般人没有的能力
ta you yi ban ren mei you de neng li
They would have superpower others won't have

发现你的坚强有缝隙
fa xian ni de jian qiang you feng xi
To discover the cracks embedded beneath the strong self you project

会用安心填补上去。
hui yong an xin tian bu shang qu
And patch it up with the peace of mind they give.

一个正常的人不会忍心
yi ge zheng chang de ren bu hui ren xin
A sane person would not bear to

让自己的心被爱虐待
rang zi ji de xin bei ai nue dai
Relinquish his heart to Love's hurt,

爱若对了就没有独白:
ai ruo dui le jiu mei you du bai:
Because when Love is right, there is no more need for monologues;

"别怀疑"
"bie huai yi"
It chases away all doubts.

Vocals, lyrics and melody: Jamie Ong
Arranged, orchestrated and produced by Phil Justin

In the Ruins (Zai Fei Xu Zhi Zhong)

Beethoven: Moonlight Sonata Op. 27 No. 2 First Movement for 2 Harps and Orchestra (arr. by Phil Justin)

The Piano Sonata No. 14 in C-sharp minor, marked Quasi una fantasia, Op. 27, No. 2, is a piano sonata by Ludwig van Beethoven. It was completed in 1801 and dedicated in 1802 to his pupil Countess Julie "Giulietta" Guicciardi.[b] The name Moonlight Sonata (German: Mondscheinsonate) grew popular later, likely after Beethoven's death.
The piece is one of Beethoven's most popular compositions for the piano, and it was a popular favourite even in his own day.[1] Beethoven wrote the Moonlight Sonata in his early thirties, after he had finished with some commissioned work; there is no evidence that he was commissioned to write this sonata.

The first movement,[c] in C♯ minor and alla breve, is written in modified sonata-allegro form.[24] Donald Francis Tovey warned players of this movement to avoid "taking [it] on a quaver standard like a slow 128".[19]
The movement opens with an octave in the left hand and a triplet figuration in the right. A melody that Hector Berlioz called a "lamentation",[citation needed] mostly by the left hand, is played against an accompanying ostinato triplet rhythm, simultaneously played by the right hand. The movement is played pianissimo (pp) or "very quietly", and the loudest it gets is piano (p) or "quietly".
The adagio sostenuto tempo has made a powerful impression on many listeners; for instance, Berlioz commented that it "is one of those poems that human language does not know how to qualify".[25] Beethoven's student Carl Czerny called it "a nocturnal scene, in which a mournful ghostly voice sounds from the distance".[1] The movement was very popular in Beethoven's day, to the point of exasperating the composer himself, who remarked to Czerny, "Surely I've written better things".[26][27]
In his book Beethoven's pianoforte sonatas,[28] the renowned pianist Edwin Fischer suggests that this movement of this sonata is based on Mozart's "Ah Soccorso! Son Tradito" of his opera Don Giovanni, which comes just after the Commendatore’s murder. He claims to have found, in the archives of the Wiener Musikverein, a sketch in Beethoven's handwriting of a few lines of Mozart's music (which bears the same characteristic triplet figuration) transposed to C♯ minor, the key of the sonata. "In any case, there is no romantic moon-light in this movement: it is rather a solemn dirge", writes Fischer.

Arranged and produced by Phil Justin. Scored in Sibelius 8 and NotePerformer 5. Mastered in Adobe Audition.

This is the 2.0 version. The score needed a bunch of touch ups, and the harp parts needed some more arrangements between the two harps for better flow and performance. The mix and master itself needed a bunch of work and needed to be better equalized, using Sonible Smart EQ 4.


Beethoven: Moonlight Sonata Op. 27 No. 2 First Movement for Orchestra (arr. by Phil Justin)

SugarFunk Avalanche is actually a sketch I wound up junking ages ago, but blew off the dust and turned it into this. This song actually isn’t on the next album, but will be on the following project. Of course I say that while I'm deciding if I want to use it in this project :D

A lot of songs I’ve been working on for the current album just started taking on a life of their own and mutated into something far different than the electronica project I’ve been working on this year. The following project after this electronica one will be alot more like this tune; crazy funk metal jazz blues stuff with alot of bass, guitars and drum kits. 

Every piece I compose always evolves into some unknown territory, you NEVER know where things are going to end up; they always write themselves. So you’re getting a taste of the future here; probably a 2026 album. Albeit the RETRO FUTURE, since I already see this project pulling a lot from the 60’s through the 80’s in terms of influence, especially in the metal and funk genres.

I was aiming for 16 tracks for the electronica album (12 done and uploaded so far), I wound up with about 30. Many of those will spill over into the next project.

Composed, performed, arranged and produced by Phil Justin ©2025

SugarFunk Avalanche

Sinfonia, from the Desert; Opus 323 (now 2nd movement)

Shatter the Matrix is one of the projects of composer Phil Justin, mostly high octane electronica music pulling from Goa trance, psytrance, world music, metal, funk, industrial, EDM, jazz as well as a ton of cinematic and orchestral colors. No real way to describe it except influences draw all the way from Infected Mushroom, Shpongle and Juno Reactor to John Williams, Danny Elfman and Bjork. With everything in between. Always a fun ride if you like busy and colorful music. Enjoy!!!