[Arrangement] Chocobo Theme and 6 Variations for Flute Quartet

This is my arrangement of Nobuo Uematsu's "Chocobo Theme" from the game, "Final Fantasy," for 4 flutes. I also create 6 variations on the theme.
Timestamp
00:00 - Theme
1:18 - Variation 1 - Slow Waltz
3:36 - Variation 2 - Allegro con Spirito
4:56 - Variation 3 - in 6/8
7:02 - Variation 4 - Dissonance
8:12 - Variation 5 - Slow and Chromatic
10:46 - Variation 6 - Finale; Chorale in 5/4
Hope you enjoy this arrangement.

[@supasayajinsongoku4464]

Wow, each variation holds true to the nature of the theme. This quality is incredibly rare to see on youtube in my opinion. I have a few questions:
Have you gone to Music school before?
What books do you use to study composition?

[@OphatTaerattanachai]

English is not my native language, so the following answers may be quite difficult to understand, or misleading. But I'm trying my best to deliver my best answer for each question.
Q: Have you gone to Music school before?
A: I am a self-taught composer, arranger, singer, and musician until 2014 when I got into the music conservatory for my Master's degree in music composition. I graduated in 2018. (FYI, my bachelor's degree is in law.)
Q: What books do you use to study composition?
A: That is quite a hard question to answer. I read a lot of books, but none was specifically about composition. Instead, I like to listen to various music and analyze them by looking at the score (if possible), trying to find out how they work, or reading articles about their concepts or techniques. As I'm a self-taught composer for more than half of my life, I like to do and try many things myself. And that also comes to my compositional approach.
Moreover, music theories are, in my opinion, the best instruments to understand and dissect music in various categories. So, I always encourage music students to learn more theories, not for what they are, but for how to use them to obtain their ideas, concepts, perceptions, or techniques.
And since late 2019, I have been occasionally giving lectures in music theory classes at the local university in my hometown. But they are more like a hobby as well as composing, and studying in music. That's why I'm so slow in composition. I don't have much free time.
I hope that my answer can clear up your curiosity. I'm trying to keep it short. But feel free to ask if it is something that I can answer.
P.S. I have another variation piece on my channel. I don't know if you have already listened to that. It is "15 Variations on the Theme of 'Toei-Khong'" for Piano. The theme is the traditional music around the region of my hometown. And each variation is after different piece from different composer in western music history. (I recommend trying to figure out the piece and the composer before reading the answer in its description.) I would like to hear your opinions about it, if you please. Thank you. :D

[@supasayajinsongoku4464]

@@OphatTaerattanachai so youve never read about counterpoint and music theory???

[@OphatTaerattanachai]

@@supasayajinsongoku4464 No. I have read a lot of them. I also give a lecture on Counterpoint, Music Theory, and Musical Form and Analysis at the university. Here are some recommendations, which I always use as the reference for my lecture.
- Tonal Harmony with an Introdution to Twentieth-Century Music by Stefan Kostka and Dorothy Payne
- Harmony in Context by Miguel A. Roig-Francoli
- Harmonic Practice in Tonal Picture by Rober Gauldin
There are more of them, but these are the good starting points to get into music theory and harmony. Also, some are in Thai language that I always recommend for my students to buy and read. They are easier to understand for them because they are in my native language.