Arts and Sciences Competition

[Keith Ewing]

You wrote: 
>
>
><Sarcasm alert>
>Well, I for one am so relieved to find that the Music competition will 
be 
>judged at the kingdom A&S by the Crown, who has proven his superior 
>knowledge of things musical by waving a stick.

I prefer to think of it as "swinging" a stick.

>
>May I remind you that the concept of a conductor was not in general 
use in 
>period?
><Sarcasm passed - you may resume normal activities now>
>
>While I do not mind and in fact enjoy playing for the Crown, whom I 
really 
>do respect <no sarcasm here>, I think this bodes very, very ill for 
>musicians.  I, for one, do not care to compete in this fashion.  It 
seems to 
>indicate a general low regard for music and musicians (WE don't want 
to have 
>to listen to them!).  Or perhaps it is an indication that we feel that 
we 
>have nobody qualified to judge music and therefore why bother? I know 
this 
>is not the case, of course; we have some extremely good musicians in 
>Ansteorra.  I am privileged enough to have met and played with some of 
them.
>
>After previous discussions about the perceived unfairness of A&S 
>competitions, I find this a step in the wrong direction.
>
>Who is going to win - the musician who performs a subtle but difficult 
piece 
>unknown to the Crown, or the musician who performs a lively but easy 
dance 
>piece that Their Highnesses have heard and enjoyed previously?  Again, 
no 
>disrespect is meant to the Crown - it is simply human nature to judge 
things 
>outside of one's areas of expertise by a simpler set of criteria.
>
-snip-
>
>Yours in musical service,
>Ld. Samuel Piper
>steveh at austin.wayne.com
>

This is actually a very similar complaint to something that I ranted 
about here approximately two months ago. I was worried about the 
proliferation of judged tournaments being judged by non-fighters. The 
advice that I gave at that time to any judge who was judging something 
that they were unfamiliar with was to consult with experts before 
making your judgement.
I know that when I was King I was asked several times to judge bardic 
or arts & sciences competitions. I did judge those competitions but I 
did so with my friend and adviser Master Cynric at my elbow. It is the 
nature of our Society that royalty and nobility are often asked to 
perform functions that they are not really qualified to do. Good 
nobility or royalty will seek advice before proceeding.

Kein MacEwan

mka Keith Ewing