A & S Competition (Bardic)

[Kat]

>Dia duit!
>
> [Replying to a message of KAT  to All]
>
>Kat,  (to which Kat am I replying, BTW?)

My apologies, Aodhan.  You are replying to HL Katerina Aretino, formerly
of Raven's Fort, recently moved to Twr Cath.

> K> My implication was by no means that period, well performed pieces in
> K> *any* language are undesireable. 
>
>I'm not sure how else I could have read that, unless it was intended as a
>specific slight against Gaelic, which I doubt to be the case.

It was not meant as a slight against any language.

> K> It's all a matter of playing to your
> K> audience.  I would not sing my Gaelic laments to a group of boisterous
> K> drunks around a campfire, for example. 
>
>Why not?

The music wouldn't (most likely) be appreciated.  For a group of boisterous
drunks, I would probably do a loud war song, or maybe a bawdy drinking song,
but not a lament.

> K> But I will sing them for you
> K> one quiet evening under  the stars, in an attempt to recreate the
> K> magic for which we joined this society in the first place.
>
>Uhhmmm...  The reason I joined the Society had nothing to do with any "magic."
>  But I'll listen to good singing (in any language) whenever I can find it.

Don't read *magic* literally.

> K> Hmmmm . . .  Perhaps we (myself included) place too much emphasis on 
> K> competition . . .
>
>When Eimile and I were the KMoAS, the Kingdom Arts & Sciences events were
>displays, not competitions.  It is impossible to objectively judge craft
>pieces, even when you have "experts," which we do not.  And any artisan who
>persues their craft to "win" has their head screwed on backwards.  Yes we need
>feedback from others to help us improve our craft, but this does not require
>that one of us be judged "better" that the others.

I agree completely.

>Feicfidh me' ari's thu',
>
>Aodhan

Kat