[Elfsea] Music Competition

[Levine, Daniel S]

Dear Alessandro,

Hopefully you recall meeting me at the SCA demo at Arlington Public Library on Halloween day.  I have one piece (a setting of a Latin period drinking song called Meum est propositum) that I could submit for your music competition.  But I am writing about something else.  Baroness Druinne of Elfsea has recruited me to organize some singers (including her and the Baron and their daughter and me, and at least one other lady) to sing for the Steppes Twelfth Night.  Some of us met tonight at the Elfsea Moot-cum-holiday party and settled on the 3-part song called Green Groweth the Holly that was composed by Henry VIII.  We would like to do this in honor of (1) His Majesty who sings, (2) the outcoming Steppes Baroness, and (3) the Shakespearean theme of the event.  Are you planning to go to Twelfth Night, and would you be interested in joining the group of singers?  I hope you can join us.

Yours,

Daniel de Tankard (Dan Levine)
Bard of Elfsea
levine at uta.edu<mailto:levine at uta.edu>
________________________________
From: elfsea-bounces+levine=uta.edu at lists.ansteorra.org [elfsea-bounces+levine=uta.edu at lists.ansteorra.org] On Behalf Of Jeffrey Clark [jmclark85 at gmail.com]
Sent: Monday, November 02, 2009 1:00 PM
To: elfsea at lists.ansteorra.org; Steppes at lists.ansteorra.org
Subject: [Elfsea] Music Competition

Greetings to the good gentles of Ansteorra!


I am hosting a music competition in a format inspired by a wonderful laurel who's name--most unfortunately--escapes me. Hopefully--if there is enough interest--I will keep running this competition indefinitely every so often (every 3-5 months).

 The particulars of the competition are as follows:

1. Entires must be composed with an effort towards emulating a period style

2. There are no restrictions on instrumentation, and entries may either be instrumental or vocal (or a combination thereof), and may contain as many as 8 parts

3. Entries may be submitted by email or through snailmail. There is no requirement that they be put in period notation (though I do read most forms of period notation)

4. Entires can be handwritten, or may be produced digitally; if produced digitally they must be submitted in a non-proprietary format (.pdf .png .bmp .gif and midi files are all acceptable). The only exception to this rule is .sib files. I love you all, but I can't judge something I can't open on my computer!

5. Documentation is not required; however, giving me something that documents your sources, inspiration, and creative process will help me provide better feedback

6. I will accept multiple entries from a particular person; however only one must be designated as an actual "competitive" entry. All others will receive my attention and I will provide feedback on them.

7. The deadline for entries is December 31st

8. Judging will be announced on the Ansteorra list sometime in January (depending on exactly how many entries I receive), this competition is not tied to any event, and will be entirely conducted online.


Now, for the good part:

1. After the deadline I will review all entires; I am a musicologist and am formally trained in historical performance practice. I promise that I will give detailed feedback on all entires, and will do all I can to make my feedback as practical and useful as I can.

2. I will pick what I consider to be the three best entires (judged on a holstic concept of period sound, the composer's adventurousness withing the period aesthetic, and the general musicality of the work) as the "finalists" of the competition. I will record these three entires (I am a professional--conservatory trained--recorder player, and have also been trained as a countertenor), put them on a CD and send a copy of the CD to the finalists. I will also engrave the music in Sibelius and send copies of the music along with the CD (multipart works are not a problem, I have all the equipment I need to record the parts track by track and then combine them).

3. With permission, I would like to make the recordings of the music available publicly (via youtube or some other means); nothing will be announced, commented on, or displayed without the composer's permission

4. If I am able to keep the competition running through several iterations, I would like to compile a book of submitted compositions and publish it within the society.


My main goal for this competition is to further music within the kingdom and provide aspiring musicians with a level of feedback and an arena in which to experiment and to express their art in a way that is generally unavailable in regular A&S competitions.

I would like to encourage those who have never tired creating a period composition, or who have never tried composing before to submit something. Composers of every skill and style are welcome, I will not turn down any serious entry; and anything I sent to me will receive feedback.


Along with this competition, I will attempt to teach classes weekly (or as close to weekly) in Steppes and Elfsea on period composition, period musicianship, along with a random smattering of general trivia about period music in general. I will announce the classes once times and dates for them are set. As things get going, I may choose to start theming the competitions a little.


I look forward to seeing what everyone comes up with!


In service,
Alessandro Zorzi
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