fall FALL, 2016: COMPETITION ANNOUNCEMENT

I haven't decided on a theme or instrumentation yet, and I have some questions.

1. Is Edward MacDowell's From a Log Cabin sufficiently well known to the judges for me to use it here? I know it's not obscure, but I just want to make sure it's all right.

2. When I "directly quote" the theme in the opening, does that mean I should just write it out as it appears in the original work? Or am I supposed to strip it down to bare harmonies? (i.e. melody w/chords)

3. If the instrumentation I choose is the same or slightly different to the original, will that affect how my entry is scored? In other words, will the instrumentation of the variations count towards their uniqueness?

@KJthesleepdeprived

1. I think that's fine; remember you have to link your piece in your description anyway, so obscurity isn't a problem really. Sorry if I put too much important on that in the rules; sometimes it just helps.

2. It just needs to be simple. I don't mean directly quoting the harmonies. The theme that you're using just needs to be very clearly defined. I'm just saying simpler harmonies would help do that.

3. No. That would be unfair to people who use more compact instrumentation. 

Hope this helps!

Hi. I am considering to enter this time.Surely I'm not at a high level composer,  but it's quite interesting receiving reviews and comments.

However, I'm working in something that perhaps, doesn't fit in this competition. The theme I've chosen is the beginning of the Preludio from Op. 25 suite for pianoforte by Schönberg. This work has lots of interesting harmonic relationships. Of course, that's not a "cantabile" theme and the approaches are different to make the variations. Well, I'll think about it...

Greetings!

1 hour ago, Luis Hernández said:

However, I'm working in something that perhaps, doesn't fit in this competition.

I'm curious as to why you think that. It certainly fits all the criteria or the competition theme. Personally, I wasn't familiar with it initially, but can definitely see the merits of using it for these purposes. I hope you take this into consideration!

Well, my worries come from the fact that an atonal/dodecaphonic material is not, precisely, something that we remember easily, and consequently it seems unsuitable for writing variations.

However, I'm currently absorbed by 20th century music (not only atonality), and I'm attracted by this idea. I think it can take peculiar proposals and solutions.

So, although I'm "scared" by the high level of the contestants here, I take it as a personal challenge and as a way to learn from you all.

In a word: I'm in.

I'll try to do my best!

Yessss Luis I'm very happy you'll be taking part in this! I'm sure an atonal entry won't be too much for Monarcheon and Gylfi to handle. They're, in the words of the young people of my country, very profesh.

1 hour ago, KJthesleepdeprived said:

I'm sure an atonal entry won't be too much for Monarcheon and Gylfi to handle.

@Luis Hernández Not to worry, Luis. I'm happy you're entering!

Very interesting and tempting competition! However, I have the following observations/corrections:

1) Why have a requirement and deadline to "signal intent for entry"?

On 9/5/2016 at 6:54 PM, Monarcheon said:

DEADLINE:

 

I’m hoping for everything to be done by the holidays, so to give the judges ample time to properly judge these, on average, longer pieces, the deadline for submission will be November the 25th. The deadline to signal intent for entry into the competition will be October the 25th.

What would you have to lose - and not, on the contrary, gain - if on the last day someone submitted a work who you did not know had entered the competition?

2)

On 9/5/2016 at 6:54 PM, Monarcheon said:

SCORING:

1. How clear was it that the entrant followed the basis of theme in each variation? /20
2. How unique was each variation in comparison to both the theme and the preceding variation? /20
3. danishali903 wanted there to be a larger emphasis on orchestration this season. How well did the entrant write for the instruments he/she/they chose? /20
4. How quality is the score? Are all the markings necessary for a successful performance there? Are all the variations and/or coda labeled? /20
5. Is the length practical (or does the piece start sounding monotonous?)? /15
6. How is the quality of the audio? /5

In No. 3 above, there is no need for "/they". You would have had to use "they" if you didn't use "he" or "she". If you add "they", it will only seem as though you are implying a third gender, which I don't believe was your intention. Another possibility would be that you literally mean "they", i.e. that pairs or groups of composers are welcome to submit entries! It is for you to clarify whether that was your intended meaning. If you meant neither of the above, then you should either remove "he/she" or "they"!

In No. 4, you must have meant "how good is the score?"

Regarding Nos. 1 & 2, are there objective criteria to determine this or would it depend on the subjective judgement of the judges? Are the entrants required to provide explanations regarding each variation as to its relationship to the original theme - in case that is not obvious?

In the scoring criteria of both competitions (this and the previous one), there appears to be no percentage score for the "greatness" of the piece or the overall subjective impression of the judge. Since music is largely subjective, I believe that some importance should be given to its subjective impact also.

I would still like to compete, but I was wondering if in my entry, if I could explain my thought process for each variation, or if it would be ideal for the judges to intuitively understand where each variation originates from?

@luderart

47 minutes ago, Jacob Hall said:

I would still like to compete, but I was wondering if in my entry, if I could explain my thought process for each variation, or if it would be ideal for the judges to intuitively understand where each variation originates from?

 

I think we should be able to interpret, as part of music's power to communicate... that sounded overly dramatic, but I hope you know what I mean.

On 9/15/2016 at 1:32 AM, Monarcheon said:

As with all RSVP's, it allows me to know how many people are going in prior to the actual work the judges will have to do. It lets me allot my time better. I'm sorry if you disagree.

I agree. December is going to be a pretty brutal month for me so surprise entries are not appreciated. It doesn't matter if it is six minutes on the dot, in the process of carefully considering any piece there is a certain degree of minimum investment, kind of like how if you call out a taxi to drive you only a single kilometer you still have to pay more than the normal rate per kilometer. It's no problem to speedrun review ~12 pieces in a single day, but if you are doing it well even one piece can well consume the better part of a day. So, you can imagine that if you have planned your reviewing sessions in such a way that you can finish everything on time without it affecting your other duties, an extra piece right on the deadline is going to shave time off other reviews. I don't mean to make it sound like a chore, it is no problem at all to take time away for this, but I think a deadline for entry is a great idea.

1 minute ago, Gylfi said:

I agree. December is going to be a pretty brutal month for me so surprise entries are not appreciated. It doesn't matter if it is six minutes on the dot, in the process of carefully considering any piece there is a certain degree of minimum investment, kind of like how if you call out a taxi to drive you only a single kilometer you still have to pay more than the normal rate per kilometer. It's no problem to speedrun review ~12 pieces in a single day, but if you are doing it well even one piece can well consume the better part of a day. So, you can imagine that if you have planned your reviewing sessions in such a way that you can finish everything on time without it affecting your other duties, an extra piece right on the deadline is going to shave time off other reviews. I don't mean to make it sound like a chore, it is no problem at all to take time away for this, but I think a deadline for entry is a great idea.

 

:) Very good. 

I am in! I might as well say it since I have just finished my piece. I had been working on it for the past week or so. This brings up the following questions:

1) Where and when can I post the piece?

2) Since I have more than a month ahead till the deadline, is participation with an extra submission an option?

7 minutes ago, luderart said:

I am in! I might as well say it since I have just finished my piece. I had been working on it for the past week or so. This brings up the following questions:

1) Where and when can I post the piece?

2) Since I have more than a month ahead till the deadline, is participation with an extra submission an option?

 

Good to know!!

1) I will open the submission thread at the beginning of November, much like last competition.
2) Very good question. No, please stick to one entry. I'll put that in as well.

Thank you in advance for your patience from here!

Hi guys! Count me in as a judge 

12 minutes ago, Sonataform said:

Hi guys! Count me in as a judge 

 

Very well. One more judge spot open (yes, I changed it to four judges, like Danish).

On 9/20/2016 at 3:53 AM, Monarcheon said:

Very well. One more judge spot open (yes, I changed it to four judges, like Danish).

 

Just for clarification, do the judges communicate with each other or do they each independently evaluate, judge and score each submitted piece?

28 minutes ago, luderart said:

Just for clarification, do the judges communicate with each other or do they each independently evaluate, judge and score each submitted piece?

 

We will all score separately. I will compile scores later.

56 minutes ago, Monarcheon said:

We will all score separately. I will compile scores later.

 

I asked this because I believe that it is important that the judges do not influence each other in their opinions and judgements. Otherwise, the judging process wouldn't be really fair in my opinion.

For the record, in the last competition we also judged independently from one another without any influence from the other judges.

3 minutes ago, bkho said:

For the record, in the last competition we also judged independently from one another without any influence from the other judges.

 

That's what I thought.

10 minutes ago, luderart said:

I asked this because I believe that it is important that the judges do not influence each other in their opinions and judgements. Otherwise, the judging process wouldn't be really fair in my opinion.

 

Yes, I understand. We'll do our best to produce the fairest results possible.

I'm not at all content with that response. Where is your sense of human decency Monarch? What about justice? What about equality? What about me having a really high score? Do you even think about these things??? You haven't lifted a single finger to make this competition run smoothly and I am just tired of your excuses.

Consider me gone.

Forever.

I really want to leave my post as is, but I'm never sure if my sense of humor will come across right. So here's a little disclaimer that my post was not serious at all. I'm definitely not out of the competition either.

Just now, KJthesleepdeprived said:

I'm not at all content with that response. Where is your sense of human decency Monarch? What about justice? What about equality? What about me having a really high score? Do you even think about these things??? You haven't lifted a single finger to make this competition run smoothly and I am just tired of your excuses.

Consider me gone.

Forever.

 

 

 

I really want to leave my post as is, but I'm never sure if my sense of humor will come across right. So here's a little disclaimer that my post was not serious at all. I'm definitely not out of the competition either.

 

My eyes latched onto "Consider me gone/Forever" first, rather than the disclaimer or the clearly facetious intro so I was super scared at first looking at your post.

Hi, I used to be a member here a few years ago.  Sorry that I haven't been around but it's nice to see some people I remember (whether they remember me is another story ;) ).  I'd like to enter this, although 25 days to submission will be VERY ambitious.  But even if I don't get it done, at least I'll have gotten something down, which is better than I have done in...far too long.  

I presume it would be all right to write variations on a theme which has already had variations done on it?  I don't mean in the sense of Paganini's theme but rather that the composer of the theme himself wrote variations on it.  

(If you say no, I'll kick myself for having asked, since my variations are well under way...if not in written form, anyway.)