FALL 2020 COMPETITION ANNOUNCEMENT

One question though, does it have to be in that exact key? Or can it be transposed to annother key?

8 hours ago, zhenkang said:

One question though, does it have to be in that exact key? Or can it be transposed to annother key?

 

I personally think it would be fine to transpose the fragment into a different key, as long as the interval relationships remain exactly the same. But others may want to chime in.

15 minutes ago, Noah Brode said:

I personally think it would be fine to transpose the fragment into a different key, as long as the interval relationships remain exactly the same. But others may want to chime in.

I think as long as it is recognizable as the theme, it should be fine. That being said, I would caution anyone against being too liberal with their creativity. I can't adequately judge your ability to use the theme if I can't find it in your submission!

Ii suspect that "radical" transformations of the melody wouldn't be understood, or allowed. 

30 minutes ago, Luis Hernández said:

Ii suspect that "radical" transformations of the melody wouldn't be understood, or allowed. 

 

But is it okay to assume that inversion, retrograde, augmentation, diminution and fragmentation of the theme will be recognizable as such?  EDIT:  I forgot about sequencing of the fragments of the theme...

8 minutes ago, PaperComposer said:

But is it okay to assume that inversion, retrograde, augmentation, diminution and fragmentation of the theme will be recognizable as such?  EDIT:  I forgot about sequencing of the fragments of the theme...

Yes, I was sure about that because it's the classic way to transform a melody.

But what about taking it as the hexatonic scale that draws the melody, and use it as a mode, building up chords and harmony from that scale only?

What about using it as a Pitch Class Set (0,2,4,5,7,9)?

What about extracting the rhythmic pattern of the melody and work with it, not with the "melody" itself?

What I mean, is to take some feature of the melody and develop an entire piece from it, regardless the melody is easily heard or non at all. No one knows what was the original melody in the Enigma Variations!

I'm afraid these options go too far and would make the melody "lost".

What about using diatonic rather than chromatic transposition of the theme or inversion of the theme to make it fit within a key?

My opinion is this: you can do whatever you want with the theme as long as you explain what you did in writing along with your submission.

So you took the theme, converted it to 15/8 time, and transposed every third note up by a diminished 5th? That's fine, the judges will just need to know that (and it probably wouldn't hurt to explain why you felt compelled to do that).

Keep in mind that this is a competition, not a freestanding grade. Variations that are obscure, excessively complex, or otherwise unconvincing will not fare well against submissions that feature clear and easily-defined variations. Creativity is key, of course, but don't forget about limits; creativity has to have those, too.

I would like to enter as an entrant

16 hours ago, Leonardo C. Núñez said:

I would like to enter as an entrant

 

😥😩😩

I'll enter as an entrant

5 hours ago, Left Unexplained said:

😥😩😩

 

Please, don’t worry lol, last time was just luck

5 minutes ago, Leonardo C. Núñez said:

Please, don’t worry lol, last time was just luck

 

ya lucky I only got 2nd now ThatGuy is in the mix??

I already completed my piece. So I'll be an entrant.

I don't know about anybody else but I'm nowhere near done with my piece... 😬  I'm still in the sketch phase of writing it... I don't know if I'll finish in time for the deadline which is 2 weeks from today...

46 minutes ago, PaperComposer said:

I don't know about anybody else but I'm nowhere near done with my piece... 😬  I'm still in the sketch phase of writing it... I don't know if I'll finish in time for the deadline which is 2 weeks from today...

 

Same here, the start on composing my orchestral suite has made me not even think of the melody for this competition. I don't know if I will finish it in time.

So the submission deadline for entrants is Friday, December 4, 11:59 PST which is a week from today!  🤐  We have @Tónskáld signed up as a judge and @Ivan1791 as a back-up judge and currently are also missing a coordinator that will accept the entrants' submissions and post them in the forums anonymously for everyone to judge and pick their favorites!  Also - it would be great if somebody could volunteer to message all the entrants and remind them about the deadline as I don't think all of them regularly visit the site and will likely forget the deadline is very soon!

Doesn't look like there is much interest in the competition ... ???

8 hours ago, PaperComposer said:

Doesn't look like there is much interest in the competition ... ???

 

It has happened in the past, some times. Now is even harder to put all the pieces in order because of the double judgment (popular and judges).

I like this challenges, and I entered in other editions as participant or as a judge. But this time I don't feel any attraction to the approach. I'm afraid the results will be a sort of variations on a theme (which is supposed not to do). I don't share the concept of variation (or deviation from the theme) proposed here.

On the other hand, being judge requires some experience in a lot of styles.

Hi, could I request an extension in the submission deadline? I'm really sorry, I just need a couple more days

21 minutes ago, Luis Hernández said:

It has happened in the past, some times. Now is even harder to put all the pieces in order because of the double judgment (popular and judges).

I like this challenges, and I entered in other editions as participant or as a judge. But this time I don't feel any attraction to the approach. I'm afraid he results will be a sort of variations on a theme (which is supposed not to do). I don't share the concept of variation (or deviation from the theme) proposed here.

On the other hand, being judge requires some experience in a lot of styles.

 

And yea, I agree with Luis. The theme chosen is very limiting and kinda forces people to go down the conventional theme and variations approach.

I'm not the moderator of this thread, but I am certainly not opposed to extending the deadline by a week. This would give a new deadline of 12/11 @ 11:59 PST.

I also propose to remove the judging component of this competition, and just let it be by popular vote. I'm happy to remain an official "reviewer" and will compile my comments on the pieces as I receive them, but they will not be scored.

If you've committed to this competition, please let me know your thoughts on my proposals above.

 @Bradley Scarff

@Left Unexplained

@caters

@PaperComposer

@Joshua Ng

@Hendrik Meniere

@bkho

@Aled Edwards

@Ivan1791

@zhenkang

@Leonardo C. Núñez

@Thatguy v2.0

@luderart

7 hours ago, Joshua Ng said:

And yea, I agree with Luis. The theme chosen is very limiting and kinda forces people to go down the conventional theme and variations approach.

 

But a theme and variations isn't necessary I believe. You can compose a monothematic sonata form for example or some kind of fugue.

Right now I am more worried about entrants forgetting about the deadline (which I wouldn't mind extending a week as per @Joshua Ng's request).  I think the entrants need to receive a PM reminder before the deadline reminding them that it's coming up - I am willing to remind half the entrants if someone else volunteers to do the other half.

1 minute ago, PaperComposer said:

Right now I am more worried about entrants forgetting about the deadline (which I wouldn't mind extending a week as per @Joshua Ng's request).  I think the entrants need to receive a PM reminder before the deadline reminding them that it's coming up - I am willing to remind half the entrants if someone else volunteers to do the other half.

No, I don't think that's necessary. I just tagged all of them in my post, so they'll get a notification that way, at least. Thank you for the suggestion, though!