Quick Study competitors; Joseph Stoller and class winner Rahil Anees |
The ensemble is everything! |
Finishing off the afternoon, we had another great choir class, this time for Choirs from school Years 7-11. Perhaps it's just the age of the performers in this particular class, but I felt that, although the sounds that each choir produced were wonderful, there was a bit of a lack of enthusiasm for what they were doing! A smile would have been nice at the very least! That's not to say that their performances were not good; far from it, but I think there's an important lesson for young performers here. You need to commit whole-heartedly to your performance, even if you think what you are doing is a bit silly - for example, some of the performances utilised actions/choreography, which can look great and really enhance a performance.... if you give 100% while doing it! If you look embarrassed, then the audience tends to feel a bit embarrassed for you, but if you go at it with full attack, then it comes across brilliantly, and everyone will enjoy the added performance element. One group I thought delivered what I was personally looking for, was the Guernsey Music Centre Intermediate Choir, particularly in their second number, 'Double Trouble' (a song from the Harry Potter films). This group had excellent facial expressions, and the right kind of body posture to sell the number. Steven, however, awarded the trophy to Schola Contorum of Blanchelande College, who did perform with a lovely choral sound, excellent harmonies, and enthusiastically lead by their conductor Neil Houston. I hope to see more from these choirs in the future, and I hope they all just loosen up a little bit, and not take themselves so seriously!
The Monday evening session started, as it usually does, with the Composition Classes, Under 18 (school entry) and Over 18. Each adjudicator has a completely different way of adjudicating the class. This year, Steven chose to play each piece (as the competitors must provide a recording), and then talk about the piece directly to the composer - I like this approach, as it gave the audience a chance to hear the piece (even if that means in MIDI format), and then there's context for his thoughts and critiques for the piece. He also stated that, "my opinion is only my opinion, and it's entirely subjective", just reiterating that he was there to pick a winner, but at the end of the day, his opinion doesn't really have anything to do with whether the piece is successful or not - that's down to the composer and the reason it was written! The Under 18s class fielded 6 composers, all from St Sampson's High, as part of the GCSE music class. Steven made a point of saying that he, as a teacher, would be very pleased to have this level of composition present in his class. And I agree! The level of composition in this class was wonderful to see, as well as the variety from each composer. We had everything from epic rock instrumentals (from Harry Esteves), to a beautiful singer-songwriter ballad (from Valerie Ryan), through to more fully orchestrated pieces (from Hannah Bourgaize and Caitlin De La Mare, who incidentally is the composer with the creepy woodblock that freaked Steven out so much), and finally music which would not be out of place in TV or Film (from Harry Reade and Alex Kaill). I was particularly fond of Harry Esteves rock piece, 'Rocquaine Roll', which I thought had amazing drive and and excellent understanding of the genre - but I agree with Steven, it needs vocals now! High standards in this class, with everyone receiving either Highly Commended or Distinction, and the winning piece being Harry Reade's 'Probe the Suspects', which, I think everyone who heard it will agree, had a definite essence of a thriller or TV cop-show. Well done all, and well done the music department at St Sampson's High - some fine composition work being written here! We then moved on to the Over 18s section, which technically had 7 competitors, although one was talked about at the end of the evening (which you will see why at the end of the blog), and the other 6 entries were actually written by 3 competitors, 2 a-piece for Elizabeth Beacom, Steve Richer, and myself. A really high standard of writing here, with a variety of styles being presented. Elizabeth's work, which is currently making up part of her compositional portfolio for university, showcases much more '20th Century' techniques (the likes of Serialism), which is an acquired taste, but if you know anything about composition you'll hear that she does them very well, which Steven was complimentary about. Steve Richer's pieces, I thought, were beautiful; his 'Meditation on Hymn Tune 'Michael'" for Cello and Piano is achingly haunting, and very much the style of composition I love to listen to. His choral work 'First Light' immediately grabbed me, and I thought instantly that this was a piece that The Accidentals should have a go at (and trust me, I've already asked Steve for a copy of it!) Steven Roberts said of this choral piece that it was very accessible with excellent choral writing. Coming to my pieces, which included a Male Voice choir piece 'Invictus' (setting of the William Morris poem), and a SATB choir piece 'Your Words Give Light' (setting of Psalm 119), Steven's general comments were that my text setting is confident, and I use rich vocal colours in my writing of the voices. He also said my psalm setting was reminiscent of the composer Lauridsen (who I've actually never heard of, but will now look up!) - Elizabeth and myself received Distinctions for our pieces, with my Psalm 119 coming in 3rd, whilst unsurprisingly to me, Steve Richer came in 2nd with his 'Meditation on a Hymn' (also with Distinction) and also won the class with his piece 'First Light' with an Outstanding mark of 93. Truly well done Steve, I look forward to performing it soon!
Continuing on with the evening, I had about a minute or two to breathe before taking part in the Piano Solo; Film/TV Music Over 18 class. Three vastly different performances; John Morris with ragtime, myself with a lilting emotional ballad, and Jenna Sweelyn Kok Shun in her first ever performance, with the 'Wouldn't it be Lovely?' from My Fair Lady. Steven Roberts came down to adjudicate the class quite giddy with excitement it would seem, stating "I'm just loving the classes at this festival!" - I think he's a big fan of film music! I'd like to praise Jenna for her first ever Eisteddfod performance, and I thought (as did Steven) that she played the piece well with a lovely feel for the theme, earning her a Highly Commended. Myself and John Morris received Distinctions, with John just pipping me to the trophy with 88 marks. Next up we had several vocal classes; Vocal Senior Music Making, followed by the French Song Over 18, and I'll skip ahead a little bit to the Vocal Class Superieure Over 18 as well. Some fine singing in each of these classes, with a particular highlight for me being Lindsey Veillard's 'Elegie' by Gabriel Faure, which she performed with suitable drama and mournfulness. I said to Lindsey, it sounded like the kind of song you would hear at the end of an Opera, right before the main character decides to throw themselves off a bridge because they've lost their love... in a good way! Lindsey went on to win the French Song with 85 marks, along with Linda Fermont winning the Vocal Senior Music Making with 84 marks, and Joan Le Flem winning the Classe Superieure with 85 marks also.
To finish off - two ensemble classes; the Brass Ensemble Open featuring 'Thrown Together Brass' who won their class with a Highly Commended, and the Folk Song Groups Over 18 which had only one competitor in Maree Migniet. Now, getting back to earlier in the blog, you may remember I mentioned a 7th composition in the Over 18s composition class. It turns out, the piece that was submitted was in fact written by Maree Migniet, which is a folk group from Alderney! They wrote the piece as a collaboration, setting a poem. Once this was explained at the beginning of their Folk Song performance, it all made a bit more sense (at least for Steven it did!). He went on to adjudicate both their live performance, and the composition, stating that he liked their confidence, and how they transported him to a small pub somewhere where they might ask the audience to join them. He also said of the composition, 'Midnight Tides' that it had a lovely melody, which had a certain sense of familiarity about it, which is a positive in this style of music. He also enjoyed the incorporation of spoken word into the composed piece, to great effect. Maree Migniet recieved Highly Commended for both their composition and their performance, taking home the 'Margaret Laws Cup' for Folk Song Groups.
A shorter day, but no less jam-packed with music making, and in particular, music writing. As a composer, I love seeing how many people are writing new music, and in particular seeing that such great work is being written by young composers, and female composers as well! We clearly have an amazing ability to produce music here in Guernsey, and not just in replicating other people's work - we're clearly capable of writing our own as well, and long may that continue!
Winner of the O18 Composition class for 2019, Steve Richer, awarded an amazing 93 marks for his piece, 'First Light' |
Hello! Is there any way to get a copy of "Past to Present" by "Marée Migniet"?
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