Members Vote

[Kevin]

Here you can listen to the entries and register one vote for your favorite. You will only be allowed one vote and I will release the result of the vote when the adjudication comes in.

https%3A//soundcloud.com/kr1954/journey-to-the-somme

https%3A//soundcloud.com/kr1954/in-memorium

https%3A//soundcloud.com/kr1954/symphony-for-strings

https%3A//soundcloud.com/kr1954/the-unreturningnname

https%3A//soundcloud.com/kr1954/war

https%3A//soundcloud.com/kr1954/a-soldiers-dreams

https%3A//soundcloud.com/kr1954/pursuit-of-peace

Thanks to the composers for their hard work.

[Deleted]

Voted..

[Kevin]

Many thanks for taking the time Andrew, hope you enjoyed the music.

[Joseph]

Kevin, by any chance did you use the Note Performer software to create the audio files?

[Joseph]

I don't want to bias anyone here but from a Rorschach perspective I think extra credit needs to go to the composer who managed to get the last 1/3 of the audio file waveform to look like a Spitfire (or some other period single prop airplane) . . .  

[Kevin]

Oct 1, 2013 20:39:07 GMT Joseph said:

Kevin, by any chance did you use the Note Performer software to create the audio files?

Yes I did Joe.

[Joseph]

I think I must be slow of sense that comes with old age but I cannot see how folks could have voted so quickly! Unless of course just being dependent on first impressions. I have listened to each entry at least twice, some up to four times. Maybe it would have been easier if I had a rubric of some sort. As I try to be completely and totally fair to each entrant I feel I will need to listen as much again, especially to the ones that did not immediately grab me. A lot of hard work has gone into the music presented and all of it has something to offer; IMHO. I hope the judges have guidelines to work with otherwise I fear a just decision will not prevail.

Slow Joe

[Kevin]

I was thinking that as well Joe. The judges are highly professional people and I did not feel the need to provide guidelines.

[adrianallan]

Can I suggest, maybe too late, that kevin posts the programme notes for those who provided them

I agree that it is a difficult task to vote, and notes will explain the composers intentions.

[Kevin]

As requested here are the programme notes that were attached to some of the scores.

Journey to the Somme

Programme Note:
In 1913, a young composer sets words by A E Housman, then recasts this as A Shropshire Lad Rhapsody.
Three years later, he is mired in a bloody battle, carrying around with him his music in his head, like
soldiers carrying the poetry of Housman in their breast-pockets.
He tries to make sense of where he is, and where he has come from. He cannot let go of the quiet
imagined sounds of the quintessential nostalgia even in the unrelenting cacophony of the situation.
Sounds and memories of a hymn disrupt and try to give hope, but are twisted and distorted as they seek
to assert themselves.
All the while though, the idyll will not be silenced and against all the odds drowns out the hell on earth.
At the end, the sounds of war are subsumed by the sounds of A Shropshire Lad, giving him the courage to
go on and meet his fate.
George Butterworth MC was born in London in 1885 and died 5th August 1916 at the Battle of the
Somme

The Unreturning

The Unreturning is a short symphonic poem for strings which evokes the styles of the Edwardian age and tragic events of the First World War. It is broadly structured in three contrasting sections, each of which convey a different aspect of the war.

After a short violin solo in G major, the mood is rudely interrupted by a passage that reflects a general sense of foreboding and unease; a hint of what is to come. The piece then moves into a gentle waltz which conveys the settled nature of life before the war, developing the lighthearted G major violin melody heard at the very beginning of the piece.

After some transitional passages, the music moves into a march theme played by the violas, which gradually builds into a sense of triumphalism and optimism in E major. These hopes gradually turn sour in a passage that eventually culminates in the main war theme, Adagio Solemne in C minor. The main theme, at the end of the symphonic poem, conveys full blown tragedy; it is an impassioned statement that leaves the listener with no doubt about the futility of the Great War.

A Soldiers Dreams

Synopsis
1. It begins with the sons' dreams of going to war, as expected of them at that time,
and the saddening dialogue with their mothers, before they eventually enlist.
Having joyfully been paraded through the towns and villages, they are then
transformed into soldiers, with very little training, and suddenly thrust into
the horrific situation of having to kill, or be killed, defending their country.
2. Having been ordered to climb out of the trenches and fight, they suddenly
and unexpectedly find themselves in a mesmerising and trance - like state,
seeing bodies falling and lying around them, dead and dying alike, until they
themselves, receive the wound that will eventually kill them.
3. Lying wounded and dying, the only dreams left, are of mothers and fathers,
wives and children, friends and lovers, before they make peace with their maker.
May these soldiers never, ever, be forgotten.
This is my portrayal of a select series of events
during the early stages of World War I.
There is no break between parts 1 & 2

War

My friend, you would not tell with such high zest
To children ardent for some desperate glory,
The old Lie; Dulce et Decorum est
Pro patria mori.
Wilfred Owen.
ABOUT THIS PIECE
The opening theme sad and introspective announces the futility of war
as we look back and remember.
From bar 22 we look back and visit possible scenes from the great War.
At bar 23 solo Violin & cello duet in optimistic mood of the War effort, as the
propaganda machine is in full motion to promote recruitment.
At letter C we are on the way to war and coming to terms with the realities.
The Cello & Violin at letter D tell of their fears and longing for home. It builds to
a climax at bar 125
At letter F the horrors of war commence. Brutal, chaotic and discordant
At letter I we have the aftermath of battle. Introspective interchanges between
Cello & Violin speak of a world that has changed for ever.
At bar 242 a Hymn to the Glorius Dead.
At M we return to the refective present.
At O the Solo Violins resolute statement that history should never repeat such
atrocities again.

[Kevin]

Well someone is listening to these, 277 plays so far!

[ceg]

Hi Kevin,

Can you say what the restriction are on the pieces we've submitted to the competition, both before and after the judging process? What can we do with them? What can't we do with them?

Thanks

Charles

[Kevin]

Hi Charles,

Can you sit on them until the whole process is complete. I understand that K&S might be publishing the winner (if not others as well) so that will answer that question.

[Kevin]

After the email shot we had just one more member voting and we now have a three way tie!

[larapoe]

Oh wow, that's exciting! Well, how many votes are you hoping to get in the end? I see there are now 12.

[Kevin]

It would be nice to get as many votes as possible.

[Kevin]

Well we have had 13 voters and we have three scores tying and one coming up on the rails. So make sure to cast your vote carefully!

[Kevin]

Latest news about the members votes.

3 scores tying still for first place
2 scores tying for second
2 scores for third

Come on if you have not voted yet! I think that the next few voters could split things a bit.

[allanh]

Good to see that all the scores have at least 1 vote. No 'nil pois' in this competition.

[Kevin]

Update to the voting:

Two judges sent in their adjudication, one with in depth comments. One to come

Members vote is still very tight with not much change since the last update.

I will close the member vote one the last judge has sent in their report.

There is just 4 votes splitting top and bottom at the moment, quite tense now!

[larapoe]

Will we be able to see the comments that are relevant to our own pieces (for those of us who submitted works)? Thanks for the update!

[Kevin]

Absolutely Lara! The comments will be there for everyone to view.