Saturday 2 April 2016

An invitation.

Make a recording of this graphic score on any instrument or sing / recite the text. Translate it if you wish.
Post your link on YouTube etc. in the reply section of the blog.
I shall record your interpretation and make a montage of the results and post it in a months time. If nobody replies I shall post a (near) silent recording.

I will acknowledge contributions,


Many thanks for cooperating in this venture.

Ken


6 comments:

  1. This seems a desperate message...there is a hope.

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  2. I am so pleased to hear that there is hope! In English the King James Bible says:
    And now abideth faith, hope, charity, these three; but the greatest of these is charity.
    and in a less poetic translation
    And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love.

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  3. Or it is picture of misunderstanding The singer does not hear responses to his/her plea (for example, my interpretation: Arthur Sullivan type of patter (piano) vs more dignified plea by the voice. The lyrics by Ken is excellent and can fit many occasions from serious to light hearted.

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  4. One of the great features shared by poetry and music is its ambivalence. I am certain that the way I arranged your version of the song was unexpected, and it could be done in a far more traditional manner, probably to advantage. However the aim here is to draw in contributions and I think that the jazzy arrangement might make others consider a wide range of responses. As always apologies if the unexpected is unwanted! :-))

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  5. In a convoluted way this is completely in keeping with the synthetic instrumental sounds, sampled instruments as instruments and the role of the interpreter(s) as an active, viable and vibrant part of music. Nearly 15 years ago, I was in Sheffield (UK) and unexpectedly was able to attend a memorable Richard III played by Kenneth Branagh, it was not what I read many times, it was not the monumental performance by Olivier but it was a memorable performance which added another psychological dimension to the play. Similarly, Nesssun Dorma sang by Pavarotti, Gigli, Carreras, Caruso, Domingo or many others I heard is the same aria Puccini wrote and if you can go beyond the timbre of each voice you will hear subtle but significant differences.. As a complex and abstract medium for expressing complex and abstract ideas music with composer speaking through an interpreter (arranger,, performer, different sound systems) is an open means of communication. I may or may not like a piece, may or may not like the interpretation, may or may not like the message at a pesonal level - each of us favour some more than the others; but, we have to keep the ears and minds open for new, and different experiences if we would like to discover the new in a 12th century ballad.

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  6. When I first read this I thought it was a reply to the blog about virtual instruments and whether they have a role in performance. You have fused the two issues into one and made both more interesting for it. The notion of messiness, the myriad small variations that keep the form the same but provide the 'artistic' life is very important. If I write a piece for software and virtual instruments and then pass that to another musician and permit the freedom to adjust the parameters then there is no difference between the outcome and any conventional performance. Indeed there may be greater variety in the virtual world. Your unspoken permission to play opened up a whole world where a realised performance would have closed the possibilities down.
    The opportunity to exchange ideas is a great reward in itself.

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