2023 carol competition - yuk

[oddoneout]

In their own words: "This competition will be judged solely on the melody line. It is not necessary to provide a harmonisation or accompaniment. If you do provide a harmonisation or accompaniment, these will not be assessed as part of the judging criteria."

Not only not assessed as part of the judging criteria but discarded, as they all seem to have been (re)arranged.

Trying to create a level playing field? Remove the need to write a carol as such by just asking for a toon, remove any clever bits(harmony etc) as that would disadvantage those without music skills, re-arrange everything to sound the same so preference is just for the toon that appeals to the most listeners.
So no point being on R3. I think it's outlived its purpose and should be pensioned off, or shifted to a more suitable platform - one with a broader reach if that is the intention of simplifying it so much?

[Kernow Malc]

Strictly Come Carol Singing.

[smittims]

It's all reminded me that in 1932 the Daily Telegraph (yes!) ran a chamber music competition, the three winners (Edrich Cundell, Elizabeth Maconchy and Armstrong Gibbs) being recorded by HMV, reissued in 2006 on a Dutton CD. How far we have come. .

[Serial_Apologist]

It's all reminded me that in 1932 the Daily Telegraph (yes!) ran a chamber music competition, the three winners (Edrich Cundell, Elizabeth Maconchy and Armstrong Gibbs) being recorded by HMV, reissued in 2006 on a Dutton CD. How far we have come. .

1932 era Elizabeth Maconchy would undoubtedly be considered FAR TOO MODERN for modern-day listeners.

[Ein Heldenleben]

According to what I’ve just heard R3 are “looking for a Carol that can be sung by choirs and congregations for years to come.” A laudable aim but most of the Carols I’ve heard sound a tad too demanding for that. Jazzy syncopations, key changes , offbeat melodic lines - way beyond what a congregation could manage . And the jazzy piano accompaniments need someone can really play.

[Roslynmuse]

It's all reminded me that in 1932 the Daily Telegraph (yes!) ran a chamber music competition, the three winners (Edrich Cundell, Elizabeth Maconchy and Armstrong Gibbs) being recorded by HMV, reissued in 2006 on a Dutton CD. How far we have come. .

IIRC, Peter Warlock's SATB Bethlehem Down was first published in the Daily Telegraph, and Walton's Make We Joy in a now-defunct Manchester newspaper, the Daily Despatch. Can you imagine anything like that happening today...

[Serial_Apologist]

IIRC, Peter Warlock's SATB Bethlehem Down was first published in the Daily Telegraph, and Walton's Make We Joy in a now-defunct Manchester newspaper, the Daily Despatch. Can you imagine anything like that happening today...

Maybe the Morning Star could deliver...

[Keraulophone]

It's all reminded me that in 1932 the Daily Telegraph (yes!) ran a chamber music competition...

...which reminded me that the Daily Telegraph also ran a Christmas carol competition in 1927. Having been arrested for drunk and disorderly behaviour some months earlier, involving singing and shouting in the streets of Chelsea, Peter Warlock's journalist friend Bruce Blunt wrote the words to Bethlehem Down on a pub crawl between The Plough at Bishop's Sutton and The Anchor at Ropley in Hampshire. Warlock set the words to music and their carol won the competition and was published in the Christmas Eve edition of the newspaper. In Blunt's words "We had an immortal carouse on the proceeds and decided to call ourselves 'Carols Consolidated' "

Bethlehem Down has been described as Warlock's carol masterpiece. Influenced by his interest in Tudor choral music and inflected with his characteristic chromaticism, it provides a poignant moment of reflection and solace among the exuberance of much Christmas music.

[jonfan]

Bethlehem Down [/I]has been described as Warlock's carol masterpiece. Influenced by his interest in Tudor choral music and inflected with his characteristic chromaticism, it provides a poignant moment of reflection and solace among the exuberance of much Christmas music.

Absolutely!

[DracoM]

[Ein Heldenleben]

Maybe the Morning Star could deliver...

Thing is the only true Star is the Star of the North apparently…
what does that even mean ? (as they say in current semi-literate parlance)

[Serial_Apologist]

Thing is the only true Star is the Star of the North apparently…
what does that even mean ? (as they say in current semi-literate parlance)

Sounds as if it could be the name of a pub - or even several.

[smittims]

Thanks, Keraulophone; I've known and loved Bethlehem Down for many years but ddin't know it was written for a competition. At least there was no danger of Warlock's wonderful harmonies being dumbed-down by the BBC!

[Beresford]

For a Carol with a bit more bite, try this one, written by a Barnsley bottle maker in 1933, recently rediscovered in Barnsley Museum archive. I wonder if it was a Gallery Carol.

https://www.whodoyouthinkyouaremagazine.com/news/christmas-carol-barnsley-museums

[Padraig]

For a Carol with a bit more bite, try this one, written by a Barnsley bottle maker in 1933, recently rediscovered in Barnsley Museum archive. I wonder if it was a Gallery Carol.

https://www.whodoyouthinkyouaremagazine.com/news/christmas-carol-barnsley-museums

A good find I would say, Beresford. I liked the words, the singing and the chorus with just a little twist to distinguish it. I'm not sure what a Gallery Carol is.