R3 Carol Competition

[DracoM]

Yes, indeed, Mathias comparison highly apt with this lyric. Makes most of these settings look a bit frail.

[Ein Heldenleben]

I’d say that the principal fault of all the settings with piano accompaniment were that they seemed very generic and bore no particular relation to the words they were setting. Rutter-lite if you like. John Rutter, at his considerable best, is a wonderful setter of words. But so often I hear imitators who attempt all the Rutter tropes to no effect. Last year’s winner was a case in point.
The two a cappella settings this year struck me as at least offering something a little bit different, with a bit of bite. But I doubt that either of them will win.
None of them comes near Mathias’s setting, IMVVHO.

Yes I agree more than a touch of Rutter but with Rutter settings you can hear the words. I suspect it's the recording that's the problem as it seemed to be consistently difficult to make out the words in all the versions . It was only in reading it this morning that I realised it was partly in French.

[Constantbee]

On a shortlist of two (1 and 4) I finally decided that if you were going to set verses with some lines in French you ought at least to be able to hear them clearly, so it's the Martin Carling for me. It does sound like a bit Rutter-like, though

[DracoM]

Sorry, but if I knew my carol would get bashed out by the BBC Singers, I'd think twice about submitting.

[LeMartinPecheur]

Previous years I've had a pretty stand-out favourite, but not so far this time. There are probably one or two I haven't heard, so must hope one of these will prove to be the bees' knees!

[Sorry...]

Were they not allowed organ accompaniment this year, or are we just getting cheapo pedal-less versions? The piano parts I've heard so far sound very ordinary, generic, cliché-ed,

[Eine Alpensinfonie]

Sorry, but if I knew my carol would get bashed out by the BBC Singers, I'd think twice about submitting.

Yes. Apart from the general wobble, they sound bored with the carols - no real sense of involvment. I think I’d submit a fast one to minimise the wobble, if I were to try in another year.

[jonfan]

Sorry, but if I knew my carol would get bashed out by the BBC Singers, I'd think twice about submitting.

Unworthy comment DracoM. With the right conductor they can be supreme in all styles, eg Sakari Oramo conducting Parry at 2018 Proms. No wobble if they’re told not to.
Perhaps you can think of another professional group that holds a similar competition for carol composers that offer a professional performance on the radio? With a guarantee that it isn’t just ‘bashed out’ as you so tastefully put it.

[vinteuil]

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God this is dire.


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[DracoM]

Unworthy comment DracoM. With the right conductor they can be supreme in all styles, eg Sakari Oramo conducting Parry at 2018 Proms. No wobble if they’re told not to.
Perhaps you can think of another professional group that holds a similar competition for carol composers that offer a professional performance on the radio? With a guarantee that it isn’t just ‘bashed out’ as you so tastefully put it.

It is NOT the carols, or the competition - which I applaud hugely - BUT I really find the BBCS difficult - formidable in numbers of areas as they may be.
BUT big Q:
Does not the ensemble for whom you are writing not influence the manner in which you write?

[Miles Coverdale]

It is NOT the carols, or the competition - which I applaud hugely - BUT I really find the BBCS difficult - formidable in numbers of areas as they may be.
BUT big Q:
Does not the ensemble for whom you are writing not influence the manner in which you write?

If the piece is to be performed by that ensemble only, then it may well do so. However, I imagine that the composers of the pieces in this competition would hope that they would end up being sung by other groups in the future. Who can write specifically for choirs they don't know?

[DracoM]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nMuyi5FjC7A&feature=youtu.be

I'd write for this team............!!

[Keraulophone]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nMuy...ature=youtu.be

I'd write for this team............!!

They’re terrific. Such a naturally beautiful rendition of the Villette, more so than KCC and the others on YT. And lovely to hear the correct French vowels. Iain Simcock - British organist-conductor, ex-Wabbey and the Drome, now Paris-based; definitely knows what he’s doing!

[BasilHarwood]

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God this is dire.


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The competition? Or the BBC Singers bashing?

[Constantbee]

Good Lord! At least I backed the winner, this year Should have put money on it. Might help towards the car repair bill. The last thing anybody who has a lot to do with bees feels like doing is dedicating a poem to them, let alone writing a carol. The best bee keepers are invariably miserable elderly men worn to a shred by a lifetime of hot, heavy, frustrating physical work often in difficult conditions Fyi historically, the bee keeper was regarded as lower than the swine herd in agricultural communities But not any more, of course. Along with the popularity of eating vegetables, traditionally seen as staple food for peasant folk while only the rich ate meat, bee keeping is now the height of fashion and the preserve of the chattering classes

A pretty setting to some difficult worlds. I liked the carol

[oddoneout]

That was the one that caught my ear and which stood out from the rest which I found to be rather interchangeable/unmemorable.