Dragon's Laire's Bardic Championship.

[arontius]

.....Greetings All,

.....It was an interesting day at the Dragon's Laire Baronial Bardic Championship. Lots of highs, some lows. Definitely a learning experience all around, that is for sure.

.....The Championship itself consists of two entries. My morning entry was a comparison of sounds between the bass gemshorn and the bass recorder. I was extremely nervous as I started the introductions. But when I played my gemshorn I relaxed some. I love the gemshorn. It has a very nice, pleasant sound and is a lot of fun to play. When I was done with my gemshorn recital I picked up my bass recorder and started with its recital and immediately started having problems. When I warmed up earlier the recorder sounded great but like an idiot when I came back into the room I sat the warm, moist recorder next to a cold drafty window. So when I started playing again, well duh, sqweak, sqweak, sqweak. The more I sqweaked the more nervous I became and my fingers started shaking. I made it through the song eventually, it was 'adequate' but it wasn't exactly pretty.

.....In the afternoon I went through a comparison of 'Shakespearean' and Spenserian sonnets. I enjoy reading and writing sonnets, so this was rather fun. I was still nervous as was evident in how I rushed through my presentation. I glossed over some sonnetry construction that the audience might have appreciated hearing. But I was quite proud of the fact that I was able to answer any question posed to me in depth and with easy answers and that all the sonnets I presented to the judges were written by myself. One of the judges, Mistress Giuseppe wants me to write an Italian sonnet that she could put to song. I'll have to work on that. :-)

.....There were two other competitors. Vincent of Venice (Glymm Mere) played two songs on a harp. I love harp music so I thoroughly enjoyed listening to the music. Conchobar (our former Baronial Marshall) did a filked song in the morning. In the afternoon he did this absolutely amazing soliloquy comparison of theatre styles from Richard the III (Shakespeare). He was absolutely amazing! After his performance I was sure in my heart that he had won the competition. But to my absolute astonishment Talia gathered us all up later that evening and let us know that I had won the Championship. I was absolutely floored. I was totally convinced that Conchobar had won and hadn't really given a whole lot of thought to the Championship after that.

.....However, on Sunday I started finding out that it might have been a more controversial win than I may have thought. The general opinion from several people was that too much attention was given to the documentation and background and less to the actual performance itself. I would be the first to admit that Conchobar's Richard III performance was, by far, the best of the day. So if the points had been weighted to the performances themselves, would I still have won? Maybe, maybe not. What really made me wonder though was that, if nothing else, the point spread should have been close enough to where Their Excellencies should have been brought in to discuss who should be awarded the Championship. I know that His Excellency had problems with what I presented and so if given a chance I think that Conchobar stood a very good chance of coming away the Champion. His Excellency is a clear proponent of the Bardic Champion being an entertainer first, historian / researcher second. I can actually agree with his viewpoint. And since the Championship is for Their Excellencies’ Champion, his viewpoint should carry considerable weight.

.....If had known all of this on Saturday I think that I might have refused the Champion's cloak. I would much rather be the clear Champion than have a Championship questioned even in passing. Not sure exactly what to do about it all at this point. It may be that nothing can be done about it at this point. I may just not wear the cloak or stand behind the Baronial Thrones for this year. And, to be honest, that part I don’t think I’ll mind a whole heck of a lot. I’d much rather be comfortable in the audience. :-)

…..Like I said though, I learned a lot. And I very much enjoyed having Marquessa Laurellen be my inspiration. She was such an incredible steadying and supporting force all day. She encouraged me constantly. Made sure I was fed and watered. Stayed out of my way when I needed to be alone. Gave me her special smile and the ‘look’ whenever she thought I needed it. She made the day good. I’m so incredibly lucky to have her in my life now. Makes me giddily happy just thinking about it. :-)

…..Gotta run and get to work.

…..Aaron / Arontius.

Comments

[bumblebee2006.livejournal.com]

Ok,

1st - I know your whinning and really don't think you deserve the cloak BUT you DO have wonderful performance skills. They are just differant skills then Conchobar's or Vincent's and that is what makes and Made the competition wonderful.

2nd - If anyone in the Barony or there Excellancies, wants the Bardic to be all performance based, then we will need to change the score sheets and run a whole differant system then Kingdom standard. Saturday, we used the Kingdom Bardic Scoring sheets. They weight heavy on performance. So don't sell yourself short. AND the Baroness was present when we added up the scores, she agreed with the results. So, if there Excellancy wish to change the results, they would have or should have said something then.

And that's my 4 cents.

Nonsense !

[vincentofvenice.livejournal.com]

My friend you won. It's that simple. In my mind I had allready hoped that you would take the Championship half way through the competition. I mostly entered as a learning expirence. I have limited research material and entered at the very last second. I did the best I could with what I had but there was never a moment when I thought I would actually win. I mainly threw my hat into the ring as a way of growing as a bard and hoping to get a chance to meet expierenced peers such as yourself. Having said that my documentation was non exsistant. Had I known how lacking my documentation was I would have withdrawn my entry. It is equally important to be awarded the Bardic Championship for knowledge as it is preformance. For without knowledge who would be there to teach new comers like me about period music,sonnets, etc? Please do not consider shying away from that cloak or your office. An Tir needs music historians as much as it needs preformers ( if not more ). Arontius I tip my hat to you as my peer and better. From where I sit you won fairly and with merit. I look forward to seeing you again next year , and hope to be better educated and give it once again my best effort and I pray to the Gods to see you PROUDLY wearing that cloak and confidently upholding your office. Salute !
Vincent

Re: Nonsense !

[gwen-the-potter.livejournal.com]

Very graciously put! And may I say, keep it up! You have great potential, and I (and many others) are looking forward to hearing more from you. Start now and prep for next year.

If you want some hints on how to do documentation, and what judges are looking for, please let me know, I'll be happy to share what knowledge I have. Also, read the comments that are given on the judging sheets in the best possible light. We have been lucky to get very helpful judges that truly want to encourage artisans. Contact them for more information, suggestions, ideas, help.

Do you know how great it is to compete? Just getting up there and laying yourself open is a big accomplishment! You be proud of yourself!

Re: Nonsense !

[vincentofvenice.livejournal.com]

Do not worry.... I am not beating myself up over my flaws that were brought to my attention. The way I see it. The comments the judges made were for my betterment and education. I have nearly no ego. I accept critisim as a way of growing. My spirit was not deminished by the judges it was challenged and inspired. As you suggest I am working even now on material for next year. I have allready picked out two Itallian pieces that my teacher Bonnie has given me. One is from 12th Century the other is from the 15th. Now all I need is some one to help me discover who their composers actually were and what I should know about them. Who on earth am I going to find to help me with that?

Re: Nonsense !

[vincentofvenice.livejournal.com]

That was a hint by the way Arontius..... * wink wink *