Mi Contra Fa

"Devil" in the details

I've been surreptitiously polishing "To Put the Devil Into Hell," just making small edits on its archived page.  I'm also surprised and pleased to find that I can already recite 85-90% of it.  Maybe I'll have it off-book for KASF after all.

"In Translation," my program for the performing arts exhibition, is a consistent 13 minutes, complete with introductions to each piece.  If I can not strain for the higher notes in "The Armed Man," I'll be fine.

I got a little bit of work done on my display last night, taping down the ribbon to the cardboard tri-fold.  The tri-fold is red and the ribbon's purple - it has a nice subtle interlace design, that 5 or 7 strand braid that's a border in so many manuscripts.  Lindisfarne? Maybe.  Eh, it's appropriate and I'm not going to document the polyester satin trim on my science fair poster.

porkCHOP porkCHOP

The reversed emphasis on "pork CHOP" in "None Suffer" is really starting to annoy me.  I'm not sure if it sounds as bad as I think it does, but I'd like to fix it.  Not sure how, yet.

Test as you fly, fly as you test

That's the mantra in the spacecraft Testing and Integration community.  The idea is that tests which do not simulate flight conditions are, while perhaps not worthless, not really useful for determining flight performance.  Subsystems that work fine in isolation may interact with each other in bad ways, or the transience you thought you could neglect comes back in reality to bite you on the butt.

It's not a bad mantra for performance practice, either.  That's what I discovered at Twelfth Night, when I tried to perform a song/poem/chant that had been fine  sung a capella in the car.  I slapped a simple lyre accompaniment - which would have also been fine on its own - on top, and the mix was a qualified disaster.  The lyre had just been retuned, so the starting note was a bit different than I'd practiced, and I ended up in some in-between key and... it was just unfortunate.

I've been practicing for KASF, again in the car, since that's where and when I have time.  I'd like to perhaps try the lyre, but figure I shouldn't.  More tempting is a drum for "None Suffer" (especially to do sound effects for the dancing pork chop) and possibly for "The Armed Man."  I can sort of get a similar effect by pounding the steering wheel, but it's not the same as handling an instrument.

I want to believe that the drumming I would do would be so simple, I can practice it in the few days before the event and get it down.  Prior lessons learned indicate this will not be true.  This will not be true.  Repeat it, Teleri, until you believe it.

If I start practicing with a drum, in the evenings, for "None Suffer" now, I might have enough time to get it right.

Kingdom A&S Performing Arts Exhibition

I know, more or less, what I'm doing now.  I've titled my brief program "In Translation," and I'll perform several of my translations.  "Wulf and Eadwacer," "Yo me soy la morenica," and "L'homme arme" are performance-ready.  "Non sofre" will be ready with a little more work, but I'm surprised at how well it's sticking in my head.  With introductions for each piece, that may be enough to fill my 10-15 minutes; if not, there's "Robin Hood and the Potter" waiting in the wings.

A love song, a war song, a funny song and a girl power song, all from period sources.  Each deviates from its source material in different ways, from original music for "Wulf" to addiitonal words for "L'homme arme" to the fairly free translation of "Non sofre" that includes some first-person editorializing at the end that's totally absent in the original.  "Yo me soy" is probably the closest to its original in all relevant dimensions (except that it's originally four-part harmony). 

Taking into consideration the feedback from Twelfth Night, the table display for these pieces should include originals and literal translations.

Feasts and Foolishness Report

We had to cut it short on account of toddler meltdown.  But:

Poeta Atlantiae had a last-minute 'challenge' (not competition) for poetry performance, which two gentles accepted.  One recited four brief and funny poems of her own devising, while the other recited one by Sir Walter Raleigh.  Considering the last-minute nature of things, not bad.

I got three performances in.  I did "Wulf and Eadwacer," still sans lyre, for the 'medieval women' challenge.  No one said anything about it to me one way or the other, but I'm pleased with the way the performance has come together.

In the bardic circle and working from paper, I debuted "The Holy Pork Chop Song."  People laughed!  It was funny!  And a few recognized it as a cantiga.  I count this as a solid victory for the Great Translation Project and excellent incentive to keep at it. 

Just before leaving, I gave the "Spring War Song" a go at the bardic circle.  I need more practice with it, but I faked my way through some uneven melismas.  Yseult recognized it as Bertran de Born.  I was very much reading the paper, so I missed a good bit of audience reaction.  I heard a few amused sounds, but overall I'm not sure if it was well-received or just politely received.  (I'm a bit "fussy mother hen" with this piece because I know it's melodically odd and hard to listen to.)

Seen and heard: A new trio (guitar, violin, doumbek) that's only previously been to Pennsic; they were very good!  "The Challenger," a song only three years younger than me by (I think it was) Viscount Sir Edward Zifram ("Fast Eddie"), unexpectedly touching.  Three harps, a flute, and a vocalist collaborating - very lovely!  A boy (single digits in age) performing... I couldn't catch most of the words but the tune was nice and he danced with a rattle to good effect.  My lord performed his tribute poem to our late friend Rhiannon.

Very good event for bardic!

*facepalm*

So, Teleri, how long have you been Poeta Atlantia?

Oh, about six weeks now.

And how long have you know that you were going to "Feasts and Foolishness" today?

At least a month, I'd think.

And did it ever occur to you that, maybe since you were going to an all-day bardic event with several sponsored competitions, the Poeta Atlantia should sponsor one, too?

*facepalm*

Maybe they'll let me sponsor one at the door; after all, there was a new one they just announced last night...

GTP: Non sofre with edits

Ho-ly Ma-ry will suffer not
That her true-hearted pilgrims be put on the spot
She hears their prayers and she will answer them
For she does not abandon her own children

This is a story of Mary's blessing
Miracle done all at her command
Nine of her pilgrims were walking onward
Visit her shrine is what they had planned
Darkness did fall so they all found an inn
To take meat and some bread and some good red wine
Nine hearty suppers from landlord they asked
Then to rooms for to pray went the faithful nine

Nine hearty suppers is what they asked for
Nine hearty suppers he did provide
That's what he gave to the young girl serving
She saw the food and her eyes opened wide
There was so much on the platter she held
So much bread and the wine and the nine pork chops
Good pious pilgrims do love charity
So she stole a fat pork chop from right off the top

Nine pious pilgrims sat down to dinner
Broke their white bread and they passed their wine
But when they went for to share their pork chops
Eight on the plate they found, not their nine
So they all prayed to the Virgin so fair
Yes they prayed that she might help them in this thing
Asked that she send them another pork chop
That their dinner in full to her servants she'd bring

Knock-knocking, rapping sound, where's it come from?
I think it's coming from that trunk there
Open the trunk very slowly, slowly
What could be making the knocking there?
See, it's a pork chop all juicy and fat
That is dancing about in our wooden trunk.
It is a miracle, nobody doubt
To her shrine we will take it, to give the monks

So they didn't eat the pork chop sent them
Took it with them to the shrine instead
If Mary gave me tasty pork chop
I think I'd eat it with wine and bread!
But to her shrine they did take that pork chop
To her shrine where it hangs on a silken thread
Now it's a famous and holy pork chop
And no one will dare eat it with wine or bread

KASF 2009

Tonight, I plan to hit the Staples and the Michael's (craft store) for display items.  Foam core, photo corner holders, perhaps some trim to decorate the foam core.  I have binders and page protectors at home, plus some more report covers.

Binder One: Great Translation Project.  Includes Wulf and Eadwacer, I Am the Dark Woman, None Suffer, Robin Hood and the Potter, How I Like the Gay Times of Spring, The Armed Man

Binder Two: Original works

Display Panel Left: Community Performance (maypole, carols, Robin Hood?).  Oh, I wish I had pictures.  (Email Storvik list! Maybe someone does.)

Display Panel Right: Anglo-Saxon Performance.  Poems, classes, instruments (pictures of).

Display Panel Center: Historically Informed Performance. 

I should stage some photo ops.  I'm not sure how I feel about leaving a laptop on the table to do video playback; not that I have video recorded.  (But we have a video camera now! Score!)

Feasts and Foolishness

Bardic Competitions A-Go-Go!

About Medieval Women: Wulf and Eadwacer.  No lyre, I think.

Original Composition, no filk: Blind King John.  Although tune is not original.  Does that make it a filk? Original poem instead? Must email contest sponsor.

Filk: Storvik's Bloody War-Band

A Tale of Deception: To Put the Devil Into Hell

The first two are performance-ready.  "War-Band" I don't have memorized but I used to, and it should come back.  This is a chance to try out the fabliau, but there's no way I'm getting 100 lines down by Saturday - that one will be from paper.

Oldcastle Memorial (?)

There once was an old triple peer
Whose elbow got stuck in his ear
His flat snap was fine
His wrap was divine
But his polearm technique was quite queer

On the plus side, it's done, amusing, short, references the main way I know Gyrth Oldcastle (learned the elbow-in-ear stance he pioneered).

On the minus side, it's a limerick (post-period and potentially overdone verse form) and references the main thing everybody knows about Gyrth.

Competition is in three weeks and I have a 10-15 minute PA&S performance to get together.  I tend to want to go with the virtue of "done."  I can email the sponsor to see if this is appropriate.