Date: Sun, 04 Oct 1998 18:03:44 -0500 (EST)
From: mn13189@WCUVAX1.WCU.EDU
Subject: Re: minstrel: Bardic, Period, and assorted rantings...
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On Sun, 4 Oct 1998, Greg Lindahl wrote:

> > >Historically, there were many minstrels who were
> > >neither poets nor composers. 
> > 
> > But none of note.  Creativity has always been the mark of, and often
> > reserved to, the mastery of an art.
> 
> I disagree, and I challenge you to prove your point. Only the people
> that _you_ note may be composers, but there were many celebrated
> non-composing instrumentalists throughout history, considered masters
> of performance. And there were masters of composition who couldn't
> perform their way out of a paper bag.

I'll use an out of period example to support Gregory's point, because it
is the first one to come to my mind.  Robert Burns is perhaps (in my
opinion as well as many others) one  of if not THE greatest composer of
song to have added to the Scottish tardition.  Now we know that he could
create words easier than music because the majority of his songs were
written to pre-existing tunes.  He wrote and imporved many wonderful
sonfgs that are still sung today all over the world.  Yet, from what
modern historians and biographers can tell, he did not have much of a
talent for singing himself.  And he was certainly no musician, even by his
own admission.  In a letter he wrote to a musical college, to be included
with a packet of songs that he wrote, Burns was trying to descibe the tune
to one of the songs and simply could not because he did not know the
language of "music" and in teh letter admits that he is not a musician by
anyone's standards, he simply likes to write songs.

And what Greg said about teh troubadrs is very true.  Many of teh most
famous composers rarely went out and performed.  And the most noted
performers usually did someone esle's work.

I have seen contests in recent years that required teh entrant to perform
a peice composed by an SCA auther other than themselves.  This was very
interesting as far as both judging and performing were concerned.

Aye,
Eogan


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