Dear Charles, >From time to time over the years I have been asked to accompany music students at Nottingham University for their singing exams. They are required to give the examiners a copy of the music they perform. After one recital one of the examiners asked to see the music I had been playing from. I showed him a page of lute tablature in facsimile. He looked at it, said, "Oh," and walked away.
Perhaps you should have given your festival adjudicator copies of the guitar music in tablature, preferably German tablature. -o-O-o- I have a couple of comments on the question of what to say to people after a performance: 1) To other performers: Nothing. No post mortems, no criticisms, nothing. Pack your stuff away, get to the pub for a beer, and talk about things other than music. If there was anything during a performance which really warrants discussion, you can save it for next time you meet. 2) To members of the audience: If someone praises you, say, "Thank you. I'm pleased you enjoyed the performance." Do not mention mistakes, or other things which might have been of concern to the player. They are of no concern to the audience. Talking to a member of the audience is rather like an extension to the programme - a sort of encore - so you have to be positive. It's OK to say, "It's lovely playing the lute in this 16th-century building with wood panelling on the walls, because the acoustic is so nice and resonant." It's not OK to say, "It might have sounded better, if there weren't all those lousy carpets and curtains soaking up the sound." Best wishes, Stewart McCoy. ----- Original Message ----- From: "Charles Browne" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>; "Candace Magner" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Cc: "Lautenliste" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Sent: Thursday, June 17, 2004 11:03 PM Subject: RE: Being gracious as a performer. > I think we should provide the audience with a copy of the music! I went into > one festival, playing classical guitar, and the adjudicator said of my > performance " that was a wonderful piece of music you played, unfortunately > it bore no resemblance to the copy you handed in to me earlier!" > best wishes > Charles Browne
