IMHO, these seem to be issues that any motivated quartet should be able to find a way to resolve. I participated in the last ITEC quartet competition, and remember having exactly the same two problems. We didn't even get one of the pieces until about 3 weeks before the competition. I also remember thinking that the music was terrible. However, great musicians make great music, not the other way around. If you're waiting for great music to inspire you in order to perform well, then you'll probably win very few competitions and auditions. I promise you that someone will win the competition, and they won't let these little problems get in their way.
Humbly,
Martin Cochran
ITEC QUARTET COMPETITION
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Mike Forbes
- pro musician
- Posts: 233
- Joined: Tue Apr 06, 2004 1:46 pm
- Location: Madison, WI
ITEC Quartet Competition
As a composer of one of the final works in this quartet competition (Four Miniatures, published by Editions BIM: http://www.editions-bim.ch/), I take issue with the fact that the music is not available. I assure you that anyone can order this piece through Editions Bim very easily and accessibly. Furthermore, I made phone contact with Bernel, Hickeys, and Portland Sheet Music Service to see if they could even stock it in advance of the competition...I believe this has helped as well.
Whether or not "Four Miniatures" is a good piece--well, only time will tell. Sotto Voce seemed pretty excited about it, and I rearranged this same piece for brass quintet, and the Spanish Brass seem to be enjoying it on their tours....as for whether or not it's a good piece, I suppose that is still quite subjective.
I must admit, as a judge for this competition along with Sotto Voce, we are not yet familiar with any of the works except the Ray Dempsey work, and we did not choose any of the pieces--we were merely selected to judge. Also, my work which was commissioned for this contest was indeed not published at the time of the announcement due to the publishers putting the final touches on the work. It is available now and has been for over 4 months...which is certainly a suitable amount of time for adequate preparation for a serious quartet.
I couldn't agree more with Dr. Cochran's views about the necessary skills in winning one of these quartet competitions. Though one might think that you "can't polish a turd," the winning quartet might rather adopt this addage: "A good piece of music deserves a good performance, and bad pieces DEMANDS one."
Wishing you all the best,
Mike
Whether or not "Four Miniatures" is a good piece--well, only time will tell. Sotto Voce seemed pretty excited about it, and I rearranged this same piece for brass quintet, and the Spanish Brass seem to be enjoying it on their tours....as for whether or not it's a good piece, I suppose that is still quite subjective.
I must admit, as a judge for this competition along with Sotto Voce, we are not yet familiar with any of the works except the Ray Dempsey work, and we did not choose any of the pieces--we were merely selected to judge. Also, my work which was commissioned for this contest was indeed not published at the time of the announcement due to the publishers putting the final touches on the work. It is available now and has been for over 4 months...which is certainly a suitable amount of time for adequate preparation for a serious quartet.
I couldn't agree more with Dr. Cochran's views about the necessary skills in winning one of these quartet competitions. Though one might think that you "can't polish a turd," the winning quartet might rather adopt this addage: "A good piece of music deserves a good performance, and bad pieces DEMANDS one."
Wishing you all the best,
Mike
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Mike Forbes
- pro musician
- Posts: 233
- Joined: Tue Apr 06, 2004 1:46 pm
- Location: Madison, WI
Hmmm.
Hello CDB. I'm troubled by your post. I have again emailed the various folks that are responsible for getting this piece out there. I have not yet heard back from them.
I have, however, tried to order my own piece through Editions-BIM's website (link in my prior post (take away the comma)), and had absolutely no problem in the ordering stage. Be sure to check for "AIRMAIL" or the piece will take almost a month to arrive at your doorstep. If you have already ordered this piece through EDITIONS-BIM's website and it STILL hasn't arrived (and you have been billed) please email me ASAP. If your web order has not been taken care of this is the first I've heard of such a thing in regard to Editions-BIM: they REALLY have their act together.
...trying to get to the bottom of this (if there is a bottom),
Mike
I have, however, tried to order my own piece through Editions-BIM's website (link in my prior post (take away the comma)), and had absolutely no problem in the ordering stage. Be sure to check for "AIRMAIL" or the piece will take almost a month to arrive at your doorstep. If you have already ordered this piece through EDITIONS-BIM's website and it STILL hasn't arrived (and you have been billed) please email me ASAP. If your web order has not been taken care of this is the first I've heard of such a thing in regard to Editions-BIM: they REALLY have their act together.
...trying to get to the bottom of this (if there is a bottom),
Mike
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Mike Forbes
- pro musician
- Posts: 233
- Joined: Tue Apr 06, 2004 1:46 pm
- Location: Madison, WI
Great Point
Ken makes a great point--if Sotto Voce or I ever get to call the shots in terms of a tuba quartet competition, we have all agreed that there will be certain freedom to choose AT LEAST one piece for the competition. When we competed at the Concert Artist's Guild's Competition or the Fischoff we always had to assemble our own programs and that was a mighty challenge in itself (esp. while competing with brass quintets, woodwind quintets and the hard-to-beat-repertoire of the string quartet). Ken, your post is duly noted.
Incidently, I just got off the phone with David McDaniel of Bernel music, and he has absolutely NO record or recollection of anyone ordering my FOUR MINIATURES through him. He adds that dealing with Editions BIM is one of the easiest companies to work with. Perhaps CDB's request somehow never made it to Bernel...?
All the best,
Mike
Incidently, I just got off the phone with David McDaniel of Bernel music, and he has absolutely NO record or recollection of anyone ordering my FOUR MINIATURES through him. He adds that dealing with Editions BIM is one of the easiest companies to work with. Perhaps CDB's request somehow never made it to Bernel...?
All the best,
Mike