Today is the 27th of January 2006. Also known to the musicians amongst us as the 250th anniversary of Mozart's birth.
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart was a musical prodigy, and composed pieces in almost every genre starting from the age of six. His music is almost the definition of classical.
The challenge of this contest is simple: find inspiration from this genius. Here is a link to an online compilation of many of his pieces: www.classicalarchives.com/mozart.html The list may be intimidating, but the biography holds links to some of his greater works if you don’t want to trawl through the many downloads.
You can write about any aspect of the music: write about how it makes you feel, what images it shows you, the performers, the shape of the music itself, what it feels like to perform it if you have the experience… You could even write about Mozart himself, although I would prefer that you wrote about his music.
The guidelines (I won’t disqualify you if you defy them, as long as it’s done poetically):
1) Although I’ve never seen this used, excessive capitalisation in whatever form does not suit the elegance of the subject, so please don’t submit something in sticky caps or anything similar.
2) Erotica is another no I’m afraid, as I don’t feel comfortable judging that subject. Sensuality is alright if done tastefully, as I understand music creates different responses in all of us.
3) I have a pet peeve about lack of consistent capitalisation. If you’re not going to capitalise at all, fine, but please don’t just miss out capital ‘I’ for no reason.
4) Any form is welcome, although if it’s obscure I’d appreciate a definition to help me judge.
5) Poems with no rhyme scheme but good flow will do better than rhyming poems with forced rhythms. That’s not to say don’t rhyme, if you can do it well then you’re welcome, but I place more value on rhythm and flow than I do on rhyme.
6) About spelling and grammar: spelling errors, unless done deliberately and explained in the authors notes, will cause me to mark a poem down. Grammatical errors where necessary to maintain the flow are inevitable, but I’d prefer you to either avoid them for no apparent reason or explain your reasons to me.
7) You may enter two poems into this contest.
8) I’d appreciate it if you put a brief description of the piece that inspired your poem (or even a link) in your author’s notes.
An example of a poem I wrote inspired by one of Mozart’s piano pieces: allpoetry.com/Poem/1706126
If I receive a good response to this challenge, I may close early. If I don’t receive many entries, I may extend this contest. I hope to judge 20-40 poems, although that estimate may alter depending on the response. I will not comment on any poems until after the contest is closed for judging, and will post comments on all entries by the time the contest closes. If I miss commenting on yours, don’t worry, I will have read it, I just may have forgotten to post the pre-written comment, as I plan to copy all poems into word to judge. I am in the middle of year 11 and thus drowning in coursework, so judging won’t be instantaneous. But I will judge.
The points I plan to award are: Gold gets 300
Silver gets 200
Bronze gets 100
I hope this contest inspires some great works, as I often find music very inspiring myself. We spend far too little time these days appreciating the works of old masters like Mozart, it’s about time they got some recognition!
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart was a musical prodigy, and composed pieces in almost every genre starting from the age of six. His music is almost the definition of classical.
The challenge of this contest is simple: find inspiration from this genius. Here is a link to an online compilation of many of his pieces: www.classicalarchives.com/mozart.html The list may be intimidating, but the biography holds links to some of his greater works if you don’t want to trawl through the many downloads.
You can write about any aspect of the music: write about how it makes you feel, what images it shows you, the performers, the shape of the music itself, what it feels like to perform it if you have the experience… You could even write about Mozart himself, although I would prefer that you wrote about his music.
The guidelines (I won’t disqualify you if you defy them, as long as it’s done poetically):
1) Although I’ve never seen this used, excessive capitalisation in whatever form does not suit the elegance of the subject, so please don’t submit something in sticky caps or anything similar.
2) Erotica is another no I’m afraid, as I don’t feel comfortable judging that subject. Sensuality is alright if done tastefully, as I understand music creates different responses in all of us.
3) I have a pet peeve about lack of consistent capitalisation. If you’re not going to capitalise at all, fine, but please don’t just miss out capital ‘I’ for no reason.
4) Any form is welcome, although if it’s obscure I’d appreciate a definition to help me judge.
5) Poems with no rhyme scheme but good flow will do better than rhyming poems with forced rhythms. That’s not to say don’t rhyme, if you can do it well then you’re welcome, but I place more value on rhythm and flow than I do on rhyme.
6) About spelling and grammar: spelling errors, unless done deliberately and explained in the authors notes, will cause me to mark a poem down. Grammatical errors where necessary to maintain the flow are inevitable, but I’d prefer you to either avoid them for no apparent reason or explain your reasons to me.
7) You may enter two poems into this contest.
8) I’d appreciate it if you put a brief description of the piece that inspired your poem (or even a link) in your author’s notes.
An example of a poem I wrote inspired by one of Mozart’s piano pieces: allpoetry.com/Poem/1706126
If I receive a good response to this challenge, I may close early. If I don’t receive many entries, I may extend this contest. I hope to judge 20-40 poems, although that estimate may alter depending on the response. I will not comment on any poems until after the contest is closed for judging, and will post comments on all entries by the time the contest closes. If I miss commenting on yours, don’t worry, I will have read it, I just may have forgotten to post the pre-written comment, as I plan to copy all poems into word to judge. I am in the middle of year 11 and thus drowning in coursework, so judging won’t be instantaneous. But I will judge.
The points I plan to award are: Gold gets 300
Silver gets 200
Bronze gets 100
I hope this contest inspires some great works, as I often find music very inspiring myself. We spend far too little time these days appreciating the works of old masters like Mozart, it’s about time they got some recognition!
Contest is Over
- Contest was judged on February 23, 2006
- Rewards: Gold: 300
- Final notes: I'm sorry it's taken me so long to judge this contest, but I've been buried under piles of unexpected coursework. I'll be doing the rounds and commenting now, so please don't remove your poem before I can comment on it.
The trophies:
Gold: The Concerto by kissing-eris
Silver: Soave il vento by cherch-d-ame
Bronze: Requiem by PiedPiper
Entries [2]
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the wind whispered last nightby cherche -d -ame 32 lines, 19 comments, on Jan 24 6:21 AM 2006. In Society, Other, Hope
Silver trophy winner
• Commented on by judge. -
This one's about Mozart's symphony no. five• Commented on by judge.
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Comments
1 - 9 of 9
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This is such a coincidence I just wrote a poem last week (Soave il vento)to pay homage to the great Mozart.It is nice to see someone else inspired by him
reenie
Edited on Jan 28, 6:05 because ''. -
Do you want to enter your poem? I'm going to open this contest to prewrites, as long as they're relevant
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Awesome idea for a contest! At my school, us band kids celebrated Mozart's birthday and forced the office to play his music between periods. I'll hane to show my fridn this contest, she's a very big Mozart fan.
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Mozart is one of my favourite composers .. I enjoyed composing something for him
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Did this contest get judged? Just wondering
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I'm really sorry, I've been drowned in coursework so it's taking me awhile. I'll try my hardest to get this judged withing the next day or two. Again, I'm sorry about this.
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Congratulations to all winners , as well as big thank you to the Host for this inspiring contest. Mozart always inspires me. It is quite funny.....I am listening to his music right now as I got this notice .Thank you so much for the Silver. I am flattered,
xoxo
reenie
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All the trophy-winners were well deserved. I'm just glad I finally got enough time to judge this! Now I just need to find and post my comments...
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I am very surprised to see my poem awarded as the Gold winner. It was an honor for me to write for Mozart and certainly an honor to be deemed Gold worthy for this wonderful contest. Thank you so much for the trophy and the points. Congratulations to the other winners! Eris
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