Re: MR-Disc: Activity Survey

["Greg Lindahl" <lindahl@pbm.com>]

Poster: "Greg Lindahl" <lindahl@pbm.com>

> Now, I will add this caveat; modern songs with medaeval themes that
> are written in a period style should be perfectly acceptable, as
> should modern lyrics about the SCA set to period melodies. To sing a
> tribute to ones kingdom, king, queen, knight or lady using a period
> melody and a period style shows at least some effort at research and
> re-creation. We are, afterall, already re-creating ourselves as
> kings, queens, knights, barons, lords and ladies.

I second the caveat, but I would quote from the "Filk and the SCA"
article by Sarra Graeham, which you can find on my Minstrel Homepage
at: http://www.pbm.com/~lindahl/minstrel.html

> The results of this research? I do not know of a single English song
> before 1610 which exhibits a supernatural worldview outside the
> Christian one. I have not found a single English song which speaks of
> an individual by name; although the Renaissance songs frequently
> address a woman, it doesn't seem to be anything other than a literary
> device. The closest I can think of is a minnesinger song talking about
> the singer's patron, Rudolf (sp, I've temporarily misplaced that
> source) which starts by praising his patron's wealth, and ends by
> pointing out how cheap Rudolf is to his musicians.  I have yet to run
> across any songs detailing an event. These themes may be
> "traditional", but they don't seem to be medieval.

There are exceptions to this overall situation; there are broadside
ballads which detail events and name people, because they were about
the news of the day. But the secular songs that I've looked at don't
mention people by names, and you'll find lots of particular language
used when you're praising someone, generally anonymously.

So, as always, let authentic words and music be your guide. Master
Sion Andreas also has a nice article in a recent "Letter of Dance"
which analyzes SCA-composed dances, and finds that most of them don't
look at all like authentic dances.

Gregory Blount
( who hasn't composed anything, because he knows what he doesn't know,
  and it's a heck of a lot. )

=======================================================================
List Archives, FAQ, FTP:  http://sca.wayfarer.org/merryrose/
            Submissions:  atlantia@atlantia.sca.org
        Admin. requests:  majordomo@atlantia.sca.org