AMC--Chapter Eighteen
If you haven't already heard, the first draft of this story is now finished. Now begins the process of revision and creating the second draft, at which point the hard work of all of my reviewers will come to fruition
( Read more... )
Can you tell I'm not? :D
I don't know a whole lot beyond the most basic music theory, so I hadn't given a lot of thought to what *exactly* he was studying because I couldn't! Because I have absolutely no idea.
His primary instrument, of course, is the harp, but Macalaure plays just about everything. As to whether he studies any of these....
He does go, at the end of the story, to Alqualonde for a month with Nelyo, for practical lessons like you describe. During this time, he works almost non-stop to finish all that he must do. This is the most that Feanaro will allow; other than that, he must do his lessons by correspondence or not at all.
Of course, he's going to live forever, so I think that all involved would probably feel that there's no rush. In ten years, he'll be old enough to go where he pleases, and he can spend all of the time he wants in Alqualonde, if he wishes.
It seems that Fëanor is the kind of guy to whom actions mean more than words, but Macalaurë isn't.
Macalaure is also doubtlessly puzzled by the mixed messages that he gets from Feanaro. Feanaro is really hard on him; he, of course, sees it as doing Macalaure a favor, helping him to reach his potential, but Macalaure doesn't want to reach where his father wants him to go and so sees it as plain-and-simple antagonization. They come to an understanding over the course of this story, and it will stay with Macalaure long enough for him to go along with some really stupid decisions that--even now, at the tender age of 39--he might realize as just that: really stupid.
Reply
The University has a much bigger music department, subdivided into performance, musicology, theory, composition, and ethnomusicology. All theory classes (both here and at The Fairest College) come with mandatory extra ear training sections, which are the bane of any music student's existence. I saw a flier today for a course in composition that focuses just on text setting and tone color. Next semester, I'll be taking organology, which is the comparative study of instruments. There are numerous small ensembles, courses in the Feldenkrais Method, different eras of music history, overviews for non-music majors, all sorts of things. If you want to do a scene or two at the school in Alqualondë, let me know, and I can knock together a decent curriculum for you.
They come to an understanding over the course of this story, and it will stay with Macalaure long enough for him to go along with some really stupid decisions that--even now, at the tender age of 39--he might realize as just that: really stupid.
I'm having a wonderful time imagining emotional, softhearted, shy Macalaurë attacking Alqualondë later in life. Probably cutting down a few former teachers or fellow students. He must have been a complete wreck afterwards.
Reply
I am. Wow.
My university was renowned for its science and technology education. All of the "Fine Arts" were stuck into a single five-story building. "Fine Arts" included music, visual art, photography, dance, English, ancient studies, philosophy, archeology/anthropology, theater, and American/Jewish/African studies. Now, at the same time, biology, chemistry, and physics each had their own buildings (larger than the Fine Arts building; biology had two buidings!), and engineering and computer science/information systems each had their own buildings. As the fiction editor for the literary magazine, I spent a lot of time in the Fine Arts building, but most people never set foot in it. It was old and really confusing. If we had any musical groups, the general student body didn't know about them. (Just like they didn't know about the literary magazine, big surprise.)
If you want to do a scene or two at the school in Alqualondë, let me know, and I can knock together a decent curriculum for you.
Goodness, that would be wonderful. I actually have a whole section (twenty-some pages) in Alqualonde, and I am generally vague about the work that Macalaure is doing, since I know so little about music education. It was one of those things on the "Research When There's Extra Time" list. And extra time is in short supply these days.
I'm having a wonderful time imagining emotional, softhearted, shy Macalaurë attacking Alqualondë later in life. Probably cutting down a few former teachers or fellow students. He must have been a complete wreck afterwards.
His wife is also half-Telerin in Felak!verse. This is one of those scenes--along with Thangorodrim--that I know I'm going to have to write and, disturbingly perhaps, really want to write, but it's going to be so intense that it takes a lot of thought. So it's almost completely written in my head; I just have to hunker down and put it on paper.
Reply
So, when do you think you'd want said curriculum? And, more pertinently, do you have any thoughts about what kind of music you want to use? How much of a history would music have in Valinor? Do you have any ideas about how it's used, in what contexts, or what sort of sounds you're thinking of? That is, does it sound classical, medieval, folky, modern, Asian, African, whatever? What, in general, do we know about music in Felak!verse?
Reply
There's no rush whatsoever; the Alqualonde chapter isn't until the end of the story. I won't be there in the first draft for several months yet.
And, more pertinently, do you have any thoughts about what kind of music you want to use?
I suppose I hear it as sounding most like classical.
As for history...hmmm...this is something to which I have given no thought! I'd imagine there would be a certain degree of history, although I don't see this as being a particular interest of Macalaure's. But I have a history of weapons and various other things, so I'd imagine music would be the same, although I've thought so little about it. *sigh* I know I'm not giving you much to work from here....
What, in general, do we know about music in Felak!verse?
Not much.... :-/ I'm so hopelessly naive in this.
I suppose it is most helpful to know what kinds of things an innately gifted by nonetheless beginning music student would study. My own music education consisted of a few years of band, playing the trumpet, and a year of guitar in high school, where I learned absolutely nothing, having taught myself the whole curriculum already. I really wanted to take theory, but at my school, if you were on the "geek track," you didn't have enough electives for much else outside of math, science, and computers. So I was largely self-taught on that too...but only in the most basic sense, mostly what I needed for guitar.
Wow. That was a whole lot of rambling to say that I don't have much of a clear idea! I'll think on it more and let you know what I find out.
Reply
Does it sound more like Bach, Mozart, or Brahms? That'll help me place it by period, techniques, and instruments.
Speaking of instruments, is there anything here that grabs your fancy? I can work with that.
Right now, here's the basic outline of a Teleri music school curriculum: Performance -- at least one primary instrument, and one general instrument that everyone at least takes lessons on; ensemble performance -- chamber groups, orchestra, choral groups; theory -- at least structure, harmony and counterpoint; music history -- everyone will take that, even Macalaurë; organology -- so they know their way around all the instruments; composition -- text setting, harmonization, orchestration, tone color, etc.; specialization offered in conducting, both choral and orchestral; very likely social dancing, and possibly an option for performance dance and/or choreography.
Reply
Leave a comment