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THE
FESTIVAL TRADITION IN THE UK
Sampoorna
Sangeet Mela 1995, is the third Festival of Indian Music
and Dance organised under the umbrella of Pandit Ram Sahai
Sangit Vidyalaya. The Mela is following in two traditions,
the Festival tradition as described by Shantaram-ji, on
page 10 and the tradition of the British National Federation
of Festivals of Music, Speech and Dance. We are members
of this Federation which is preparing to celebrate seventy-five
years as an association.
Competition
in the arts has a history that is documented back to Greek
contests in 586 BC but in Britain the first contest is generally
acknowledged to be the 1872 festival in Workington.
Many
of these early British festivals were in rural districts
and much can be understood about the people taking part
from the literature of the time. In Tonypandy in 1899, the
first prize for the Male Voice Choir class included "...
a pair of boots for the Conductor," and the second prize
"... a pair of trousers for the Conductor". One description
of a Pennine choir reported in the Musical Times in 1908
included
"the
.. choir consists of 40 voices, mostly cotton-mill workers
and colliers, leavened by the inclusion of the learned village
newsagent, whose decision is absolutely final whenever methods
of pronunciation are in dispute."
In 1904
the first association of competition Festivals was formed
with a yearly congress to be held in London. At the same
time as the development of festivals in rural areas, there
had been a great growth in the number of festivals taking
place in urban areas. In 1920 these festivals held their
own conference in Birmingham to consider ways of increasing
co-operation. Federation between these two groups took place
in 1921, and throughout its history it has been generously
supported by the Carnegie trust.
I remember
well my experiences as a child, playing Schumann's "Merry
Peasant" very fast, perched behind an enormous grand piano
in the Assembly Rooms, Edinburgh. I also remember my determination
to practice harder after I failed to come first and the
excitement when, the following year, my efforts were rewarded
by receiving a better mark. As a young school teacher, conducting
my first choir at the local festival, I saw the more experienced
pupils at the local 'High' school walk away with the prize,
yet once again, and many years later, as an adjudicator
myself, I appreciated only too well the feelings of the
candidates performing before me. My thoughts today, however
are also with candidates parents. No parent will ever forget
the first time his/her 'little one' steps onto the plat-
form. It is a little like the first time you take them to
the dentist. Will they be happy with the experience? Will
the teeth demonstrate all your hard work teaching them how
to brush properly? It is therefore very necessary that we
all work towards making it a positive and enjoyable experience.
Music
and Dance are creative performing arts, and learning to
perform, as opposed to playing and dancing for oneself,
is an art that cannot be learned without the opportunity
to produce one's art in front of an audience. This opportunity
is one of the most valuable that can be experienced by the
novice performer, and is provided by taking part in this
Mela. In 1923, one of the federation delegates suggested
that the purpose of competitions was "by means of them you
make the singers not beat each other but pace each other
on the road to excellence".
Adjudicators
are very experienced teachers and performers who will be
looking for the strengths of the performers, and, if necessary,
pointing out areas which may be improved to help them onto
'this road to excellence'. Because they have themselves,
grown up through the system, they are very aware of the
feelings of the performers, and look to support, not humiliate.
As suggested by a former Federation Chairman the aims of
a competitive festival should be "choice without favour,
correction without offence and praise without flattery".
Acknowledgements
to Dr Christopher Wiltshire for permission to refer to his
history of the federation "The Road To Excellence".
JILL
SCARFE September 1995
Lecturer in Music
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