Musings on a "Symphony For Yorkshire" a project by Benjamin Till

The BBC are asking for people to contribute words for "Symphony For Yorkshire", a "piece" by Benjamin Till who, "composed" the "remarkable" "Coventry Market" in a similar vein (available elsewhere on YouTube ,where Benjamin Till has quite a presence).

I don't think "Coventry Market" will go down in history as a great work and presume "Symphony For Yorkshire" will not displace "On Ilkley Moor Baht At" or "Scarborough Fair" from their positions as most loved Yorkshire themed works.

We have composers and film makers in Yorkshire you know. Isn't that amazing. Didn't you know? Oh and poets too (Ian Mcmillan lives today, Ted Hughes, sadly not).... and artistes ...... and conductors .... David Hockney lives in Bridlington, Andrew Penny has traveled the world conducting orchestras recording CDs and creating fine arrangements and compositions, Mark Herman is responsible for directing films like "Brassed Off!" ...... so why didn't the BBC decide NOT to use Yorkshire's creative talents for "Symphony for Yorkshire" which is due to be "premiered" on Yorkshire Day, 2010, August 1st (in case you didn't know)?

Category:

Music

Tags:

• Benjamin
• Till
• Symphony
• for
• Yorkshire
• Coventry
• Market

[BurtIsitart]

If there HAS been any serious, critical acclaim for "A Symphony For Yorkshire", please leave details here. Using the "vanity publishing" model, if just under 7,000 watch the video in 17 days and there were 300 people involved in it's production. The You Tube video getting 411 hits a day. There are between 5.5 & 6 million people in Yorkshire.

We will see, in a few months time, to what extent "A Symphony For Yorkshire" has been adopted by the people of Yorkshire or forgotten.

[BurtIsitart]

My idea of a community project for Yorkshire is person A in Leeds rings person B in Bradford and says "why don't we do this?" and person C in Scarborough gets involved rather than "A Symphony For Yorkshire" merely being one of a string of projects dreamed up by someone with a tenuous connection to the county, who is so passionate about Yorkshire and loves the place so much he lives .... in London?

[BurtIsitart]

wakey28 wrote "A Symphony For Yorkshire is a project for the greater community of yorkshire. It is a community project. .." (see below) except for Yorkshire based composers .... er .. and Yorkshire based film directors and ... why not just come out and say it? You don't think anyone from or based in Yorkshire can do what Benjamin Till does! I disagree.

[BurtIsitart]

If "A Symphony For Yorkshire" receives some critical acclaim that can be taken seriously, I'll be the first to admit I'm wrong but, until other artistes, orchestras and so on start performing it and the score becomes available through serious music publishers, it's obvious it isn't being taken seriously as a work by serious musicians and if "A Symphony For Yorkshire" is not available for other artistes to perform, arranged for string quartets, brass bands, choirs etc., is it a "Symphony"?

[BurtIsitart]

I agree rw535. Our precious county deserves something nurtured over time by people with a genuine passion for the project rather than it merely being something for Benjamin Till to rattle off between "Coventry Market" and Pepys Motet". Yorkshire definitely has the talent and it's a mystery to me why they had to go outside of the county to have this "symphony" composed.

I have the only examples of forgotten scores of works written to celebrate the Queen's Silver Jubilee in Yorkshire to draw upon

[BurtIsitart]

Oh dear. Wakey28 has managed, out of 3 comments, to have one comment removed and another marked as "spam". wakey28 fails to address my assertions that a) The quality of Benjamin Till's previous work does not justify him being hired to compose a work to celebrate an entity twice the size of Wales and b) there were already in Yorkshire composers who could have composed something as good as "A Symphony For Yorkshire" or c) film directors who could have foreseen the shots Benjamin Till "directed".

[wakey28]

sometimes I wake up and think....i'll make a video about some composer I dont like and put it on youtube. Perhaps I'll even go out of my way to find his blog, read every entry, and then comment on as much as I can in the most negative way that I can. I might even do all of this with one hand on my keyboard and the other up my a.........but then I realise that would be ever so sad...and ever so pointless...and a little creepy....so I go out to see friends instead. Something to think about? :-)

[wakey28]

A Symphony For Yorkshire is a project for the greater community of yorkshire. It is a community project...none proffesional musicians. How do you still fail to grasp the point of this? Mr Till's previous work have no bearing on this, what matters is the reaction of yorkshire people and as far as I can see, the vast majority enjoyed it. Where are you even from? Are you a stalker? You seem to follow Mr Till around the internet, trying to discredit him where possible. Did something happen to you?

[rw535]

@BurtIsitart Maybe, as you seem to know so many people who could have done it better, you could have a go at organising and bringing together something like this, with those people involved instead. Then, I think you might be more justified in making your assertions.

Do let me know when it's being broadcast, I'd be very interested to see the result.