Sunday morning music

 

Have you ever heard of National Public Radio's "Tiny Desk Contest"?

NPR Music's Tiny Desk Contest is back. As of this morning, artists can submit an entry for the opportunity to play their own Tiny Desk concert, go on tour with NPR Music — and more. This isn't just another regular year of the Contest — it's the 10th anniversary, and it's going all out.

. . .

Here's how to enter:

1. Record a video of you playing one original song — behind a desk.

2. Upload your video to YouTube.

3. Submit the video on our Tiny Desk Contest website by Feb. 21 at 11:59 p.m. ET.

There's more at the link.  Entries, of course, closed on Wednesday last week.

The submission from The Boston Typewriter Orchestra caught my eye.  Clearly inspired (?) by Leroy Anderson's 1950 composition "The Typewriter", they "improved" on his approach by dispensing with the orchestra and using multiple typewriters, played (?) by clearly inspiration-frustrated performers.  They titled their piece "Selectric Funeral".

Let's set the scene with a performance of Leroy Anderson's ground-breaking (?) work by the Brandenburg Symphony Orchestra in 2012.  Sadly, the name of the soloist is not listed.

And here's The Boston Typewriter Orchestra's attempt to improve (?) on it, "Selectric Funeral".

If they win, they'll apparently go on tour with their "composition".  One trusts there'll be adequate provision for backup electricity generation in case the power goes out . . . or would a power failure merely add to the "performance art" atmosphere?

If you're interested, you'll find many previous and current entries in the Tiny Desk Contest at Youtube.

(One final question.  If the fastest ship crossing the North Atlantic wins the Blue Riband, does the fastest typist - musical or otherwise - win a Blue typewriter Ribbon?)

Peter