Challenge Mini-Games Challenge (Now Open For NEW 2024 Challenges!)

That's awesome! I am glad that this prompt was so inspiring for you.

I'm adding this to the index now.

 

@Pandora , I am pleased to report that I have finished a brief Gand story response to your (Surrealist) (Woman) challenge:

As with a Mantle

 

I am now pleased to introduce a roulette challenge inspired by one of my favorite living composers...

Stories from Silence: An Arvo Pärt Roulette


Photo by Birgit Püve, courtesy of The Arvo Pärt Centre
​

Estonian composer Arvo Pärt (b. 1935) is one of the best known and most influential still-living composers. His music is known for its serene and atmospheric—some might say "minimalist," others even say "silent"—character, created in large part by the harmonic and sonic stability characteristic of his signature tintinnabuli ("bells") style of composition. He is an Eastern Orthodox Christian, and while his religious faith and sacred themes inform many of his works, they have been enjoyed worldwide by listeners of all religious persuasions (or none at all). He has written for staggering variety of imaginable vocal or instrumental combinations, and his vocal works are in a wide variety of languages ranging from his native Estonian to English, German, Latin, and Church Slavonic.

For this roulette I have chosen five pieces by Pärt for various vocal combinations, with or without the participation of instruments. They include pieces based on both sacred and secular themes; for the sacred pieces, I made sure to choose ones whose texts can be interpreted ecumenically. Here is what to do:

1. Choose a number from 1 to 5 to receive a piece. I will link you to the corresponding page on the website of the official Arvo Pärt Centre. Everything you need will be there—a recording of the piece, its text (with translation, if it's not in English), information on its performing forces / instrumentation, and explanatory background.
2. You are of course always welcome to search for further recordings on YouTube and similar sites.
3. As a purely optional bonus, you may choose one or more of the following quotes from Pärt to inspire your story in addition to the piece you received. It's OK for more than one person to choose the same quote(s)!
   • “The silence must be longer."
   • "I have nothing to say . . . Music says what I need to say."
   • "One person prefers a flower in his vase, another one a thistle. You have to admit: This is beautiful, too."
   • "I peel potatoes, that calms me down."
   • "The human voice is the most perfect instrument of all."

So go ahead: choose, be inspired, and write!

Index
1. Mira_Jade: Solfeggio (1963, SATB chorus unaccompanied; recording here)
2. Kahara: My Heart's in the Highlands (2000, countertenor or alto with organ; recording here)
3. WarmNyota_SweetAyesha: Da pacem (2004/6, SATB chorus unaccompanied; recording here): Resolve for Keeping Peace
4. amidalachick: Sei gelobt, du Baum (2009, for baritone, violin, quintern, and double bass; recording at link)
5. devilinthedetails: Littlemore Tractus (2000, SATB chorus and organ; recording here)

Ad-hoc entries (if anyone chooses!)
Findswoman: My Heart's in the Highlands (2000, countertenor or alto with organ; recording here): Topatoes (My Heart Is Not Here)

 

Absolutely, Nyota! For no. 3, you receive Da pacem (2004/6, for SATB chorus unaccompanied). Again, the link will take you to a page that tells you all about the piece and its text, and includes a recording. Need anything else, just let me know!

EDIT: Oh shoot! I just noticed that the page for your piece doesn't include a recording; sorry about that! I thought they all did. Here is one.

 

Ooh, may I have lucky #5 please, @Findswoman

 

You are so welcome—glad you like!

For sure! No. 5 is Littlemore Tractus (2000, SATB chorus and organ). This is one of my own personal favorites, and five years ago I wrote a story here that was inspired by it. Here, too, unfortunately, there isn't a recording on the informational page, so you can listen to one here.

 

My gosh, but I love this!

May I have #1 please, @Findswoman?

 

Of course, Mira! No. 1 is Solfeggio (1963, SATB chorus unaccompanied). This one doesn't have any verbal text—the choir sings sustained notes on the solfege syllables do, re, mi, fa, so, la, si. Here is a recording.

 

No worries, you certainly may have no. 4! And please don't feel like you're hogging it in any way, because you're not—anyone who wants can write for any of these musical prompts on an ad-hoc basis. Thus if someone else comes across this or any of the pieces in this challenge and feels inspired to write a story in response, I'll gladly index it along with the others!

For no. 4 you receive Sei gelobt, du Baum (2009, for baritone, violin, quintern, and double bass). There's an interesting story behind the inspiration for this piece that you'll see on the informational page. And you'll find there not only the text and its translation (way at the bottom of the page) but also a recording!

 

Absolutely, my friend, it is yours! No. 2 is My Heart's in the Highlands (2000, countertenor or alto with organ). It is set to a text by the Scottish poet Robert Burns (1759–96). Here is a recording.

 

Yay, that’s fantastic! Got it indexed; thanks so much!

 

Me again, pleased to present an ad hoc entry to my own Arvo Pärt Roulette challenge. It stars Zeb and is based both on Pärt's piece My Heart’s in the Highlands (2000; recordings here and here) and the Pärt quote "I peel potatoes, that calms me down":

Topatoes (My Heart Is Not Here)

 

For the Story Building Challenge, I am happy to share that I have started [Victoria] Your Miles of Shore.

Now, to get to work on the dozens of other challenges that I still have outstanding. I feel like a proud (manic?) collector of prompts, with such a sparkling array to show for my impetuous ways, but a deficit of stories to go with them.

 

@Thumper09 It is my pleasure to announce that I have written A Lesson on Coruscanti Literacy Rates as a response to my assigned quote for the Calvin and Hobbes Philosophical Quotes Challenge

Thank you for the excellent quote and inspiration

 

Of course that's okay! I'll add your second choice to the index, too.

 

And here I am, still chipping away at my dragon's hoard of prompts at a glacier's pace. This time, I'm happy to share [Victoria] Her and the Sea for the Nightwish "Ocean Souls" Roulette.