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A Long Night's Journey Into Day
Written by Hugh Davidson and David Lang   
Saturday, 16 January 2010
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The Words About Music team commence proofing of Musica Fever 2010 at 2:30am

Sleep is a wonderful thing. Why else would we have so much of it, every day? Unfortunately, for Words About Music (WAM) participants, sleep is of secondary importance when set alongside 'the deadline'.

Yes, the deadline – that nemesis of sleep. That moment of truth that looms large in the minds of every aspiring writer. And Thursday night, the WAMmers had to contend with the mother of all deadlines: Musica Fever.

Forged in the crucible of the first ever National Music Camp, Musica Fever has become an annual tradition. Times were different then, back in 1948. You could buy a cup of coffee and a local newspaper, and still get change back from a shilling. You also had three weeks of Music Camp in which to formulate your ideas.

So for this year’s WAMmers, we were working not only with a drastically reduced schedule (a mere two weeks as opposed to the original three), we were also writing against history – a particularly appropriate cliché, given that the theme of this year’s magazine was ‘respecting the past’.

And respect it we did, devoting almost the entirety of the magazine’s 28 pages to musings and reminiscences of the Camp’s 62-year history. This year's Fever featured profiles of Music Camp alumni who were here as tutors, an article on Canberra luminary Ernest Llewellyn (whose name adorned the Camp’s principal concert venue) as well as musical games and a (rather Spartan) crossword.

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Proofing at 3am and still standing
Such a monumental undertaking was not without its tribulations (the entire magazine had to be written, edited and formatted by Friday morning), though nothing that couldn’t be fixed with a surfeit of Redskins, Minties, and YouTube music videos.

Bedraggled and near-somnambulant, chief editor Claire Tomlin and tutor Angela Turner and a team of proof-readers worked into the early hours of Friday morning, before emerging with the finished product – one that the WAM team is extremely proud of.

A special thank you to everyone involved in the project, and a strong recommendation to readers to check out the link to the online edition of the magazine – you will not regret it.

© Hugh Davidson and David Lang
 
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Gustav Mahler will have celebrations over two successive years in 2010 and 2011: this year is 150 years since his birth (1860), and next year will be the centenary of his death (1911).