In An English Country Garden - Revisited


On Saturday Stourhead was filled with the sound of 1,000 voices singing their socks off and our choir provided 100 of them! Can you think of a more perfect setting than these world class gardens? ... No, I thought not.

It's the second time we've performed at The Festival of the Voice and it was just as enjoyable as the first. It was raining when we arrived and a little chilly for our first performance at the pictured Bristol Cross. However, the sun stayed out for the rest of the day so we were able to have a good walk around the lake, have a leisurely picnic and listen to some of the other 34 choirs performing. The rhododendrons were at their best and our second performance by the lake at Copper Beech was accompanied by the intoxicating fragrance of Rhododendron luteum.

Our dress rehearsal's still available online if you'd like a taste of Saturday's experience. However, I'm afraid the lack of an aromatic facility on the interweb means you'll have to provide your own special fragrance ;)

Comments

  1. Gail11 May 2009 at 13:03

    I loved the site you sent us to and spent a few minutes wondering if you were in any of the photos! It looks like a wonderful experience...I wish I could sing well! gail

    ReplyDelete
  2. Monica the Garden Faerie11 May 2009 at 14:02

    That sounds like you had a lot of fun. I wish I would sing!

    ReplyDelete
  3. Hermes11 May 2009 at 15:34

    That must have been great - and what a setting.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Anonymous11 May 2009 at 15:37

    I listened to part or all of the songs your choir performed -- how lovely! The Parting Glass was especially nice, a favourite. Like Gail, I wondered if we could see you in any of the photos. Thanks so much for sharing this.

    ReplyDelete
  5. Scattered Gardener11 May 2009 at 16:54

    Absolute bliss! LOVE Stourhead (in-laws used to live in nearby Gillingham, so we know it well) and I belong to Colliers Wood Community Choir, which also took part in WaterAid last summer - it was a lovely event. We sang Plovi Barko at the Merton Cultural Olympiad over bank holiday... perfect excuse for lolling about in the sun all afternoon between performances:-)
    Taking up singing with a group has been an absolute joy. Thanks for sharing your pleasure!

    ReplyDelete
  6. easygardener11 May 2009 at 20:06

    What a wonderful setting for your Choir extravaganza. It sounds like you had a brilliant time!

    ReplyDelete
  7. Anna11 May 2009 at 21:15

    A glorious venue VP. A friend grows rhododendron luteum - I will nip round for a whiff :)

    ReplyDelete
  8. VP12 May 2009 at 09:02

    Gail - yes I'm in a couple of them, the ones with the very large choir, so blink and you'll miss me!

    Monica - as I told Gail the other day our choir's an inclusive one, so yes you can sing!

    Nancy - thank you. The Parting Glass is such a lovely song.

    Scattered Gardener - wasn't sing for water last year great? It was my first time last year and I loved it. We'll be performing in Bristol this year and we started the first 2 songs last night as the performance is at the end of June! I sang Plovi Barko last Saturday too as one of the other choirs at Stourhead performed it and we sang it at Stourhead last year before we knew it was a Sing For Water song.

    EG - it's the absolute best :D

    Anna - you'll be bowled over by the fragrance! I can't grow it here as we're on limy soil.

    ReplyDelete
  9. Commonweeder12 May 2009 at 18:27

    I visited beautiful Stourhead in 1983 with a college garden tour. Nothing could have made that visit more dellightful - except 1000 glorious voices. Great Post.

    ReplyDelete
  10. Juliet12 May 2009 at 22:44

    I love Stourhead - we've had several holidays near there, and when we were house-hunting last year we considered buying a bungalow within walking distance - it probably wasn't suitable for us for various reasons, but I half wish we'd bought it anyway! It must have been a lovely place to sing.

    ReplyDelete
  11. VP13 May 2009 at 20:16

    Commonweeder - thanks. It was a magical day.

    Juliet - oooooh, you nearly moved to Wiltshire! It would have be good to have you as a near(ish) neighbour :)

    ReplyDelete

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