Launde Abbey, December 2005 - Like playing in the Park!

Bruce Parry

As a relative newcomer to the "Nonsuch family" (a bit like being the new lodger) I was quite flattered to be entrusted with the task of writing a review of this very special annual weekend event.  Even better, circumstances brought this magical gathering closer to the Christmas season, which may never happen again, so let's count ourselves privileged, I'm going to call our Sunday lunch a Christmas dinner. 

Amongst happiness there is always sadness and we are very aware of those who have passed away (as attributed during the AGM (as opposed to passing away during the AGM - ed.)) who could not be with us at Launde and I am sure that every single person was thinking of them and wishing they were there. 

Additionally we were missing those who were too ill to attend and wished them a speedy recovery for the 2006 event. 

Standing in Launde Abbey's buildings and grounds watching this unique musical gathering take place reminded me of another happy place (tenuous link here) across the Atlantic in Memphis,  where I visited in 2004 Mud Island on the banks of the Mississippi river.  This is an island park with a replica scaled down Mississippi river, complete with running water, built of concrete from one end of the park to the other, absolutely to scale.  (see www.mudisland.com).  Here on Sundays, musicians of all types gather in groups playing in the park, not busking or begging, just for the joy of playing in the open air.  Black, white old and young, they gather together in small groups to play and picnic with all manner of acoustic instruments.  Could we do this in our parks?  I don't know - perhaps we could find out. 

My point here is that this musical connection brings everyone together, no discrimination, no snobbery, no elitism, and this is the joy of Launde Abbey, a rare happy place that you find every now and then. I think that all our American friends who visited Launde in 2004 would have found these elements. 

I'm not going to list the names of who did what, how and when they did it, or even why.  I think this can be a little tedious, so this will be an overall aesthetic viewpoint of what we all did, a moment in time so to speak.

Organisation was superb, we were treated to plenty of the more informal types of classes, talks and workshops.  This I think worked well and it was a joy to see everyone exchanging information as well as learning new techniques and methods in both Mountain and hammer Dulcimers (Let's not forget autoharps, violins, bodhran, drums, flutes, hurdy gurdy, piano and more percussive instruments than I have ever seen together (outside a rain forest that is!). 

For any prospective newcomers reading this, whether in a folk club, music society, poetry group or just beginning to learn an instrument, this gathering at Launde Abbey will always welcome you, so why not join Nonsuch, even if its just for the newsletter and see how it goes.  Lots of information in there. 

We had a terrific film shop (on a laptop computer) and photo set of the art of Yang Qin, Chinese and far eastern hammer dulcimer players at the recent Beijing festival.  I would love to have seen this on a big screen set up.  (Why are Chinese and far eastern cultures so good at everything?  We know really don't we - absolute dedication from childhood, and did you see those long thin hammers?)  I guess that their National instrument being the Yang Qin is really the equivalent of probably our most played instrument, the Piano. 

Then of course there was the outstanding Saturday night show with many participants playing, singing, reading poetry and dancing (I've said it before and I'll say it again- you couldn't go out and buy tickets for a show like this if you tried).  It's an inspiration!  I personally wish I had gone up on the stage to perform something, just to be part of it - something simple, but the nerves got the better of me and of course I bottled out!  Next time I am resolute to go up and do something, others must have felt the same way, next time we must try and contribute. 

How well we were looked after by our host and staff throughout the weekend.  Food and drinks were excellent.  It must have been a first for the vegetarian dishes to sometime outweigh the non vegetarian dishes at mealtimes - what an unusual occurrence in such a large group of people!  Our host also gave us a very interesting talk about the history and provenance of Launde Abbey with all of its archaeological changes and links to famous people.  How fortunate that so much restoration and preservation work has been carried out over the years to preserve what we have today.  This time around I actually managed to visit the Chapel and cellars of this beautiful building.  At the end of the weekend on Sunday afternoon, there was a resounding group carol singing session to set us on our way home in the Christmas spirit. I think everyone did really well learning these carols in completely different arrangement from those we are all sued to.  A small fall of snow, just at the end of the afternoon (nothing serious mind!) would have been a perfect world, but it was not to be, so maybe it's still to come.  It was a really good break before the onslaught of the usual Christmas panic!

Let's thank everyone at Launde Abbey and all of our committee members and helpers who made this memorable weekend so special, a true moment of time and a real walk in the park together 

Bruce Parry

Waterlooville

 

Annual Weekend Report - Last updated  16 March 2006