ARCA residential courses - blog

Just in time…

Dillington Blog — Fri, 25 May 2012 14:32:05 +0000

Summer has finally arrived… and just in time for a wedding this weekend. The House is all spruced up and the gardens have been given their final weed inspection. It promises to be a glorious day for the happy couple and their guests.

Dillington is a wonderful place to stay in all weathers but in the summer, when the gardens are at their very best, it is undoubtedly one of the best places in the West Country. Given the daily gloom we hear about Greece, Spanish banks, Euroland and the flat-lining economy in this country, seeing the trees clothed in their new bright green leaves and the shorn sheep in the park makes you think that there is another of thinking about the world. Of course, the economic state of the country and that of our European neighbours is critically important but the news can weigh down heavily on our psyche and we must be wary of the effect that has upon us individually and as a society.

So tomorrow will be a glorious and happy day for at least two people, their friends and families. It is excellent to think that we contributed to the proceedings and will be part of the memories for years to come.

Tutors confirmed for Baroque Chamber Music Summer School

Benslow Music — Tue, 22 May 2012 00:00:00 +0000

Joel Raymond and Catherine Mackintosh join Julian Perkins for our annual summer baroque fest

Late Booking Discounts

Benslow Music — Tue, 22 May 2012 00:00:00 +0000

This page is regularly updated with our latest offers

Extraordinary Exmoor

Dillington Blog — Mon, 21 May 2012 09:45:31 +0000

Exmoor is a remarkable place. It is the least visited National Park with few of honey pots to attract the hoards. It also has the most bizarre prehistoric archaeological remains. Consisting almost entirely of small stones set into the ground – the majority of which are barely more than a foot or so high – these ‘stone settings’ have defied any convincing interpretation. Well that is until now. Professor Chris Tilley has put forward a credible account that these ‘stone setting’ locations were assembly and waiting places for the seasonal hunting of red deer. Their positions overlook the coombes from whence came the deer to graze on the open moor. They are also mainly in locations which are down wind to the prevailing winds. Chris Tilley suggests that hunting for deer on Exmoor has probably gone on from the Mesolithic through to the present day with little interruption. Now that’s something to reflect on!

These ideas, and a detailed examination of the evidence, were explored this past weekend. The visit up onto the moor was a great success thanks to wonderfully kind weather – mild, dry and windless. Given the sodden weeks we’ve endured recently the ground was astonishingly dry, a fact suggesting that the dry winter past had desiccated the peat and any recent moisture had simply been absorbed very deeply.

There’s always one! – coping with different singing abilities in a small group

Chris Rowbury — Sun, 20 May 2012 09:00:00 +0000

Sometimes in a small group there is just one person out of step with everyone else.

In a large choir, it’s not too much of a problem, but the smaller the group, the more noticeable it is. How can we deal with this?

Normal service has been resumed!

Chris Rowbury — Fri, 18 May 2012 16:33:00 +0000

Some of you may have had difficulty finding this blog these last few days.

My apologies. I changed website host and have only now just managed to link the blog to my website address.

Did ya miss me?

The roar of success!

Dillington Blog — Mon, 14 May 2012 11:16:57 +0000

Manchester City’s winning of the Football League yesterday was nail-biting stuff, their victory snatched, as it was, from their arch-rivals a few miles away. Dramatic as it was, I am sure we are all quietly pleased at the breaking of United’s dominance of the so-called Beautiful Game. At Dillington yesterday, our own little crowd celebrated with a roar of appreciation too when the Brodowski Quartet (plus two extras) played the final chord of Tchaikovsky’s ‘Souvenir de Florence’. I don’t think I’ve ever heard such a reaction from an audience at Dillington before! Their concert was a outstanding. First a performance of Schulhoff’s Five Pieces followed by Haydn’s last quartet. Tom Hankey (viola) and Oliver Coates (cello) joined the quartet after the interval for the Tchaik. The work is most often heard in the version for string orchestra so it was excellent to hear it in its original form for string sextet. Not that the smaller scale made any difference. The richness of the writing and the panache of the players made the whole thing seem much grander than the head count would suggest. Bravo, bravo to the Brodowskis and to Man City, I say.

When is singing jargon not singing jargon?

Chris Rowbury — Sun, 13 May 2012 09:00:00 +0000

Jargon is a useful shorthand for people in the know. But for those outside our world, it can be confusing or even meaningless.

We might think we’re being clear, but how can we be sure that everyone understands what we’re trying to get across?

Escape to the Country…

Dillington Blog — Fri, 11 May 2012 10:24:41 +0000

This week has been a bit special. We played host to a film crew making a programme for the Escape to the Country television series. Although the weather has been pretty awful, as it has been everywhere, the big thrill was to have Aled Jones staying! He was obviously presenting the show and thought Dillington was simply wonderful. They filmed in the dining room and the garden and also took shots of the exterior from the front and a long shot up the park to the back of the house. Of course most of the filming was away at the properties under scrutiny including on Exmoor with wet jackets to the ready I’m sure. They say you should always see a house in the winter or in the rain – in other words, to see it in the worse light, so that when the sun comes out everything looks great. We understand that the programme will be broadcast in the autumn. I can’t wait to see ourselves on the box!

Michael Procter 1951 – 2012

Benslow Music — Fri, 11 May 2012 00:00:00 +0000

Benslow Music’s former Director, editor, conductor and leader of many choral courses