Go Out to the Whole World…

Well it does to the people who post here... dispassionate and reasoned debate, with a good deal of humour thrown in for good measure.

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MaryR
Posts: 141
Joined: Mon Sep 06, 2004 3:45 pm

Post by MaryR »

ssgcgs wrote:Can I join the paddling club, and is this an official fringe event?

But of course you can! I'm not sure about it being a 'fringe' event. Those are only lasting 45 minutes. I expect I'll spend at least an hour at the edge of the water before plucking up courage to put even one toe in it! I'm also not entirely sure when we'll fit it in, unless it's a midnight paddle. If that's the case, we'd better bring plenty of garlic with us!
Mary
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TimSharrock
Posts: 97
Joined: Tue May 03, 2005 1:19 pm
Location: Altrincham

Post by TimSharrock »

Enjoy the school, all you who can go this year - I looking forward to hearing reports on your return (or is anyone planning live blogging?), and maybe in a year or two I will join you!

Tim
docmattc
Posts: 987
Joined: Sun Aug 07, 2005 11:42 am
Parish / Diocese: Westminster
Location: Near Cambridge

Thanks

Post by docmattc »

Just a quick post to say thanks to all involved in the summer school. It was my first, but definitely not my last. It was great to be with so many like-minded people who understand what good liturgy is all about.
I returned hugely affirmed and enjoyed playing at my two weekend Masses far more than I have done for a very long time.
Merseysider
Posts: 430
Joined: Fri May 07, 2004 11:21 pm

Post by Merseysider »

Now we'll spend all our time wondering who you are! Someone we prayed with? Someone we drank with? (Someone we drank too much we and now owe and apology to?!?)
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mcb
Posts: 892
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Parish / Diocese: Our Lady's, Lillington
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Post by mcb »

Merseysider wrote:Now we'll spend all our time wondering who you are!

It ain't (exactly) rocket science! :-)

Anyway I warmly endorse docmattc's comments - another superb summer school, with more food for thought than I've yet had time to digest, plus a marvellous week sharing work and prayer and relaxation with people who also share so much understanding of what we're trying to do (and who the idiots are who get in the way :-)) when we contribute to making music and making liturgy in church.

There's lots more to be said about the week just gone by, but perhaps I'll leave it to someone else to tell the full story - I wrote it all up last year, and this year's experience was good in so many of the same ways!

M.
Merseysider
Posts: 430
Joined: Fri May 07, 2004 11:21 pm

Post by Merseysider »

mcb wrote: It ain't (exactly) rocket science! :-)

Yes, but I'm no better at rocket science than I am at brain surgery. I remain flumoxed!
MaryR
Posts: 141
Joined: Mon Sep 06, 2004 3:45 pm

Post by MaryR »

As one of the organisers, I'm in a slightly awkward position because, if I say I think it was a great Summer School, it sounds too much like I'm blowing my own trumpet. I do have to say, though, that it was good! :-)

I think its success had little to do with me or the rest of the organising team and a great deal to do with the people who came. It was lovely to meet old friends and wonderful to make lots of new friends, for there were more new faces than I remember in my few years of Summer School attendance. It was especially good to have so many young people with us. Youngsters from 11 to 17 took part in the youth workshop, led by Bill Tamblyn (with a little help from his friend, Miko). Bill engaged the young people in a way that only he can. What they did in their workshop fed into the liturgies and the young people made a visible and valuable contribution. If pressed, I think they'd probably say that the afternoon they spent on the beach was the most enjoyable. They came back wet and sandy and with their lips sealed about ice cream! As well as those who took part in the youth workshop, we were fortunate to have a number of other very talented young adults, who participated fully throughout the week.

As I had a fair bit of running about to do this year, I chose not to take part in the choral society and so it was a real treat to watch Nick Baty's group perform at the concert on Thursday. 'I Will Follow Him' from Sister Act was one of the most entertaining 'turns' I've seen. But then the concert revealed a wealth of talent with one of the younger participants, Ben, performing an entire Jasper Carrot sketch from memory. Miko and friends had us all guessing by chanting Beatles' songs in Latin, which the audience then had to identify. The highlight had to be a performance of something in four parts (I'm afraid I was laughing too much to take it in) on the kazoo. And the absolute best bit was when the kazoo-ists fell about laughing themselves and had to regroup, and retune, before they could continue. :-)

Aside from the fun element, I enjoyed the liturgies and the lectures, especially the personal testament by Bishop Crispian Hollis. I found the reflection on the liturgies, led by Aidan Rossier, particularly interesting. We looked at what had worked, what hadn't and why. These sessions provoked a good deal of very useful discussion.

I thought Sneaton Castle was a lovely venue (it helped that we had sunshine all week) and the staff and the community there couldn't have been more welcoming.

I must make special mention of the workshop leaders who all did a wonderful job and joined in fully with everything that went on during the week.

So, I think I can safely say I enjoyed the week and I'd venture to suggest that the summer school was a success, made so by the people who took part.
Mary
Merseysider
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Joined: Fri May 07, 2004 11:21 pm

Post by Merseysider »

MaryR wrote: The highlight had to be a performance of something in four parts (I'm afraid I was laughing too much to take it in) on the kazoo.

It was from the recapitulation of the first movement of Mozart's Eine Kleine Nachtmusik!
And we practised so hard too!
Some people!
We might have to abandon plans for next year's performance of Cosi Fan Tutti on bong pipes.
docmattc
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Joined: Sun Aug 07, 2005 11:42 am
Parish / Diocese: Westminster
Location: Near Cambridge

Post by docmattc »

Given the "late comers to the liturgists ball" and morning prayer crescent thread on this board, a reprise next year with swannee whistle solo is a must surely! Maybe even "one hymn to the tune of another". I favour Immortal Invisible to the Wombling Song!
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Tsume Tsuyu
Posts: 191
Joined: Mon Dec 29, 2003 9:40 am
Location: UK

Post by Tsume Tsuyu »

Merseysider wrote:We might have to abandon plans for next year's performance of Cosi Fan Tutti on bong pipes.

Oh please don't! My eyes are beginning to water already. :-)
TT
Merseysider
Posts: 430
Joined: Fri May 07, 2004 11:21 pm

Post by Merseysider »

Were you there too?
Didn't notice any knitting needles!
So next year, Night on the Bare Mountain on Japanese nose flutes!
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Crumhorn
Posts: 47
Joined: Sat Jan 29, 2005 7:52 pm

Thanks to everyone...

Post by Crumhorn »

A truly wonderful summer school, up there with the best of them. Particular thanks to Aidan for his wonderfully sensitive and open approach to liturgy, to Catherine for a beautiful balance of the familiar and the new in the music (and some choices we've taken straight back to use in our own liturgies) and to Nick for injecting fun and frolic without which no summer school is complete. Personal thanks to Ray d'Inverno for making improvisation less scary, much easier to understand and (when push came to getting out there and doing it) actively enjoyable. And I was deeply moved by Crispian's address -- so open, honest, and moving.

Plus, of course, thanks to everyone who organised it -- you know who you are, and you did a grand job.

Spare a prayer for us as we try to apply what we have learned in the parish -- it's going to be an uphill battle...!
Crumhorn
(Finding new uses for wonderful old ideas!)
ssgcgs
Posts: 39
Joined: Sun Nov 21, 2004 11:01 pm

Post by ssgcgs »

My personal thanks to all those that Crumhorn mentioned above, largely for the same reasons, with a few tweaks. To Nick, thanks for the golden kazoo, which my younger son has hi-jacked. To mcb, thanks for nearly winning the quiz for our team; I take great pride in not being able to identify a single native bat - what a round, and we played our joker on it!. To Ray d'Inverno, thanks for the support and inspiration - I'll learn to improvise another time - and an extra person to add: thanks to Darquise for the wonderful tips on singing technique, so clearly explained and so hard to put into practice!

I was ministered to by everyone's singing, and that is what I would like to recall when I'm feeling jaded.

There was no paddling in Whitby for me (too bracing), but I made up for it in Wales last week.

CG Sec
Do it live at a Composers' Group meeting!
docmattc
Posts: 987
Joined: Sun Aug 07, 2005 11:42 am
Parish / Diocese: Westminster
Location: Near Cambridge

Photos

Post by docmattc »

Does anyone have any photos of the summer school I could use to illustrate an article for our diocesan newspaper? Ideally photos of something happening would be better than the group shot.
Merseysider
Posts: 430
Joined: Fri May 07, 2004 11:21 pm

Post by Merseysider »

ssgcgs wrote:My personal thanks...to Nick, thanks for the golden kazoo


And thanks to ssgcgs for proving herself to be an accomplished alto kazoo player. To Jenny Burridge for playing soprano excellently and to Bill Tamblyn for showing himself to be no mean tenor kazooist.

I'd like to take this opportunity to point out that these were not original 18th century kazoos but as near perfect reproductions as we could find.
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