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The Summer Week 2004 in Svalöv
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This year's summer week,
held once again in the very pleasant surroundings of the Fridhems
folkhögskola in Svalöv was another chance for musical friends,
both old and new, to get together and spend our days singing and making
music. |
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The culmination of the week's
main work was the concert which we were lucky enough to perform in
the beautiful Cathedral in Lund. |
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During these weeks the near
125 participants meet every morning and evening for challenging and
rewarding rehearsals, which are cleverly designed to suit singers
of various abilities and levels of experience, led by conductor Richard
Cooke. This year the main pieces were Bernstein's "Chichester
Psalms" and Tippet's "Five Negro Spirituals" amongst
others. |
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Singers may come alone or
with their family and while rehearsals for the main Choir take place,
children are catered for by experienced and enthusiastic leaders who
provide a full programme of musical and entertainment activities in
a safe and friendly environment. |
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Free time is also available
every day and many people use this to get together and make music
of all kinds in small or large groups. Very often these groups perform
at the nightly "Soiree"along with any other entertainment
people can offer. Afternoons may also be spent in the garden with
a good book, exploring the local area or just relaxing. |
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Later on each evening there
is a chance to get to know each other better over a beer or a glass
of wine and a snack in the cosy atmosphere at the "Nattcafe". |
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Every music week has a very
special atmosphere; bringing together musicians with a common interest
and enthusiasm. Newcomers always receive a very warm welcome and soon
begin to feel part of the family that is Music Weeks in Sweden. |
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It is a stimulating, fulfilling
experience that is not quickly forgotten! |
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Alison Goodall |
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Views
of the Summer Week by a "First Timer" |
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Translated from Swedish
by Ulf Bilting |
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So, we were finally on our
way... Last week of July and the singing adventure "Music Weeks in
Sweden" could begin. |
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More precisely: on July
25, after an odyssey on trains through parts of Sweden, we were approaching
Svalöv, a little village in Skåne with its own "Systembolag"
(closed for lunch 13.00-14.15) and bakery (closing 13.30), neighbouring
castles Trolleholm and Trollenäs not forgetting the metropolis
of Eslöv. After only a year of persuasion (!) we had decided
to go to choir camp. Family and collegues were looking strangely at
us: "Camp? At your age?!". |
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Finally arriving, strange
faces everywhere, laughs and hugs in corridors and halls. "Does everyone
know each other here?", I had time to think before being thrown into
the restaurant where grown-ups, youngsters and children crowd around
the good food served at the folk high-school. After that, ready for
SINGING and our first rehearsal with Richard & Richard, our conductor
and our identically named pianist. |
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It was a great first encounter,
just getting more and more entertaining as the week progressed. We
became acquainted with new and old composers and with classical and
less obvious pieces. Hebrew is in a league by itself, but even English
was taken into a new dimension under Richard's humorous guidance...
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Rehearsals were often demanding
but incredibly entertaining. Days passed quickly, soirées followed
soirées where all kinds of fantastic talents presented anything
from Hellsing and Purcell to a song-and-image documentary about Eslöv.
Barbecue partying at sunset, hunting for children adrift and getting
notes right in the music house. Evenings turned into nights at the
night café where the number of beers increased gradually. |
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Suddenly it all became
serious: the cathedral in Lund, the dress
sticking to my back, remember the beat and the small notes!
Glöm inte the arrows or you may be a semi-tone down... And then
- finished. Where did it go, is it over, have we been here a week?
Already?! |
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Break up, departure and
good-bye, feeling empty and sad. But Richard said "Do come back."
and there is only one answer - "I certainly will!" |
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Katharina Fahlstedt
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