Confluence

Music at the Source

The National Trust's delightful and atmospheric gardens at Stourhead in Wiltshire was the venue for a unique gathering to celebrate the source of the River Stour, which rises on the estate in Six Wells Bottom. This was a moment to savour the breadth of music created by the people of the Stour valley for their river. All the corners of the Garden resounded with music and song, including the Grotto, the Gothic Cottage, the Temples of Flora and Apollo, the Lily Pond, the Turf Bridge, the church and the Spread Eagle Courtyard. The event brought together Shreen Harmony, Shades of Blue, Pipeworks, the Cutwater Band, Watershed, as well as members of the Confluence Performing Club. Other groups and soloists from the valley joined us, among them Jubilate, The Farrant Singers, The Gravellers and The Accord barbershop groups, the new Stour Villages Choir (from Buckhorn Weston, Kington Magna, Fifehead Magdalen and West Stour) as well as the Kraterkoor choir from Holland.

There was also an informal concert in the packed church of St Peter at 5.30pm to round off the day's events.

Thousands of people, including National Trust members, people who had come because of the music, and people on a day out on a glorious sunny day, were enchanted by the great diversity of music which appeared from the most surprising places, whether beneath wooded groves, in 18th century classical temples or simply wafting across the magical lake.

"The day was an absolute delight" reported the Blackmore Vale Magazine, echoing the many informal comments overheard during the day and in subsequent personal communications. Many have expressed the hope that the event can become a regular, annual event in the gardens, and the National Trust have expressed an interest in linking with us again for future activities.

Helen Porter writes about the experience of organising and choreographing such a large scale event:

We were very keen to do something at Stourhead towards the end of Confluence for two reasons. Firstly, because it is where the Stour first rises, and secondly, because it seemed appropriate to connect with the source of the Stour whilst we were also working at the sea in Christchurch. The National Trust at Stourhead were also enthusiastic, and so eventually we decided to broaden our plans from simply including the choirs and singing groups who had worked with us, or who had responded to an invitation to take part, to include all kinds of music groups from larger bands to soloists.

A number of locations around the gardens were chosen as ideal places for musicians to perform. These included not only the obvious small buildings such as the gothic cottage, temple of Flora and the Pantheon, but also the turf bridge, the courtyard, and a number of shady spots in the gardens.

Most groups played fifteen to twenty minute sets, but had the opportunity of repeating the set three times during the afternoon. This meant that groups who had worked hard at getting their songs and music together had more than one chance to perform, and each time performed in front of a new gathering of people. The audience moved around the gardens, while the performers stayed in the same spot. The gardens felt full of music, but there are so many locations that it would be possible for ten times the number of groups to participate if there were plenty of time to organise them.

The vocal group Kraterkoor from the Netherlands were put up by members of Shreen Harmony. The Dutch were treated to warm and generous hospitality, and the English hosts felt happy to be able to give such a welcome to fellow singers. This could happen again on a larger scale, as there were many people from Shreen Harmony alone who offered to put up the visitors from abroad.

It would be wonderful to involve more groups from abroad in future such event, if they would be willing to participate for the pleasure of it. None of the local groups were paid to be involved - they all accepted the invitation because they responded to the idea of performing music outdoors to celebrate the source of the Stour. Giving the groups a theme to work with also worked very well. All of the groups took on the idea of performing songs and music with watery connections, and this also served to connect all of the 150 performers.

Giving information to the performers in advance was very important. Outdoor events can be chaotic for musicians, but clarity of information can help to allay fears. It was also helpful to have a National Trust Steward present with each group of performers. We were also lucky with the weather - The National Trust did not want musicians to perform inside any of the buildings, because of their fragility, so many of the performances would not have been able to take place had it rained.

Beccy Speight, the National Trust's property manager at Stourhead, wrote "it really was a quite magical experience to see the Garden brought to life in such an enchanting way... We all thought that the relaxed happy atmosphere was wonderful and rather unique to the event". It is hoped that the day might be repeated in future years.