Music to my ears

Saturday 1466 – 23rd June 2012.

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Back from Sorrento to a cool and wet UK ….Harrrumph!  but on my 1466th Saturday I found myself back in London. Those of you who follow regularly will remember I was there 2 Saturdays ago and that post “I thought My Heart Would Break” was disturbing.. if you haven’t seen it already you can read it here

I’m happy to report that this trip was filled with joyful things and one of them included a Royal College of Music Gamelan workshop which was held in the Royal Geographical Building – we were there for a photographic exhibition and got delightfully side-tracked . For those of you who don’t know what Gamelan is , and I certainly didn’t, here’s a quote from Wikipedia for you

” A gamelan is a traditional musical ensemble from Indonesia, typically from the islands of Java and Bali, featuring a variety of instruments such as metallophones, xylophones, kendang (drums) and gongs; bamboo flutes, bowed and plucked strings. (…) For most Indonesians, gamelan music is an integral part of Indonesian culture”

That sums it up pretty well and you can hear lots of examples on YouTube

The instruments were all set out, along with floor cushions, and a lovely man from the RCM invited participants both adults and children to make up the “orchestra”  which he conducted; using his hands to start and stop each instrument. The sound was so joyous and uplifting.

He also let a couple of others have a go at conducting, including my friend pictured below, which was pretty cool 🙂 

Here are some photos which I hope capture some of the joy as well as the concentration.

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Below is my favourite photo from the session. I took several shots of this beautiful little boy who was joining in with his dad. Just look at the dreamy concentration on his face as he watched the conductor.

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To the father of the little boy – as you know I have several other photos of your son and of you with him. If you’d like them I would be happy to send them to you. My email is on my “about” page.

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That’s all for today Saturday girl signing off .. see you next week.

 I also have a daily photography blog called Helen’s Photomania which you can find here I hope you’ll pop over and take a look if you haven’t already.