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THE ALLEYNIAN 709
MUSIC
Since the first lockdown began, we have all been metaphorically thrown out to sea and left feeling, to use a word I have come to know very well, totally discombobulated. That word conjures a sense of confusion, of upset, of being disoriented and of trying so desperately to grapple with something for which you have no knowledge or experience or any hooks at all. But there has been one hook, and a powerful one at that: the sheer force of music and the determination to find a way to make music together. From September, we were finally allowed to return to ‘live’ learning but with the caveat that we must maintain year group ‘bubbles’ as well as appropriate social distancing. So we found a way and formed a Year 9 orchestra from our scholars and award holders, including four cellos, one double bass and three violins. It presented the immediate question of what repertoire we could possibly play. But our boys rose to the challenge, and in what cannot have been more than eight weeks, they learnt the whole of Corelli’s ‘Christmas’ Concerto Grosso, op.6 no.8, with some cellists playing the viola part or second violins. It is amazing what is possible when you put your mind to it! And the boys recorded quite a magical performance for the Winter Concert of the Pastorale from this Concerto Grosso. Another significant achievement from September was the forging ahead with a new partnership project with the local Dulwich Wood School where we have started a violin class for children in Years 4 and 5. It is a very exciting project in and of itself. But to have started and now established this project in the middle of a pandemic is quite something. The children there have responded in spades and clearly love having this opportunity to learn the violin.
Lesley Larkum describes how music has mitigated the unsettling experience of lockdown
Finally, one of the real joys for me is what has emerged through our Year 3 Strings Scheme at Dulwich College. From September, we managed to keep the regular weekly lessons going of violin, viola, cello and double bass. However, with the lockdown from January this year, it did seem that we just couldn’t do it. Then two things happened. First, we put out a call to Year 3 parents to come and pick up their son’s instrument from the South Cloisters one Saturday morning, and over half of the instruments were taken home. Second, the Junior School rallied with an incredible array of new apps and programmes, which meant that each week we could upload videos for all the boys, including a main video from me giving a weekly Colourstrings lesson for everyone, in addition to videos and instructions from the instrumental teachers. The boys then used something called ‘Flipgrid’ to upload videos of themselves performing on their instruments or on their own created ‘kitchen’ instruments, reading poems or singing or clapping. Every boy has been fully engaged through music, and it has been tremendous fun! This is, I am proud to say, a mere hint of what has been given rise to in the Strings Department and the wider Music Department during this very peculiar time. For all the difficulties, the very real limitations and the challenges of this pandemic – perhaps despite them – the joy of music in all its forms has burst through the cracks and has been created afresh. For me it is a very wonderful testament to the human spirit and how music-making is both transformative and a very human experience; and it affirms the very wonderful community we have at Dulwich College through music.
STRing
playing
THE JOY OF MUSIC IN ALL ITS FORMS HAS BURST THROUGH THE CRACKS AND HAS BEEN CREATED AFRESH
A VERY HUMAN EXPERIENCE
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