What is a Festival?

“Pigeons on the grass alas…..They might be very well they might be very well very well they might be.”

The first time I heard him speak, Virgil Thomson began with these lines of Gertrude Stein. He had set them many years before in his opera Four Saints in Three Acts (premiered in Hartford, CT, 1934). By the time I met him (the early ‘80s) he had achieved almost legendary status in the American musical world – a revered critic, a respected composer and, without question, one of our most profound musical thinkers.

On the afternoon of the lecture in question, Thomson was using Stein’s poetry to grab our attention; challenging us, even daring us to think about one of his pet subjects: how to set the English language to music. This coming summer at Norfolk we will challenge another generation of students with the ideas and music of Virgil Thomson. Though times and styles change, textual issues that were so important to him are just as relevant today. We expect this present group of students will find him, his music and his ideas as stimulating and as much fun as we did.

Virgil Thomson

“Stimulating” and “fun” are in fact two words that sum up what we want the entire Norfolk Festival to be for everyone – audiences, performers, students and staff. We hope people will come together to appreciate great music and enjoy each other – Music Among Friends, audience and performers – in the beautiful natural and acoustic ambience of the Battell Stoeckel Estate. At the same time, we hope that everyone will hear something while they are with us that will trigger a response (pro or con), perhaps even alter a perspective or open a new window. Ideally all of us will take something from our Norfolk experience back into our daily lives.

The objective of the blog on this, our new website that has been donated by our friends at Agent16 in New York, is to allow people to carry on a dialogue about their Norfolk experience from a distance. Throughout the year artists, audience members, students, special guests and staff will share something about their time at the Festival or the music that they love. Everyone from the Norfolk community is encouraged and, in the style of Virgil Thomson, even challenged to respond and contribute. Over time we hope these pages will become an active forum for the exchange of views on the role of chamber music in the contemporary world.

Please let us have your thoughts.

Paul Hawkshaw,
Festival Director.

For more information on the Virgil Thompson Foundation click here