Dowland day
Oct. 17th, 2026 09:38 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
queen_ypolitaOn the train home from Brighton. I set out this morning to make it in time for the 1pm daytime concert and stayed for the earlier evening one at 6.30pm. On the programme, the last concert of the day started at 9pm, at a club, but I never considered going to it, even if I'd been planning to stay over.
The Dowland day had apparently come about with the festival asking for Dowland proposals and receiving so many great ones they had decided to make a day of it. The afternoon concert was night-themed, which perhaps was not the most obvious choice for a gorgeously sunny day, with tenor voice, lute and a viol group. They sounded lovely. The evening concert was lovely too, four singers, lute and viol, interspersed with readings of contemporary texts. The programme also included a piece by a contemporary composer.
In between concerts, I went to the seafront for a while and did some aimless wanderings in the shops around Orchard Square. And I successfully resisted buying any new books, although I made a note of a couple.
Trains to Brighton worked out fine, although there was a bit of extra stress at the start when I was surprised by the train not already being on the platform, and having no platform on the board. The app suggested there had been a train swap, which I guessed meant that it would depart on one of the platforms furthest out across the footbridge. So I started making my way that way and was proved correct. We were still on time at Gatwick. The journey planner had suggested I'd have 10 minutes to change, but with that train being behind schedule, it was more. Everything still worked out fine in Brighton, with only about 6 minutes to walk to St. Nicholas's church. The evening concert was there too, so no need to stress about speed walking to the station, especially with the earlier start and a shorter running time.
The Dowland day had apparently come about with the festival asking for Dowland proposals and receiving so many great ones they had decided to make a day of it. The afternoon concert was night-themed, which perhaps was not the most obvious choice for a gorgeously sunny day, with tenor voice, lute and a viol group. They sounded lovely. The evening concert was lovely too, four singers, lute and viol, interspersed with readings of contemporary texts. The programme also included a piece by a contemporary composer.
In between concerts, I went to the seafront for a while and did some aimless wanderings in the shops around Orchard Square. And I successfully resisted buying any new books, although I made a note of a couple.
Trains to Brighton worked out fine, although there was a bit of extra stress at the start when I was surprised by the train not already being on the platform, and having no platform on the board. The app suggested there had been a train swap, which I guessed meant that it would depart on one of the platforms furthest out across the footbridge. So I started making my way that way and was proved correct. We were still on time at Gatwick. The journey planner had suggested I'd have 10 minutes to change, but with that train being behind schedule, it was more. Everything still worked out fine in Brighton, with only about 6 minutes to walk to St. Nicholas's church. The evening concert was there too, so no need to stress about speed walking to the station, especially with the earlier start and a shorter running time.