Perfuming The Posy (Lincolnshire That Is): Mvt. 2 - Harkstow Grange

First and foremost, this post is a love letter.

I can assure you that this is written through gobs and gobs of tears. Tears that I just can't help but cry at how remarkably beautiful and special this music and this perfume is.

Some things in this world (people, places, pieces or music, paintings, fragrances) just get their hooks into you from the get-go. There's nothing you can do about it. It's not a BAD thing; far from it - it's actually good. You didn't really choose to love it, you just DO!

I have been avoiding writing this post for I think at least a month now. I knew it was going to be very bittersweet. 

It is very easy for me to remember where I was...not just the place, but the room and exactly where I was IN the room. I was 15, and it's had its grip on my ever sense. Speaking of grip, that's what this movement is like to me. It's an amazing sonic hug or handhold. The sound is continuous, yet ever changing (which, is true of all emotions worth their salt) up to the final grace note...which is an aural squeeze of sorts, like what you do just before you left go.

There's this melancholic yearning to Harkstow Grange. It's the most beautiful kind of heart breaking sadness - sadness isn't even the right word for it - it's far too dynamic to be sad. There's just a sort of unexplainable beauty there. If you haven't listened to it before, please take the time now.

Finding a perfume to stand up to my unabashed love of Harkstow Grange wasn't exactly an easy task, but I settled on Edmond Roudnitska's creation Le Parfum de Thérèse. A scent of this movement alluded me for a very long time, until it just suddenly hit me what it should be. There's beauty, there's a bit of melancholia and just by sniffing LPdT, you get the sense that it is a deeply personal creation, which it is!

I've talked about LPdT before, and  don't really want to COMPLETELY reinvent the wheel, so perhaps just some very appropriate quoting! :o)

"I can say with absolute certainty that I have found "My Malle" in Le Parfum de Thérèse. I love Lipstick Rose, Carnal Flower and Geranium pour Monsieur, but they just weren't making the emotional connection that I wanted. Every time until today that I tried Le Parfum de Thérèse, I loved it, but felt a subdued melancholic elegance, mixed with a twinge on nostalgia...for what, I wasn't quite sure....

...The retro yet ahead of its time vibe coupled with the fact that it was made for the perfumers wife and was worn exclusively by her for so many years, it all made sense to me. A close familiarity with something, wanting to hold on to it while still looking ahead. This is a sentiment that I hold very dear. So there you have it, now I have "My Malle". Now, anyone want to lend me that cash to buy a proper bottle? ;-)"

But Kathleen, does DOES LPdT smell? It's REALLY hard for me to describe, because I'm just so emotionally wrapped up in it. The best way I can describe it is this: take a Classic (your favorites of the perfume days gone by), something you know you love, and wrap it in something unexpected (in this case, it's a watery melon). It's the familiar swaddled in the unexpected. You know you love it, you know you're going to love it; yet every time you get a whiff - it simultaneously breaks and overjoys your heart. THAT is why I scented Harkstow Grange with Le Parfum de Thérèse!

I've really, REALLY enjoyed this "Perfuming The Posy" series! I can't wait to tackle Strauss' "Four Last Songs"! I hope to get more in depth breaking things apart and not just giving one movement a fragrance, but giving all the different components a fragrance - kinda of like analyzing the piece, but with scents, not symbols.

In case you missed any of the "Perfuming The Posy" posts, here they are...in order!
1) Lisbon = Bond No. 9's Coney Island
2) Harkstow Grange = Le Parfum de Thérèse
3) Rufford Park Poachers = Gorilla Perfume's The Smell of Weather Turning
4) The Brisk Young Sailor = Jo Malone's White Jasmine & Mint
5) Lord Melbourne = Serge Lutens' Muscs Kublai Khan
6) The Lost Lady Found = Diptyque's L'Ombre dans l'Eau