Since the traffic is on the left rather than the right, pedestrians must ALWAYS look right before crossing. When the Green Man is on, it is safe to cross. If not, you take your life in your hands. If you cross when the light shows a Red Man and you get hit by a car or bus, your family will get sued for the damage to the vehicle. So the world on the streets is intense to say the least. At the same time, there is an element of safety in that we are all in the same boat. People are polite and helpful and I have not felt any degree of danger other than from the traffic.
As I walked to the Handel House which is where George Frederik Handel, famous for Messiah and Water Music, lived and died during the last half of his life, I began thinking about the night before when I attended Cosi Fan Tutte by Mozart. Being of small means in London, I chose the standing only ticket for the opera. I was allowed to lean on a velvet lined bar behind the main seating area. Royal Opera House is beautiful with ornate gold and red seats and fixtures. Small enough to hear everything yet large enough to seat many people, the hall is ideal for opera and ballet. Without dwelling unnecessarily on the event, I do want to mention the incongruities of the production. They wore today's clothes and spoke in today's idioms, replete with cell phone usage and comical humor of our current world. And yet, at the same time, the music was purely unadulterated Mozart with a full orchestra and wonderful singing on the stage. The singers were incredible and shockingly attractive. Gone are the large, weighty singers of the old days and in are the model types with great voices. Kind of intimidating to us regular folks!
Arriving at the Handel House, I was met at the door by an Asian woman with an English accent. She was quite helpful and when I asked about Jimi Hendrix she became quite lively and mentioned how he lived in the same building of George Frederik Handel. More talk of Jimi than of Handel, I left full of the paradox of the lives of the great composer Handel and the vastly influential Jimi Hendrix.
Making my way on the tube and walking several more miles, I arrived at the Royal College of Music. I was disappointed, however, with the museum of instruments: small, keyboard oriented, and not very informative except for a nice area about Mahler. On the way out of the well-known College, I stopped to listen to a rehearsal in Benjamin Britten Theatre. I was strangely pleased to hear an out of tune piano. Kind of makes things more real to know they have similar struggles to my world back in Texas.
A brief time at Royal Albert Hall which is located across the street from the Royal College of Music and I headed home. A good night's sleep and we were up early to get on a bus for The White Cliffs of Dover. A nearly two hour trip on the bus, and we exited to see the sight of the famous cliffs that guard the English Channel. We then headed up to the cliffs, walked toward the large Dover Castle, and had a stunning tour of the tunnels located under the castle that were used in WWII to treat the wounded and help soldiers and citizens escape from Nazi Germany takeover. The stories of the past came alive as I could feel the fear of the people in the tunnels working hard to help their fellow Englishmen survive.
Time was short, so we returned to the bus (quite a hike) and headed over to the grandest Cathedral I have experienced. The Canterbury Cathedral. Given to St. Augustine in 597 AD, the Cathedral stands as one of the most beautiful and important institutions in British history. With over 2000 services per year, it remains active in spite of its age and magnitude. This large, sprawling church with a stunning nave, a dark and purposeful crypt, and many adjoining rooms, has some of the most incredible stained glass work on the planet. Stories of the past are told in the windows and the floors as well as thrones, the archways, and the courtyards. After the tour where we learned of the stunning martyrdom of Thomas Beckett, we humbly bowed to the Lord in a service called Evensong. The expressive choir sang music of Herbert Howells and Edward Elgar. Powerful, sublime, yet personal, the service stands out as a highlight of the journey.
Arriving home in exhaustion, partly due to the gripping emotional experiences of the day, I turned in with thoughts of how the past shapes our future. Our lives on earth are short but our purpose and our significance can be eternal. The Archbishop of Canterbury, Thomas Beckett, lives on today and his story is told as a testament of dedication and the power of truth.
No comments:
Post a Comment