Clare and I went to the performance of Humperdink's 'Hansel and Gretel' at the Millennium Centre this evening, beautifully done by WNO. Having not heard it for many years, we were both struck by the familiarity of several of its key melodies. I guess when you've been listening to music of all kinds of the best part of sixty years that you can remember, all sorts of musical memories are lodged in the deeper recesses of the unconscious mind. If heard many times, either on BBC Radio TV or live performances, no single place, time, feeling or memory inevitably attaches itself to the sound you recollect. As a cleric, I suspect that's even truer of certain pieces of liturgical music and organ music. The music simply becomes part of who you are.
That's fine, so long as there's still an input of new music, stretching awareness. Our generation has been fortunate with the kind of access we have to music via TV and the internet from all over the world, whether ancient or fresh and new. The hunger for new statements in sound breeds a certain impatience with a vast amount of contemporary commercial production. There are so many parts of the planet whose music is different from what is familiar to satisfy some of the need for the new, but this has its limits. Music that fuses traditions from different cultures is often exciting and refreshing - representing genuine conversation between creative cultures.
The amazing innovation of our era is electronic music - amazing for its potential to explore so many different worlds of sound and rhythm. Depending on your personal taste this ranges from the exquisitely refined to the downright disturbing, from the ethereally abstract to the banal and concrete. It's a new form of musical language, but one has to remember that it issues from the humans behind the machines - strange indeed, because it rarely has the 'edge' - i.e. whatever it takes to make you sit up and take notice, which accompanies much 'fusion' music.
I love the way opera makes such powerful use of visual imagery to create a frame fo reference for hearing the music, often it seems to me - at least with WNO productions - very attentive to the cultural layers and textures that can evoke the setting of the drama. Such thought and preparation, just to allow music to speak for itself. Would that in the church we were in the habit of giving the same level of consideration to the presentation of our familiar liturgical actions! But having said that - would I know where to start in the place I am called to produce an act that makes worship possible in such a familiar context?
Showing posts with label Opera. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Opera. Show all posts
Friday, June 13, 2008
Sunday, September 23, 2007
A very varied Saturday
.
St John's Heritage Open day yesterday took place two weeks later than other locally advertised open days, largely due to our need to combine this with the annual Friends festival. Unfortunately we miss out on publicity. Heritage Open Day Organisers suggest using any one of three Saturdays in September, but put all their energies into promoting the first Saturday only. They seem to have a thing or two to learn about sustaining their own initiatives. Nevertheless, we had a steady stream of visitors during the day, to look around and climb the tower, with several church members on hand to answer questions. Philip, our organist, welcomed a dozen members of the Herefordshire organists association for a talk, demonstration and tryout of the 'Willis'.
The city centre was pretty crowded, partly due to the influx of Indian visitors from all over Britain, gathering to celebrate the Cardiff Swaminarayan Hindu Temple's silver jubilee of foundation. The community organised a festal procession from City Hall to the Temple in Grangetown, and there were over two thousand people of all ages walking through the streets accompanying a 'chariot of the gods', a mobile throne for the retinue of their head swami, visiting from India, plus several vehicles for groups of musicians singing bhajans.
I've never seen so many sari-clad women (young and old) in my life - mostly in blue or turquiose - beautiful looking people, full of joy and dignity. Different Temple communities produced large teams of young men or women dancing a simple step and accompanying themselves with percussion. Several Hindus who are prominent police officers were in evidence, and a police silver band headed up with procession, along with horses and motorcycle outriders. What was most impresssive was the complete absence of alcohol consumption - bottled water only provided - and yet the event was very exuberant. It was equally fascinating to observe to reactions of shoppers to this street stopping celebration, varying from bewilderment to fascination to annoyance at the interruption of progress by the procession. A moment to savour.
We had to leave the Friends AGM early, as we had tickets for the opera, which started early. We managed to install ourselves in our seats with just five minutes in hand before the first performance of James McMullen's 'The Sacrifice'. It was a powerful thought provoking experience, both musically and theatrically. I hope it gets the critical praise it deserves. We learned from the programme notes that the author is a Catholic. At the first interval, I realised on the way out to the bar that Archbishop Peter Smith, an occasional visitor to St John's in his capacity as a Prelate of the Order of St John, was sitting close by in the same row..He said it was his first opera visit in many years.. I wondered if he had found it as thought provoking as I did, but I didn't get the chance to ask him at the end, as he left before we did. It will certainly keep me going for a while.
Often I come away from an opera with lots to think about, as a result of something in the story-line or the way the text has been interpreted or presented. Would that the same could be said of church services I've attended.
St John's Heritage Open day yesterday took place two weeks later than other locally advertised open days, largely due to our need to combine this with the annual Friends festival. Unfortunately we miss out on publicity. Heritage Open Day Organisers suggest using any one of three Saturdays in September, but put all their energies into promoting the first Saturday only. They seem to have a thing or two to learn about sustaining their own initiatives. Nevertheless, we had a steady stream of visitors during the day, to look around and climb the tower, with several church members on hand to answer questions. Philip, our organist, welcomed a dozen members of the Herefordshire organists association for a talk, demonstration and tryout of the 'Willis'.
The city centre was pretty crowded, partly due to the influx of Indian visitors from all over Britain, gathering to celebrate the Cardiff Swaminarayan Hindu Temple's silver jubilee of foundation. The community organised a festal procession from City Hall to the Temple in Grangetown, and there were over two thousand people of all ages walking through the streets accompanying a 'chariot of the gods', a mobile throne for the retinue of their head swami, visiting from India, plus several vehicles for groups of musicians singing bhajans.
I've never seen so many sari-clad women (young and old) in my life - mostly in blue or turquiose - beautiful looking people, full of joy and dignity. Different Temple communities produced large teams of young men or women dancing a simple step and accompanying themselves with percussion. Several Hindus who are prominent police officers were in evidence, and a police silver band headed up with procession, along with horses and motorcycle outriders. What was most impresssive was the complete absence of alcohol consumption - bottled water only provided - and yet the event was very exuberant. It was equally fascinating to observe to reactions of shoppers to this street stopping celebration, varying from bewilderment to fascination to annoyance at the interruption of progress by the procession. A moment to savour.
We had to leave the Friends AGM early, as we had tickets for the opera, which started early. We managed to install ourselves in our seats with just five minutes in hand before the first performance of James McMullen's 'The Sacrifice'. It was a powerful thought provoking experience, both musically and theatrically. I hope it gets the critical praise it deserves. We learned from the programme notes that the author is a Catholic. At the first interval, I realised on the way out to the bar that Archbishop Peter Smith, an occasional visitor to St John's in his capacity as a Prelate of the Order of St John, was sitting close by in the same row..He said it was his first opera visit in many years.. I wondered if he had found it as thought provoking as I did, but I didn't get the chance to ask him at the end, as he left before we did. It will certainly keep me going for a while.
Often I come away from an opera with lots to think about, as a result of something in the story-line or the way the text has been interpreted or presented. Would that the same could be said of church services I've attended.
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