More of Thursday

Hello again!

Moving on . . .

Yesterday was really lovely.  The coach drive into London was trouble free and with very few holdups which is amazing for London around five o'clock.  The coach dropped us off near St Paul's and I found a Greggs with a loo - very important, that loo, given the loo arrangements in St Paul's. - where I treated myself to a coffee and (bad me) a sausage roll and wiled away the time on my phone.

A terrible photo but it was taken from my seat so you can see how good it was.  We were about eight rows back from the platform and that light on the left is the conductor's podium.

There were three works.  The first and last were Sir John Rutter compositions and he conducted all three.  The orchestra was the Royal Philharmonic and the chois was the Bach Choir.  Could that be any better?

The first, which was a world premier (it has been recorded) was 'I'll make me a World', a creation celebration using words from a collection of words and poetry called God's Trombones: Seven Negro Sermons in Verse by James Weldon Johnson.  No, I haven't heard of it either but I loved the words.

It starts:
And God stepped out on space
And he looked around and said:

I'm lonely -

I'll make me a world . . .

It was jazzy, bluesy, gospel-y with hints of Broadway and a big dollop of Rutter and it was gorgeous.  
A bit more . . .

Then the green grass sprouted

And the little red flowers blossomed

The pine tree pointed his finger to the sky

and the oak spread put his arms, the lakes cuddled down in the hollows of the ground,

And the rivers ran down to the sea;

And God smiled again . . .

Here's a link to the whole poem.  I really love it . . .

https://poets.org/poem/creation

The second work was Symphony No.5 in D major by Ralph Vaughan Williams.  Now, I love Vaughan Williams music so, although I didn't know this one, I really enjoyed it.  The programme notes described it as 'not absolutely a symphony of peace . . . but one grasping determinedly towards it' and, yes, you could hear the initial interplay conflict between the keys of C and D major and the final, triumphant closure on a resonant D major chord.

And the final work was 'The Gift of Life' which Rutter wrote in 2015.
Again, it was a collection of poems/songs, the poems coming from a variety of sources.  
Rutter said 'I wanted to write an anti-Requiem, a celebration of live.  But whereas there's a laid down text for the Requiem Mass . . .  there's nothing formal in Christian liturgy to celebrate life.'

So he invented one and it was just lovely.  Six movements of sections and I particularly loved 'The Tree of Life', a folk song-y, Appalachian like freshness (says the programme and I agree) with a beautiful melody, heart warming harmonies and some wonderful phrases for solo brass and woodwind.

And wow - that man!!  Eighty and he directed that huge choir and orchestra with humour, energy and absolute authority.  His character really comes out in his music and, while I know his many Christmas carols best, I was enthralled by both of these works.  I feel so privileged to have been able to be there.

Sorry - I know I have gone on but it was a lovely experience . . .

Back to normal (whatever that means) tomorrow.  xx