Thanksgiving…

Posted on November 29, 2019 by Francis

Two years ago, on the same day that friends and fellow writers met up at Paolo’s superb Cantina di Carignano for the traditional Thanksgiving lunch, organized by Lucca’s ‘Grapevine’ magazine’s indefatigable editor Norma Jean, I found myself a thousand miles away walking in a part of London which has deep resonance with the original idea of American thanksgiving.

Rotherhithe is a former area of docks which has now largely been given over to new housing. Yet the romance and hardship of sea-faring journeys, the close-knit warehouse alleys and the Thameside pubs which once served mariners and smugglers still permeate this district.

Nowhere is this felt more than in the vicinity of Saint Mary the Virgin’s church in whose graveyard is buried Christopher Jones, the captain of the ‘Mayflower’.

This iconic ship gave passage to one hundred and two of the first English puritans – the pilgrim fathers (and mothers) – in a stormy passage lasting two months to finally land them in the New World by Cape Cod, surviving the most terrible winter with few supplies and insufficient clothing.

And it was from where I stood in Rotherhithe that the eighty-foot long cargo vessel began her epic voyage from the shore of one of the oldest riverside pubs in London, aptly called ‘The Mayflower’.

I lingered by the old river and, in Conradian mind, pondered on the history that has flowed down this great waterway. I thought of those latter day refugees fleeing from religious persecution and realised that thanksgiving is more than just a harvest festival: it’s a thanksgiving for the freedom of thought that so much of the world, despite ever-present menaces, is able to enjoy thanks to the courage of so many of our forefathers and our contemporaries.

(PS. Today I am, once more, present in Italy and will gladly attend Thanksgiving at Carignano).

A Chopped-up Knight and Much Else

Posted on November 27, 2019 by Francis

Last Sunday’s concert in Borgo a Mozzano’s “il bello e il buono” series took place in the town of Diecimo which, as its name implies, is ten Roman miles north of Lucca. As an added bonus we were treated before the event to a guided tour of the town’s remarkable Romanesque pieve (parish church) by Silvia Valentini, an estate agent and local historian.

Dedicated to the Virgin Mary, the church was begun in the twelfth century by order of the Countess Matilde di Canossa (see my post on this remarkable mediaeval woman, who was also responsible for our area’s distinctive Devil’s bridge or Ponte della Maddalena, at https://longoio2.wordpress.com/2015/11/15/borgo-a-mozzanos-matilde/) .

(Our recent ‘piena’ on the Serchio)

The church, which consists of a nave, two aisles and a large semi-circular apse, is built of local dark-hued limestone blocks.

Above its entrance door is a beautiful carved lintel which our guide suggested represents the parable of the Vineyard. (See Matthew, Chapter 20, verses 1 to 6).

I particularly liked the little carvings on the apse cornice and a distinctive ‘ocular’ window. Be aware, too, that the lower of the two entrances of the campanile lead into the town gaol.

Next to the nave stands the imposing bell tower, with its characteristic succession of single, bifurcate, trifurcate and quadrifurcate windowed stages.

The pieve’s stately interior has sculptures dating from the first half of the thirteenth century.

There’s a bas-relief depicting the prophet Isaiah, two column-bearing lions and a capital with eagles.

The sad thing is that these sculptures are all that remain of a pulpit which was once on the same scale as that which can still be admired in Barga cathedral. The eighteenth century was not so appreciative and the pulpit, (or ambo as it’s technically known as), was crudely dismantled and largely dispersed.

I absolutely adore these lions: one is seen attacking the evil monster hydra:

The other is fending off an attack from a heretic who is trying to stab its throat with a dagger.

Clearly the lions are symbols of the Church Triumphant.

Other sculptures include a thirteenth-century hexagonal baptismal font demonstrating that once Roman Catholic baptism meant complete immersion – still practised by some Christian denominations to this day (e.g. the Baptists and the Church of Latter Day Saints).

There’s an outstanding Roman sarcophagus adorned with lion masks:

There’s also this strange slab depicting a knight almost hidden behind a large shield and locally known as King Pepin. Silvia theorised with regard to two odd features of this sculpture

One, it’s not that the knight is a dwarf but that the horse merely carries, as was the wont of the times, the helmet of the dead knight in a funeral procession. It’s rather like the British army’s tradition of mounting a dead warrior’s boots upside down in the stirrups.

Two, the lower part of the slab was quickly finished off by an apprentice, hence its clumsy appearance. Perhaps the knight had lost favour or his descendants failed to finish paying for the monument?

After this enjoyable and instructive visit we made our way towards the birth-house of Diecimo’s local hero, Saint Giovanni Leonardi, passing his recently-erected statue near the churchyard on the way.

San Leonardi was the youngest of seven children born to artisan parents in Diecimo. Aged seventeen, he began a ten-year study to become a certified pharmacist’s assistant in Lucca. Later, he studied for the priesthood and was ordained in 1572.

Among Leonardi’s achievements was to gather a group of volunteers to work in hospitals and prisons. He was also an important contributor to the devotional movement known as the Counter-Reformation and took much interest in the Council of Trent reforms as a result of which he founded a congregation of secular priests, the Lucca fathers, which still exists to this day under the name ‘Congregation of the Mother of God”.

Indeed, our host at San Giovanni Leonardi’s house, padre Francesco Petrillo, is a member of this order which has in recent years returned to minister at its founder’s birthplace.

He displayed to us the sweet presepi or Christmas cribs in the pieve’s sacristy which he makes himself and sells to boost church funds.

Padre Petrillo also showed us the precious collection of saintly reliquaries containing the bones of various martyrs.

There’s much more to say about San Giovanni Leonardi: his resilient personality and his friendship with Saint Philip Neri (without whom London would not have had its Brompton oratory), for example.

Leonardi was made a saint in 1938 by Pope Pius XI; his liturgical feast is celebrated on October the 9^th and his relics lie in the church in Santa Maria in Campitelli, Rome. Diecimo, however, has the honour of his birthplace and housing a museum dedicated to him:

Not surprisingly, Saint Giovanni Leonardi is the patron saint of chemists given his long career in this occupation. (I wonder how many Boots assistants know that…)

The fourth concert of the musical season promoted by the Borgo a Mozzano’s Salotti music school was an absolute treat. ..I don’t think I’ve been so enveloped by guitarists: the room was small and I was triphonically surrounded by the players. No problem, the music was brilliantly performed (and with acoustic guitars there’s no problem of anything being too loud).

The Lydian Guitar Trio is formed by Nicola Fenzi, Dario Atzori and Giacomo Brunini (the artistic director of the festival) and the programme ranged from the classical period to the present day with music by Filippo Gragnani, Astor Piazzolla, Paul Hindemith, and contemporary composers Antonio Gabriele Martinique and Luca Guidi. It was particularly enjoyable to have living composers in the packed room introducing their music and they could have had no better set of musicians to perform their adventurous offerings.

The encore was a repeat of one of four beautiful Basque tunes; it was truly an utterly memorable way to spend a somewhat intemperate evening.

If you are a Fornolian try not to miss next Sunday’s concert, on the first of December, which will take place at 5 pm in Fornoli’s parish church. It’ll be presented by our journalist in resident and master of ceremonies Marco Nicoli and is sure to be another delectable way to spend a late autumn afternoon.

Fornoli’s Fish Friday

Posted on November 25, 2019 by Francis

One doesn’t have to be a Roman Catholic to enjoy a fish meal on a Friday, although this Papal ordinance constitutes one of the five precepts of the Church. In the words of the Catechism:

“You will observe the prescribed days of fasting and abstinence from meat on the days prescribed by the Church.”

These days include all Fridays, in memory of the death of Jesus on Good Friday. In addition the fish is a symbol of Christ: Greek for fish is ΙΧΘΥΣ (ichthys), the acronym for Iēsous Christos, Theou Yios, Sōtēr which translates into English as ‘Jesus Christ, Son of God, Saviour’.

fish

Current concepts regarding personal well-being and responsibility towards that of our planet enforce the importance of fasting or having a day where meat is not eaten. This, for me, underlines the emphasis Pope Francis has given towards the safeguarding of our beautiful Mother Earth. Indeed, the Pope, following his recent visit to New Delhi, one of the world’s most fascinating but also one of its most polluted cities, has, in the latest version of the Roman Catholic catechism, placed crimes against our planets as an ecological sin.

delhi-fog-ani_650x400_61514862449

Since the second church precept states that “You will confess all your sins at least once a year” this will clearly persuade believers (and non-believers too, hopefully) to be aware of the gravity of their ecological sins whether it be failing to differentiate one’s household waste to devastating, via slash-and-burn, our immeasurably precious rain forests.

I doubt whether many of these thoughts enter the minds of those of us who queue up to wait for battered fish, soggy chips and mushy peas at their favourite outlet. However, they are clearly present in the deepest recesses of our psyche as they are in supermarkets’ publicity campaigns; a Waitrose card, for example, will give a 20% discount on fish on Fridays.

waitrose

Recently, Fornoli’s Bar Serra has created an enviable reputation for serving excellent Friday fish meals with customers booking from well outside the comune to enjoy their Piscean delicacy.

Last Friday I was invited by a friend to savour Bar Serra’s offering. That week it was ‘spaghetti allo scoglio’ which translates as pasta with seafood,’ scoglio’ meaning rock. (It’s really better to translate the dish as ‘seafood pasta’ since that word ‘rock’ might remind one of a stiff drink!)

Indeed, much of what was offered with the spaghetti could have been prised from marine rock pools as they are shell-fish. Here is an Italian-English glossary of what was served to us:

Calamari = squid
Cozze/mitilo = mussels
Gamberetto = shrimp
Scampi = scampi
Tellina = Cockle
Vongole = clams

We thoroughly enjoyed our pasta allo scoglio. The ambience was clean, light and airy, the place was not too crowded, service was prompt and with a smile and the price of euros ten which included a dessert of either tiramisu or pasta cotta, a quarter litre of wine, bread and cover represented excellent value.

Every week the seafood platter is different. Next Friday it’ll be ‘fritto misto’ (mixed fried), something we generally enjoy at Viareggio’s port but which will be particularly welcome here in rain-sodden Fornoli.

Incidentally, if one hasn’t an appetite for seafood Bar Serra serves an equally excellent two-course ‘pranzo lavorativo’ (worker’s lunch). Whatever you decide to feast on get there early on Fridays to secure a table…

If Music be the Food of Love…

Posted on November 22, 2019 by Francis

Many of my posts are about music, either to publicize concerts or to describe those I have attended. Music for me is clearly a great love whether it’s so-called ‘classical’ (a misnomer if there ever was one as ‘classical’ correctly refers to a style immediately preceding the advent of romanticism) or whether it be ‘pop’ or whether it be ‘world’ music.

My critical distinction in music is between good and bad or between music and muzak. I have a pet hate about entering into any public establishment where there is piped muzak, often at an exceedingly loud volume, and where one’s request to turn down the noise down goes unheeded. In such cases I just walk out and they lose my custom.

Love of music is both inherited and cultivated. My mother was originally destined for a career as a pianist.

Graduating with the likes of Arturo Benedetti Michelangeli at Italy’s largest musical institution, the Milan conservatoire, founded in 1807 (another graduate was Giacomo Puccini) my mother did not fulfil her pianistic ambitions since the last war changed her course towards nursing, medicine, social work and, eventually, psychoanalysis.

Conservatorio_Giuseppe_Verdi_(Milan),_cortile,_ex_chiostro_di_Santa_Maria_della_Passione_01

During Maurizio Pollini’s UK concert tour of 1997 (where he played all of Beethoven’s sonatas) I was able to arrange a back-stage meeting between my mother and Pollini, another Milan conservatoire graduate. It was interesting to hear the two discuss their student days; I was hoping that the subject of Michelangeli would crop up since Pollini had been one of his pupils and had been criticised for the increased coolness and restraint of his playing as a result of being influenced by someone my mother had described as a ‘cold fish.’ However, neither had anything negative to say about Michelangeli who I regard as one of the greatest of all keyboard players: his interpretation, for example, of the slow movement of Ravel’s G major piano concerto is utterly ravishing.

My mother’s career change, however, did not mean the end of her piano playing. Indeed, as a string player in the school orchestra I recollect playing with her an acceptable rendering of Mozart’s poignant E minor violin sonata. The black upright, with its sculpted laurel wreath on the front soundboard accompanied my mum from the time her father had purchased it at a knock-down price during a pre-war depression hit Italy to her migration to England and to Wales where a special room was built onto her cottage there. I do not know, however, where that piano is now.

My mother’s musical tastes were very clearly defined and firmly based in the nineteenth century with a few exceptions. The composers that spoke most directly to her were Chopin and Brahms.

Chopin provided her with the deepest searchings of the heart: she particularly loved the preludes but the ballades, too, much affected her: in fact I still have the old shellac 78’s Alfred Cortot recordings. (A pianist, incidentally, she much admired and about which she stated ‘his unique interpretative powers makes one completely forget his several fluffs).

Frederic_Chopin_photo

Brahms, instead, released the rebellious side of my mum’s character. She took me, with her friend Doctor Montuschi (in whose memory the Montuschi ward at London’s Whittington Hospital – where my dad spent his last night – is dedicated) to the Royal Festival Hall to hear the two Brahms piano concerti played by that great Chilean Claudio Arrau and the gipsy-like finale of the Violin Concerto was her particular favourite.

One of the highlights of my teen visits to the concert hall was in June 1974 when my mum’s ‘wunderkind’ hero, Herbert Von Karajan, came to London to conduct Brahms’ symphonies in two concerts.

kara

My mum’s concentration on the 19^th century was clearly characteristic of her generation but she mentioned with pride that one of her graduation pieces was Bela Bartok’s uncompromising ‘Allegro Barbaro’ and she was a great fan of Stravinsky.

Did my mum have any pet musical hates? There were some genres she was less than happy to listen to. She remembered the tedium of having to sit through Ponchielli’s opera ‘La Gioconda’, for example. Oddly (for me) my mum was no great enthusiast for British classical music (no Elgarian…) although she admired the high standards of English light music as exemplified by Eric Coates. Mendelssohn she did not regard very highly either. However, my mum was open to much she heard on the wireless and suffered me to introduce her to the more abstruse stuff.

If my mum had been on the radio programme ‘Desert island discs’ I feel certain that the following would be her favourite eight records:

J. S. Bach: D minor organ Toccata and Fugue.

Brahms: Violin Concerto, (Bruch’s concerto would have run a close second).

Chopin: Ballades.

Stravinsky: Petrushka.

Mussorgsky: (orch. Ravel). ‘Pictures at an Exhibition’.

Puccini. ‘Un bel di’ (Madama Butterfly)’.

Verdi. Dies Irae. Requiem.

Any Italian mountain song sung by the Coro Alpino.

…which reminds me .. The next concert in the enterprising series managed by artistic director and guitarist Giacomo Brunini and promoted by the Salotti Civic Music School of Borgo a Mozzano will be held this Sunday November 24th at 5.15 pm at the San Giovanni Leonardi Library in Diecimo.

The performer will be the Lydian Guitar Trio – Nicola Fenzi, Dario Atzori and Giacomo Brunini – who will perform music by Filippo Gragnani, Astor Piazzolla, Paul Hindemith, and contemporary composers Antonio Gabriele Martinique and Luca Guidi.

Lydian-guitar-trio

Before the concert, at 4.15 pm, it will be possible to take part in a guided tour starting from the Pieve di Diecimo to the birthplace of San Giovanni Leonardi, the venue for the concert.

Thanks to the San Giovanni Leonardi Association, the Leonardini Fathers and the staff of “Borgo è bellezza” for their cooperation in organizing the events.

All concerts are free admission with free-will offering.

To receive more information about the concert and the guided tour, please contact the following:

borgoamozzanomusica@gmail.com – Cell. 3498496612

Or visit the website at

http://www.scuolacivicasalotti.it

Not a Cello!

Posted on November 20, 2019 by Francis

Every good concert should not only be an exhilarating experience but also an educational one. This was absolutely the case with Francesco Tomei’s Viola da Gamba recital given in the delightfully venerable ambience of the San Francesco convent library at Borgo di Mozzano.

Tomei pointed out that a viola da gamba is NOT the precursor of the violoncello, which belongs to a completely different family of stringed instruments including the violin and the viola. The viola da gamba (gamba is Italian for foot) belongs to a class of instruments which date back rather earlier and which includes the viola da braccio (braccio=arm) and which in the UK were particularly popular in the seventeenth century with such luminaries as William Lawes, praised in Milton’s sonnet.

Francesco Tomei opened his recital with a suite of pieces by the mysterious Sieur de Saint-Colombe (ca. 1640–1700) whose opus was only recently discovered through a manuscript found in Tournus, a place I remember well from earlier times, when travelling by car with my parents to Italy, because of its jewel of a Romanesque church

Le Sieur de Saint Colombe – even his first name is unknown -published none of his large collection of pieces from Viola da Gamba and would only play in intimate surroundings. Among his achievements was to add a seventh lower string to the instruments, adding considerable gravitas to the gamba’s beautifully melancholic tone.

The Sieur’s reclusive existence was dealt a resounding blow by Pascal Quignard in 1991 when he published his novel based on Colombe’s life: Tous les matins du monde (‘All the Mornings of the World’), subsequently made into a film directed by Alain Corneau and starring Gérard Depardieu .

Other pieces played included a Telemann suite, again recently unearthed in the depths of a German Schloss.

The Scotsman Tobias Hume, in addition to being a musician, was a Scottish army captain with the Swedish and Russian armies. He was also a bit of a joker and this frontispiece to a collection of his works advertises a piece for one Viola da Gamba to be played by two persons, one a female sitting on the male player’s lap.

330px-TobiasHumeAyres

Here it is, executed by an amorous couple on top of a snow-speckled mountain peak:

The highly enjoyable recital concluded with items from that doyen of the Viola da Gamba, Marin Marais (1656– 15 1728) le Sieur de Saint Colombe’s most distinguished student.

I doubt that the Viola da Gamba has been heard in this part of the world since its heyday in the seventeenth century and it was a real privilege to hear its richly autumnal tones echo in the chambers of the convent of Saint Francis at Borgo a Mozzano.

If you were unfortunate enough to miss out on this concert there will be others in the series, all under the enterprising artistic direction of guitarist Giacomo Brunini. They all take place in some of the most exquisite ambiences of our lovely valley including, on first December, at Fornoli:

Be sure to put these dates in your diary!

cocerti borgo

A Scottish Captain at Borgo a Mozzano

Posted on November 17, 2019 by Francis

Rain, rain and yet more rain. If that’s the picture in flooded England then its even more so in flooded Italy. The high tide in Venice has never been higher and people are encouraged to stay away even from the seafront of Viareggio.

There is no doubt that climate change is at play here; I’ve been long enough in these parts to realise that.

All the streams and rivulets around our village are bursting their banks:

Meanwhile, there’s little chance of doing much gardening and the leaves have hardly begun to fall.

This is clearly the weather to stay indoors and read a book or watch a video. One thing might drag me out today, however, and that is the concert at san Francesco monastery at Borgo di Mozzano.

It is given on that virtuoso instrument of the 17^th and 18th centuries, the seven stringed Viola da Gamba. Francesco Tomei is the player in the third event of “Music Encounters – the places of beauty and Culture” organised by the “Salotti” music school and the Comune di Borgo a Mozzano under the artistic direction of Giacomo Brunini.

safe_image

The Viola da Gamba concert, held this Sunday 17 November, at 5.15 pm, will feature music by Monsieur de Sainte Colombe, Captain Tobias Hume (the Scottish viol virtuoso and mercenary with the Swedish and Russian armies), Telemann, and Marin Marais.

330px-TobiasHumeAyres

All these concerts are free admission and further information on them may be had at

borgoamozzanomusica@gmail.com – Cell. 3498496612 and at www.scuolacivicasalotti.it

DSCN8255~2.JPG

La Chiesa più Antica di Londra

Posted on November 15, 2019 by Francis

La più antica chiesa di tutta Londra è la Priory Church of St Bartholomew the Great, talvolta abbreviata come ‘Great St Bart’s,’ e situata a Smithfield nel nord della City. La chiesa fu fondata come priorato agostiniano nel 1123 ed è adiacente all’ospedale St Bartholomew della stessa fondazione.

Ma come fu fondata? Rahere, un prebendario della Cattedrale di San Paolo e canonico agostiniano regolare, mentre era in Italia e ricoverando da una febbre presa nelle paludi dell’agro Pontino, ha sognato che una bestia alata venisse e lo trasportasse nel distretto di Londra di Smithfield dove avrebbe eretto una chiesa per ringraziamento. Rahere si recò a Londra e, dopo aver spiegato il suo messaggio divino al re Enrico I, gli fu concesso il titolo del terreno.

Questa zona di Londra serba dei ricordi particolari per me e mia moglie. Il mercato della carne a Smithfield, che tra poco sarà traslocato in una zona più ampia, fu dove ebbi il mio primo lavoro quando mi spostai a Londra all’epoca del matrimonio. Dovetti svegliarmi alle tre del mattino per arrivarci col servizio d’autobus notturno, e certo non fu un lavoro facile. Lavorai per una ditta ebrea che, paradossalmente, vendeva carne suina, ma, per fortuna, il lavoro non durò troppo a lungo poiché poco dopo trovai una posizione con l’organizzazione turistica della città di Londra.

Un’altra memoria meno felice fu quando il babbo di Sandra dovette essere ricoverato nell’ospedale di Saint Barts, una parte dello stesso complesso fondato dal monaco Rahere più di mille anni fa. Purtroppo, benché le cure dell’ospedale fossero premurose, l’esito non ebbe molto successo e il babbo dovette passare altri tredici anni in condizioni logoranti prima che trovò la sua pace eterna.

Benché la chiesa grande di Saint Barts sia stata molto danneggiata e perse metà della sua mole nel periodo della riforma, fu ripristinata nell’era vittoriana e ora presenta, con i suoi magnifici archi normanni, un insieme veramente affascinante e di altissimo pregio architettonico.

Anche qui abbiamo assistito a un concerto bellissimo: duo trio per archi di Haydn e di Schumann, suonati con estro commovente da tre ragazze polacche.

Dopo il concerto ci siamo avviati verso l’ospedale di San Bartolomeo. Qui abbiamo visitato il museo con la sua paurosa raccolta di strumenti medici di un’altra epoca. Pensa ad avere la propria gamba amputata senza anastesia!

Accanto c’è una scalinata monumentale decorata con grandi dipinti rappresentanti le storie del buon samaritano e la fontana di Bethesda dal noto pittore settecentesco, William Hogarth.

DSCN7673~2.JPG

Anche qui serbo una memoria poiché quando mi sono laureato – per la seconda volta – al City University in scienze informatiche venni qui per un ricevimento durante il qualche scoppio una paurosa tempesta con lampi e tuoni fortissimi.

Accanto al museo c’è un’altra chiesa dedicata a San Bartolomeo, questa volta più piccola e costruita più recentemente. Con la sua forma ottagonale è veramente carina.

A questo punto nel nostro pellegrinaggio avevamo fame e ci siamo avviati a uno dei vicini ristoranti che il celebre salernitano, Antonio Carluccio ha reso famoso, per gustare una bella zuppa di funghi e una spaghettata alla puttanesca.

Chiese e ospedali;

luoghi della memoria:

il tempo fugge.

Tre Chiese ed una Rovina

Posted on November 13, 2019 by Francis

Le nostre esplorazioni delle chiese della City di Londra e i concerti dell’ora di pranzo che accolgono ci hanno portato quest’ultima settimana a tre luoghi mai visitati.

La prima è Saint-Mary-at-Hill nella parte orientale della City.

E’ una chiesa parrocchiale anglicana nel quartiere di Billingsgate, nella città di Londra e si trova su Lovat Lane, una strada acciottolata al largo di Eastcheap. Fondata nel dodicesimo secolo fu gravemente danneggiata nel grande incendio di Londra nel 1666. Ricostruita dal grande architetto Wren fu modificata nel diciottesimo secolo.

La graziosa chiesa è posta tra alcune delle più antiche viuzze della città. Camminando per questa via si ha l’impressione di essere in un altro secolo, lontano dalla vita mondana frenetica della City degli affari.

DSCN7492~2

Il grande compositore Thomas Tallis fu organista qui tra 1538 e il 1539 e la chiesa rimane un luogo frequentato per i suoi concerti.

Il concerto che abbiamo ascoltato presentava un unico brano, il quintetto di Dvorak che è tra i più grandi quintetti per pianoforte e archi (gli altri sono quelli di Schumann, Brahms ed Elgar) ed è sicuramente l’antidoto perfetto contro lo stress e l’infelicità che ci affligge nel logorio d’oggigiorno. E’ l’opera felice di un uomo felice e la sua felicità è stata trasmessa istantaneamente ai nostri cuori dall’esecuzione (molto felice) degli artisti.

La seconda chiesa è St Olave’s (dedicata a Saint Olaf, Re Norvegese) Church, Hart Street, situata all’angolo tra Hart Street e Seething Lane vicino alla stazione ferroviaria di Fenchurch Street.

Lo scrittore John Betjeman descrisse St Olave come “una chiesa di campagna nel mondo di Seething Lane” ed è veramente così! La chiesa è una delle più piccole della città ed è una delle poche medievali della città sfuggite al Grande Incendio di Londra del 1666.

St Olave ha un esterno modesto in stile gotico perpendicolare. Serba un macabro arco d’ingresso del 1658 al sagrato, decorato con tre teschi ghignanti.

DSCN7559~2

Il romanziere Charles Dickens ne fu così preso da includerla nel suo libro ‘The Uncommercial Traveller’ ribattezzandola “St Ghastly Grim”. (‘San Spaventosa’).

L’interno è pressoché quadrato, con tre baie separate da colonne di pietra calcarea di Purbeck che sostengono archi a punta. Il tetto è una semplice struttura in rovere con sporgenze.

Tra gli arredi della chiesa ci sono alcuni significativi, come il monumento a Elizabeth Pepys, la moglie del noto scrittore di diario, Samuel, e il pulpito, opera di Grindling Gibbons.

Ambedue i Pepys sono sepolti in questa chiesa. Benché sia stato un po’ liberale con i suoi amoretti extra-matrimoniali, Samuel Pepys era devastato dalla morte, avvenuta a soli venti nove anni, della moglie, sposata a quattordici anni e morta senza figli.

La chiesa ha una bella cripta medioevale entrata da una scaletta ripida e una porta bassissima (attenti alla testa come non ho fatto io!).

DSCN7583

La terza chiesa che si è visitata senza, però, assistere ad un concerto è quella di Saint Margaret Patten:

DSCN7515~2.JPG

St Margaret Patten è situata a Eastcheap vicino al monumento al grande incendio del 1666 e risale al 1067, L’attuale chiesa fu costruita da Sir Christopher Wren nel 1687; è una delle poche chiese cittadine a essere sfuggita ai bombardmenti della seconda guerra mondiale e per questa ragione è veramente speciale.

DSCN7525~2

A questo punto domanderete perché ci sono così tante chiese nella City e così pochi parrocchiani? Una volta, la gente abitava e lavorava nella City; oggi ci lavora solo. Come risolvere il problema delle chiese ridondanti? Farli ‘Guild churches’ – cioè, chiese associate ad un gruppo speciale. Nel 1954 Santa Margherita Pattens cessò di essere una chiesa parrocchiale e divenne una delle chiese ‘guild’ della corporazione della città, sotto la vita del Lord Cancelliere e sotto la giurisdizione del vescovo di Londra. Questa tipologia di chiesa ha un giorno feriale regolare, piuttosto che una congregazione domenicale, attinto principalmente da persone che lavorano negli uffici nelle vicinanze.

L’esterno di Saint Margaret è notevole per la sua guglia alta, la terza più alta di Wren e l’unica in stile medievale. Il suo interno è un semplice rettangolo con alcuni accessori insoliti – gli unici banchi a baldacchino di Londra, risalenti al diciasettesimo secolo.

DSCN7532~2

Altre caratteristiche all’interno includono un banco di punizione scolpito con la testa del diavolo nel quale i trasgressori dovevano sedere durante il servizio in chiesa!

Il nome della chiesa è tradizionalmente derivato da ‘Pattens’, che sono scarpe con suola di legno, supportate su ferri che, come altrove, ai parrocchiani sarebbe stato chiesto di rimuovere entrando in chiesa.

DSCN7529~2

Queste scarpe rialzate permettevano alle donne di camminare per le strade di Londra senza infangarsi. C’è un piccolo museo nel vestibolo con esempi di queste pattens che furono anche indossate dalla moglie dell’illustre mercante Lucchese Arnolfini nel celebre ritratto di Jan Van Eyck.

DSCN7529~2.JPG

E la rovina?

La chiesa di Saint Dunstan (abate di Glastonbury nel nono secolo) fu gravemente danneggiata nel Blitz del 1941. La torre e il campanile di Wren sopravvissero all’impatto delle bombe ma del resto della chiesa restavano solo le pareti nord e sud. Si decise di non ricostruirla e, invece, di trasformare i suoi ruderi in un giardino pubblico offrendo ai lavoratori della City una bella oasi nell’ora di pranzo. E’ veramente uno dei più ameni giardinetti, anche nel tardo autunno:

E’ veramente incredibile che ci siano voluti anni per uno nato e cresciuto a Londra come me di scoprire ed entrare per la prima volta in queste chiese così emozionanti e così lontane dalla mondanità di Londra. Accomodarsi, meditare e ascoltare musica in uno di questi edifici è come mettersi in una capsula del tempo ed essere trasportati in altre epoche, luoghi lontani dalle stressanti preoccupazioni dell’epoca nostra.

Nelle rovine,

rimaste dalle bombe,

sbocciano i fiori.

La Multi-Fedeltà di Londra

Posted on November 11, 2019 by Francis

Vivere a Londra è come fare un viaggio attraverso il mondo: la capitale multiculturale ospita tante civilta’ diverse sul pianeta e alquanto tante lingue e religioni.

Per esempio, questa settimana abbiamo viaggiato dall’India alla Tailandia, ascoltato un discorso da un politico mussulmano, attraversato il secolarismo per finire nel cuore della chiesa anglicana, l’abbazia di Westminster, dove sono incoronati i re e le regine del Regno Unito, ‘difendori della fede.’

Dall’India Indù siamo stati partecipi al Diwali tenutosi a Trafalgar square. La festa celebra la vittoria del bene sopra il male, la luce sopra il buio, la porta aperta alla speranza e non ai nemici, la sconfitta dell’ignoranza dalla sapienza.

Il sindaco di Londra Sadiq Khan, di origine Pakistana –mussulmana ci ha fatto un bel discorso:

RSCN7429

Qui ci sono stati spettacoli di danza da tutte le regioni dell’India e dal cinema di Bollywood:

Le dee viventi con Sarasvati, la dea della cultura col suo strumento, la Vina:

La Ramayana, la grande epica che racconta la storia di Rama e narrata con dei pupazzi veramente espressivi:

DSCN7443

Contro il grigio del pomeriggio, i colori della festa sono stati sicuramente benvenuti.

DSCN7388~2

I fuochi d’artificio ad Alexandra Palace ci hanno regalato un po’ di rito pagano nel festeggiamento della speranza umana contro le insidie delle tenebre dell’inverno:

La nostra visita al tempio e monastero di Buddhapadipa a Wimbledon, indicata da una bella mostra sui documenti e sacre scritture del Buddismo al British Library, ci ha portati ad un’oasi di tranquillità nella grande, movimentata città di Londra. E’ l’unico tempio del buddhismo Tailandese fuori dalla Tailandia. I monaci praticano la tradizione Theravada (trad: ‘la via dei saggi’) da distinguersi da quella chiamata ‘Mahayana’ (trad: ‘grande veicolo’) e che è praticata in China e il Giappone.

L’apice è stato raggiunto quando siamo stati presenti a Evensong, i vespri della chiesa anglicana, nella sua maestosa abbazia di Westminster, la chiesa dove sono incoronati i re e le regine del Regno Unito. La qualità del canto, le volte alte e dell’edificio ci hanno dato un altro lato della tranquillità e la pace interiore che caratterizzano l’essenza spirituale delle grandi credenze mondiali.

Le diverse vie

ad una sola vetta

ci conducano.

La Visione di Blake

Posted on November 8, 2019 by Francis

Non so quanto sia conosciuto il poeta e artista William Blake in Italia. Infatti, Blake non è nemmeno tanto letto in Inghilterra. Certo, le poesie contenute nelle sue collezioni ‘Canzoni d’innocenza e di esperienza’ sono tra le più lette sin dalle elementari (basta pensare a quelle dedicate alla tigre e all’agnello), e ‘Gerusalemme’, fa parte dell’ethos inglese quanto come fa parte l’inno di Nabucco nella coscienza degli Italiani. Come tradussi nel mio post sulla visita di Gesu Cristo in Inghilterra (vedere https://longoio3.com/2018/03/31/quando-il-redentore-visito-linghilterra/ )

“E quei piedi nei tempi antichi
percorsero l’Inghilterra dai verdi monti?

E fu visto il sacro Agnello di Dio
sugli ameni pascoli d’Inghilterra?
E quel suo Volto Divino
splendere sulle nostre nuvolose colline?
E fu Gerusalemme costruita qui..?

Portatemi il mio arco d’oro ardente,
Portatemi le mie frecce di desiderio,
Portatemi la mia lancia: oh nuvole, apritevi!
Portatemi il mio carro di fuoco!
Non cessero’ la battaglia mentale
E né la spada mi dormirà in mano,
Finché non avremo costruito Gerusalemme
nella verde e piacevole terra d’Inghilterra.”

Ma i libri profetici di Blake? Chi li legge? Chi, insomma, riesce anche a capirli? Si è detto che Blake sia il più grande poeta inglese e il meno conosciuto.

Anche quando si legge Blake, non ci si rende conto di quanto le sue poesie facciano parte di una pagina illustrata: come incisore sposava le parole alle immagini in un modo inimitabile. Ecco la poesia sulla tigre dove l’illustrazione approfondisce sicuramente il concetto delle parole:

200px-The_Tyger_BM_a_1794

William Blake (1757 – 1827) non fu mai veramente apprezzato durante la sua vita. Molti lo consideravano pazzo! Ora è valutato una perssona fondamentale nella storia della poesia e dell’arte romantica e il suo estro creativo lo definisce uno degli artisti maggiori della Gran Bretagna. Produsse un’opera variata e simbolicamente ricca, che abbraccia l’interai immaginazione umana.

Sebbene Blake fosse considerato pazzo dai contemporanei per le sue idee idiosincratiche, è tenuto in grande considerazione per la sua espressività e creatività e per le correnti filosofiche e mistiche nella sua opera: i suoi dipinti e la sua poesia fanno parte essenziale del movimento romantico. Cristiano impegnato ma ostile alla Chiesa Anglicana (anzi, a quasi tutte le forme di religion organizzate), Blake fu influenzato dagli ideali e dalle ambizioni delle rivoluzioni francesi e americane. Fu anche influenzato da pensatori come Emanuel Swedenborg. Rivoluzionario prima del suo tempo, forse solo Shelley (che non inconcontrò mai) lo avvicina nel suo fervore.

La mostra al Tate Britain di Londra di William Blake (che continua fino al 2 Febbraio 2020) è forse la maggior ragione per trovarsi in questa città. L’altro giorno eravamo trasportati nel mondo straordinario di Blake: dalle sue prime poesie finora in stile neo-classico, ai singolari libri profetici. Era commovente poter vedere le sue creazioni da così vicino: poter saporire la delicatezza delle sue linee, vedere i colori con i quali la moglie dipingeva le sue incisioni, meravigliarsi dell’ampiezza della sua immaginazione…una freschezza sbalorditiva.

Sarebbe impossibile dare un resoconto di tutto quello esposto nella mostra; Blake, oltre a miniare i propri scritti, ha illustrato le opere di altri scrittori: il ‘Paradiso Perduto’ di Milton, per esempio, e parecchi libri della Bibbia. Molti di questi esempi sono in visione alla mostcreatra. Ecco una selezione:

Mi concentrerò qui solo sugli appassionanti disegni fatti negli ultimi anni per la Divina Commedia di Dante nella traduzione che Carey fece nel 1812. Nel 1824, l’amico di Blake, l’artista John Linnell, gli commissionò una serie d’illustrazioni basate sulla Divina Commedia. Blake aveva allora circa sessant’anni. Un resoconto contemporaneo ci informa che creo’ cento acquarelli su quest’argomento “durante una malattia di due settimane a letto”.

Nella mia opinione sono tra le illustrazioni più belle che siano mai state fatte da alcun artista in alcuna epoca in alcuna parte del mondo.

Ecco il frontespizio

blakedanteportrait_0