The Organist-Choir Director

Thursday, May 12, 2011

The way it used to be


     I peek around the door to see if the coast is clear. A visiting hospital chaplain never knows what she'll find inside a patient's room. “Hello, may I come in?”
     “Sure.” A young woman, wearing a loose kimono, stretches out on top of the blanket. “Wanna see?”  She eases herself off the high institutional bed and leans over a bassinet. I look inside and see a tiny creature, bundled head-to-toe in a light flannel blanket.
     “Oh, you must be so proud.”
     The new mother nods her head. “Next, we're going to get a house.” She glances toward the end of her bed where a slight young man hangs back. He's leaving the talking to her.
     “And, if that works out, we're going to get married!”  (Yes, this is a true story!)

                                                            


     Times are always changing.  It's the nature of what we call life.  But an individual sets her measuring tape down at some point, usually when she leaves home to make her mark in the world - a time forevermore known as "the way it used to be"!  From that time forward, she can tell anyone where and how to hitch a horse.

                                                                     *     *     *

     Some of us set a tape down in the '60s. Bob Dylan's “The times they are a-changin" set the tone for a generation of people challenging the old ways. Pete Seeger's “Turn! turn! turn!”, sung by The Birds, hit the international scene in 1965, spreading a similar message to a wider audience. Both songs, based on lyrics influenced by the Book of Ecclesiastes in the Hebrew Bible, now represent the post-War II derailing of strict society norms about place - of family structure, of work, and of rights, civil and human.
     
     We take very little for granted any more.  The breaking down of society's rules has afforded freedoms, both to succeed as well as to fail,which many could not have foreseen. The orderly sequence of life events can no longer be assumed.   Still, nostalgia for old virtues grabs us when we observe some activity which seems out-of-sync or strange.  We seek a reminder that not all our benchmarks have vanished.

                                                                        *     *     *

     The Church of England wouldn't disappoint me.  When I tuned into the Royal Wedding on April 29th, I knew I could depend on viewing the ages-old ceremonial ritual of the Church.  My effort to rise early would be rewarded with wonderful music, dazzling pageantry and a sense of historic continuity with all the Saints, known and unknown.

     I'd read that Catherine aka Kate would not have to obey William.  That's as it should be: a woman isn't chattel, after all.  Since I set my measuring tape down, my consciousness has been raised.  I've suffered and benefited from the changing times.  I'll allow the Church to change things that affect human rights.  But don't touch the grandeur of worship services.  Leave those magnificent historic dramas alone.

     During the wedding telecast, I followed my downloaded copy of the service.  At the beginning, traditionalists had no cause for worry.  The celebrants, decked out in richly-colored heavy robes, paraded up the 300 foot aisle, accompanied by pipe organ flourishes. The marriage vows – except for the removal of “obey” – were “old church”.  The archbishop kept the ancient words when he addressed the congregation:


  FORASMUCH as William and Catherine have consented together in holy wedlock, and have witnessed the same before God and this company, and thereto have given and pledged their troth either to other, and have declared the same by giving and receiving of a ring, and by joining of hands; I pronounce that they be man and wife together, in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost. Amen.

     Man and wife! What?  I'm not comfortable with this language.  Did I somehow think William and Catherine would update their vows?  Haven't they shared a house for years?  Should Catherine not wed as a person rather than an “heir producer"? Keep the beautiful music and pageantry of a high Anglican service, but allow people to be "persons", not functionaries in "roles".  Obviously, I've been affected by the changing times.
                                              
      Then it was time for the Address by The Right Reverend and Right Honourable Dr Richard Chartres KCVO, Lord Bishop of London and Dean of Her Majesty's Chapels Royal.  With a title like that, I'd bet he's a traditionalist, I thought.  But Dr. Richard turned out to be a modern man.  He seems to have listened to Bob Dylan or The Birds. 

     He started out with gusto:  "Be who God meant you to be - and you'll set the world on fire!"  Interesting: how do you do that if you're just chattel?  Dr. Richard continued:  "In marriage, the husband and wife... So he "gets" it.  I'd like to chat with this fellow.  As he concluded the Address, he repeated this phrase several times: "We will transform - if we don't try to reform."  Hmm, full of nuances.  A bit of projection on his part, perhaps?  Something going on behind the scenes at the Abbey or in his personal life?  I know, I know: he meant it to be about accepting each other and the inevitable changes that happen in marriage.

     Maybe he was suggesting that the words, "the way it used to be" should be left at the hitching post and not carted around as standard bearers.
                                                                        *     *     *

     After the conclusion of a wedding where I'd helped out as organist, my minister friend and I were talking .  "I don't mind the rehearsals," he said, "though people certainly don't dress like they used to."
     "I know what you mean," I said.  "Would you ever have worn a T-shirt to church to practice the ceremony for your big day?"
     He chuckled.  "But," he said, "at least they're covered up.  What really gets me is the wedding.  The girls wear these off-the-shoulder dresses - and all I can see is their tattoos!"

                                                                        *      *     *
 
  http://www.horsecartvet.com/index.html

*     *     *

    It's that time of year.  Remember how I wrote about being retired - and writing essays instead of preparing choir rehearsals?  I will continue to upload essays, but not every Thursday.  It's summer in FL and time to move north to the cottage on Lake Erie.  I hope you've enjoyed my essays.  Send me a message on Facebook.

   Take good care of yourself. 

   Donna

Thursday, May 5, 2011

A Seat in the Quire

From 10:30 am   The Choir of Westminster Abbey and the Choir of Her Majesty's Chapel Royal, St James's Palace, proceed to their places in Quire.  From the Royal Wedding program.

*     *     *

     Did you climb out of bed before daybreak to view the Royal Wedding telecast? What attracted you:  the royals, their fashions, the high Anglican service?  Being inside that wondrous Abbey in real time, even if virtually, motivated me to start my day on London time.

Big Ben
     A lifetime ago on my first trip to Europe, I queued up one August weekday morning at the Westminster Abbey. According to my copy of Arthur Frommer's "Europe on $5 Dollars a Day", visitors were welcomed during the Matins service (now called Morning Prayer) when the choir sang. After figuring out the London Underground maze and crossing busy streets with traffic going the "wrong way", I'd arrived at the Abbey's West Gate entrance doors in the heart of London near Big Ben and the Houses of Parliament. 

                           *     *     *

      Why are so few people waiting to go in, I wonder.  Today's Tuesday; maybe most people are working.  But where are all the tourists? I expected crowds of folks. I hear sounds of locks or chains clanking - must be almost time.  The massive doors swing open.  An attendant pushes them back against the building.  Searching my purse for my head scarf - Arthur Frommer says women have to cover up in churches, I quickly drape it around my head.  Strange: men remove hats and women hide their hair.  I've seen the oddest items on women's heads like lacy handkerchiefs or found pieces of newsprint.

     "This way, ma'am," the man says.  And, then, I'm inside Westminster Abbey.  Westminster Abbey, The Westminster Abbey!    
*     *     *

     The excitement of arriving at that site of so much Anglo-Saxon history - where, ever since the founding of the Abbey in 960 CE (AD), the British Empire had held its state occasions! Like emerging out of a page of my school history books, I crossed the floor tiles of that Gothic structure where seventeen monarchs were buried!  How did a small town girl from western New York state get there?

     Back in 1953, I'd raced home from school to see the first-ever televised recordings of a coronation. Apparently the young Queen-to-be had persuaded authorities to allow cameras inside the Abbey, so non-royals could view images of the great event. I'd seated myself in front of the 13-inch Heathkit TV my father had built into the living room wall.

     Peering through the snowy black and white images, I almost felt the burden of that enormous crown when it was solemnly positioned on Queen Elizabeth's head. (Advance the video time to about 7:35 for the crowning ceremony.) She must have practiced walking with books on her head for weeks. What modern technology: I could view a Queen crowned on the very same day it happened!

                                                                            *     *     *

     Now I follow the usher through the Abbey's nave.  Dressed in a formal suit with tails, he sashays up the endless aisle. I swivel my neck and chin to take in the high arched ceilings. We continue to move forward.  I'm surprised; I imagined I'd be sitting way out in "left field" like at a baseball game. We're approaching the area with all the little lamps for illuminating choristers' sheet music.  Where are we heading?  Then, the "tails" stop and their wearer turns toward me.

The Quire

     "Ma'am," he says as his arm directs me.  "Please sit here.  We only have a few visitors today." 

     He bends slightly as if I am semi-royalty. I try to slide seamlessly into the pew, to look like it's nothing at all to be placed in the Quire in Westminster Abbey.  

     I sit in awe of my surroundings.  How beautiful this sanctuary is!  I finger the smooth wooden pew.  If the seats could talk!  I find the Matins service in the hymnbook.  

     The men and boys of the choir are filing in - and here I sit, right across the aisle from them.  Organ music creeps into my consciousness.  The choristers rise for the opening hymn.  The glorious organ sounds, seeming to swirl around me, lift me up. The hymn commences. My organist's heart strings vibrate as if in concert with souls, present as well as departed.  I don't want it to end.



                                                                         *     *     *

     As the cameras panned the seated guests in the Abbey last Friday morning, I watched keenly as those lucky folks seated in the Quire came into view.  Obviously, they were royalty or, perhaps friends of, related to, or, at least, influential enough to get wiggle space there.  I smiled as I noticed their smug, uplifted countenances. I understood how important they felt. 

     Life is, indeed, grand when you have a seat in the Quire.



*     *     *

      Ring some bells, just for the joy of it! 
    
     Donna