Saturday 19th May 2007 - Anniversary Concert
Close by the cathedral
The rounded green
Well tended.
On the wooden seat
The elderly couple
Taking the evening air.
From the West
Come running
The lively students
‘Can I give you a piggy back?’
From the South
The people out for a stroll,
The black clad Music Makers
(bearing instrument cases),
A trio of choir ladies
In crisp white blouses
Long black skirts.
Beside the solid
Soaring stones
I sit.
I breathe
The calmness of the evening air.
The trio approaches.
We become a quartet.
We push open the heavy side door
Passing it from hand to hand
Touching history
(the rough wood, the iron rivets).
Inside
The black and white theme
Is sustained.
From the West
The liquid sun
Floods the patchwork of ancient flagstones.
Lines of singers
Ascend
Nobilmente
The staging
And wait.
The great West window,
The dazzling brightness,
Turns the watchers, the listeners,
Into angels.
The choir needs sunglasses.
The conductor,
One man with a dream,
His face
His every muscle
Taut,
Focussed on this utmost act of will.
The orchestra
Soloists
And choir
Are working together in one. [fingers crossed!]
The contralto’s creamy voice
Is dreaming
And singing.
The men,
Strong to arise and sing
Of the sound of battle
And the sea.
Then the gentle song of peace
In harmony.
To finish
A rousing song of hope
That sets the stones
Ringing
In the longest nave in Europe.
The applause is for us
And Sir Edward Elgar.
© Anne Jales 2007
