 |
| The Brass Ensemble rehearsing in the Nave. |
I have to be in the right mood to wander, and to discover the rich panoply of life right under my nose, without me even knowing it is there! In the Cathedral I came across a Brass Ensemble rehearsal for Vespers, an evening pray service, which was to be accompanied by twelve excellent brass windplayers. They played an assortment of trumpets, trombones and a tuba, and what an amazing sound they made in the space of the nave. Because of transport problems, I could not stay for the service, but the rehearsal was the next best thing. They played a couple of popular American tunes which I recognised, some Baroque trumpet music, which was refreshing, and also some discordant, modern music, which whilst not my choice, was excitingly rowdy.
My musical taste is somewhat limited, as I tend to reject anything written later than JS Bach! I must really open up my mind, because so much modern music can address the parts JS Bach cannot reach. The loudness of the sound/noise was very invigorating, and I left after half an hour, wishing I could stay for the service and hear the whole programme.
The photo below shows in close up, the Ensemble, and a single lady with a lot of puff, playing on the left. In the foreground, inside the decoratived ironwork grille, can be seen the stone carved monument of Henry the Lion of Brunswick, and his wife Empress Matilda of England as they lay on their tombstone. They are interned in a granite sarcophagus, and can be seen, together with the tombs of the notable Braunschweig Dukes, Duchesses and their children in the crypt. The red, satin covered coffin of Caroline of Brunswick, 1768-1821, the wife of English King George IV, also lays here in the cool, tranquil silence of a Romanesque Cathedral.
 |
| The Brass Ensemble rehearse below the seven armed bronze candelabar, ca. 1170 AD |
No comments:
Post a Comment