Arnhem Remembered 1

Tags

A Bridge Too Far, Amsterdam, Amsterdam-Rhine Canal, Arnhem, Bartolomiej Pekiel, Dominicanenklooster, hugo Dostler, Huissen, Huub de Lange, In Flanders Fields, J C Bach, John McCrae, Kathryn Rose, Lingewaard, Marianne Schuurmans, Montgomery, Operation Market Garden, Parry, Peter C Lutkin, Peter Leech, Schiphol, Tallis, Utrecht

I have just spent a week in the Netherlands, commemorating with an ‘International Liberation Choir’ of 24 singers, the 75th anniversary of Operation Market Garden, also known as the Battle of Arnhem. “In the summer of 1944, the Allies launched a daring airborne operation to secure the River Rhine crossings and advance into northern Germany. Although it ultimately failed to achieve its objectives, the determination and courage shown by the airborne troops and the units that assisted them made Market Garden one of the Second World War’s (1939-45) most famous battles.” (The opening of the National Army Museum’s account. See also the Imperial War Museum’s story in pictures, and a very full account in Wikipedia.)

Friday 13th September. I had had about two hours’ sleep the night before, reading far too late about the Operation, and about the authenticity of the film, ‘A Bridge Too Far’ which I had just watched, (very authentic, except that Montgomery is let off lightly at the expense of Browning), and worried that I would not wake up at 3.15.

Arriving at Amsterdam’s Schiphol airport, I boarded a train to Arnhem, where I arrived about lunchtime, despite a 75-minute delay at Bristol Airport for lack of buses from terminal to plane.

No-one with me on the upper deck of the train. Am I on the right one?

Yes

The very flat Dutch countryside

The Amsterdam-Rhine Canal accompanies the railway line as far as Utrecht, used here by a pleasure boat,

and here by a commercial one.

Examples of the double-decker train I was on, and a regional train.

Given that this was the Netherlands, I saw hundreds and hundreds of bicycles during the week. But this was the only tandem tricycle I saw, here on the railway platform of a station we passed through.

Fortified by an excellent mushroom and cheese omelette at the Robin-Hood bistro café …

Again I have the place to myself!

… I caught the no. 300 bus to Huissen, for a short walk to the Dominican monastery where most of us were to stay (several lived near enough not to have to) and to rehearse.

View from my window.

The main function of the monastery, which now has only four monks, is as a modest guest house for groups and individuals. Far from a spartan cell, my room was comfortable and a very decent size. Showers and loos were a short way down the corridor, but there was a basin in each room.

I spent the rest of the afternoon settling in and relaxing in my room, before meeting the others in the dining room for a very early evening meal. The choir was 24-strong: 12 Dutch, 9 British, two German and one American. Sadly the only Polish representative had had to drop out shortly before the week, and the organiser, the amazing Beatrix, had not been able to find a Canadian singer at all. These six countries were those involved in Operation Market Garden in 1944. The British conductor, composer, and lecturer, Peter Leech, directed the music.

Saturday, 14th September. I explored the grounds for a few minutes before breakfast.

We were not the only guests. When we arrived there was also a group in residence studying meditation for the weekend, and others came and went during our stay.

The whole of Saturday was spent discovering and rehearsing the repertoire for our concerts. Early on, the director of hospitality led Marianne Schuurmans, mayor of Lingewaard (the municipality which includes Huissen, link is to map), and the prior of the monastery into the chapel to welcome and thank us. In excellent English.

We had the splendid library to ourselves for our breaks.

Not surprisingly, our moving programme told of war, of death, of remembrance, of commemoration, and of peace and hope. It included works by composers and poets of the six nations, including Tallis and Parry, the Canadian Kathryn Rose, Huub de Lange, J C Bach and Hugo Distler, the Polish early baroque composer Bartolomiej Pekiel, the American Peter C Lutkin, and three pieces by Peter Leech. I was choking as we first sang through his ‘In Flanders Fields‘, a poem by the Canadian physician and lieutenant-colonel John McCrae, apparently well-known but which I had never come across before.

After another early evening meal, there was time for a wander round the town.

I was delighted to catch the tail end of a carillon.

Back to the monastery.

I saw an information board which told me that it had been founded in the 19th century, and had played an important role in the war, when much of the territory around had been flattened. The clean and peaceful present-day surroundings were such a contrast.

Model of the monastery and its guest house in the vestibule.

A concert in Wells Cathedral

Tags

Hassler, Jacquet de Mantua, Morales, Pepylling Wynde, Peter Leech, Renaissance, Sheppard, Spem in Alium, Striggio, Tallis, Tallis Voices, Wells, Wells Cathedral, Wells Museum

Last Friday I sang with a large group of musical friends from near and far, calling themselves Tallis Voices, in a rather special concert in Wells Cathedral. It was to celebrate ten years of having done so, just once a year, usually on just a day and a half of rehearsals.  This time we had two whole days to rehearse, a real luxury. The main work was Tallis’s wonderful 40-part ‘Spem in Alium’, to which were added works by Striggio, Morales, Hassler, Jacquet de Mantua, and Sheppard, all renaissance masterpieces.

We met mainly in Wells Museum’s meeting room, but we spent a few hours in the Cathedral itself, and I managed to dash around and take a few photos before, and even during that time.

It was a grey afternoon as I firstly wandered around outside.

Vicars’ Close

North door

Here are some general views inside.

From the west end

The famous ‘scissors’ were added a century or so after construction to stop the tower falling in.

From behind the altar

The organ and half the choir stalls

Sorry about the musicians’ clobber

The famous steps, leading up to…

… the Chapter House

Some details.

A clock in the north transept even more splendid than the one outside

Singer’s eye view

This half of the choir sang the Morales in the south transept.  My half sang the Jaquet de Mantua in the north transept.

Our conductor, Peter Leech, showing us something on his score of the 40-part Tallis piece.

The instrumentalists, Pepylling Wynde,  played in some of the works, and performed on their own as well.

The sun came out at the end of the afternoon.

No pictures of the concert for obvious reasons. Thank you Chris, Sue, and Peter for a thoroughly enjoyable two days.

Singing in Thorverton

Tags

baroque music, Brumel, early music, gravestones, renaissance music, Robert Harre Jones, singing, Tallis, Thorverton, Thorverton Arms, Thorverton Parish Church.

It’s been a while since I posted, so I thought I’d do something on another of my great interests, singing.  Especially when it consists of singing with a group of others (the fewer the better, for my liking), and when the music was written in the renaissance or baroque periods.

Today I made my way to Thorverton, a village in north Devon.  It was bitterly cold outside my car, so I didn’t stop long to take photos on the way.

The music-making was to take place in Thorverton Parish Church, which I was very pleased to find was heated.

Cottage by the side of the church

I was to join a number of other ‘Early music’ fanatics, to work on, under the direction of Robert Harre Jones, two sets of Lamentations, based on extracts from the Bible’s Lamentations of Jeremiah:

 

This little fellow, about 30 cm/12 ins high, was at my right shoulder all day.

It was admiring his carving that gave me the idea of taking sufficient photos to do a post, though sadly I only had my not-very-good phone camera on me. (That’s my excuse anyway.)  Anyway, I took photos of a few things around the church during the coffee break.

(I have no idea..)

I did pop out into the churchyard for a couple of minutes, but soon popped in again, it was so bitterly cold.

We had to go out for lunch though, taken in the Thorverton Arms.

Here are mein host and his frau.

It had warmed up a bit, so I spent a little longer in the churchyard after lunch, admiring the great diversity of headstones.

Only as I came back to the church did I notice a monument, set into the outside wall,  dating back as far as the eighteenth century, though I hadn’t studied the very worn tombstones in detail for dates.

During the tea break

an audience started arriving

to hear a final run through of the pieces we had been working on.

RHJ introducing the pieces

I just adore the Tallis – that’s what had attracted me to do the workshop – and the beautiful Brumel piece was a real revelation.

It was warmer as I drove home, and I stopped a little more frequently to take photos.  Fortunately, after a while I found myself on roads that didn’t permit of stopping, or I’m not sure when I would have managed to get back.