2023 will
soon be coming to an end, full of momentous events in the big wide world, not
many of them very inspiring, and much chat from cherished friends and family as
we inexorably grow older and we become even more confused by the modern world
and the weird attitudes of the 21st century. It is a period to count
one’s blessings, seek forgiveness, sturdily philosophise and wax lyrical about
any high-points.
Edward Elgar (1857-1934)
To set the
mood, I suggest a bucketful of Elgar – with his incomparable Cello Concerto,
evoking a tranquil England, with its timeless beauty. Xavier Phillips and The
Seattle Symphony do the business.
Of course,
much of England and the wider UK is far from tranquil. In its schools, its
universities and in its work-places there is a culture war waging of great
intensity and bitterness. Fundamentally, talented immigrants are supplanting
duller native whites, not just for the top jobs but for any job. Some quotes from triumphant “inclusive” recruitment executives have
been positively blood-curdling, divisive and ominous – a recipe for future
conflict. May wiser heads prevail!
Thinking of
happier things, I have always loved the 18th century and within
that, the style of Rococo. In search of balance and beauty, I will, even as an
unbeliever, cherish devotional music of the period like the Stabat Mater
by G B Pergolesi, composed as a commission from a pious Neapolitan confraternity
(1735). The passage Sancta Mater, istud agas, is particularly fine and I
attach a video of the performance in the iconic Rococo Frauenkirche in Dresden,
sung beautifully by the Russian diva, Anna Netrebko, soprano, and the Italian
mezzo, Marianne Pizzolato.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vjOug5Z5aZk&ab_channel=ThePrestigiosoGaston
At the year-end
one takes stock. As one gets decidedly old, we realise that the years take
their solemn toll. Old friends pass on and we are inevitably diminished. We are
rueful about failing to say all we ought to have said before dear friends and
relatives are gone forever. Such regrets are natural but not productive; always
look forward, seldom look back is an achievable motto. The world moves on
quickly – my beliefs and attitudes, however much I defend them, belong to a
past generation. Do not allow the modern world to slip away from your grip!
In conclusion,
I evoke the memory of some old soldiers and I pay tribute to their courage and
devotion to duty. Some were quite modest – a chauffeur who never forgot
comrades burnt grievously in the assault on Anzio in 1944 – a cinema manager
who was a sergeant in the Scots Guards and always walked in a military way. The
pride of Willie Whitelaw, Maggie Thatcher’s great supporter, when his Scots
Guards drove off the Argentines from Mount Tumbledown in the Falklands in 1982.
Gallant old Harold MacMillan, who insisted that the slow march of his Grenadier
Guards – Scipio by Handel – be played at his funeral. I say “Hurray for
Colonel Blimp!”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YFMM9rjL8XA&ab_channel=Somefolk
SMD
22.12.23
Text
Copyright © Sidney Donald 2023
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