Sunday 18 May 2008

I saw the bbc philharmonic perform prokofiev with the leeds philharmonic tonight. being a conductor must be one of the best jobs in the world. It's like being a ships captain in a storm, with the ship being the audience as the conductors tries to subdue this swelling sea of sound, letting it crash onto us then sweeping it back away, totally absorbed in the task and nothing else. They do often have a real 'mad destitute' look about them, you can just imagine them at the helm..

Another great thing about tonight was that leeds town hall is one of those fantastic halls that are more like cathedrals than theatres; the far dome was painted deep blue with stars, and the main chamber was white with cherubs holding up the balconies, angels holding up biblical quotes and an ornate ceiling. It had the same 'heaven on earth' feel as a cathedral does. I'm fascinated by religiously inspired art: cathedrals because people really believed they were building a house for god, an equal of paradise itself, and religious symphonies because the composers were trying to channel the actual voice of god himself. Only absolute perfection was appropriate for such mammoth tasks. This motivation doesnt exist anymore, which is fine and i'm glad no one properly believes in god anymore, but now people are only expressing themselves, not the glory of god (or, rather, the universe, which was what they were really trying to convey but they just didnt know it). And that's a shame. But a lot of things are a shame, it doesn't mean it should be different.

Anyway, this cathedral-like atmosphere and heavenly music was compounded by a dove who sat at the top of one of the arches, its head tilted slightly towards the orchestra, listening intently. The depiction of god on earth has of course always been a dove, so it was quite symbolic. Like we were all in a painting of our own.

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It was also nice going to leeds town hall cos alan bennett often wrote about how important that place was to him and it was interesting to put a face to a name.

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Joe informs me that its impossible to read this blog in China. I'm a real enemy of the state!
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Anonymous said...

I am also fascinated by religiously inspired art particularly the work of carravagio (i think that's how you spell it) he got into a bit of trouble for representing Christian figures, particualrly Christ and the Virgin Mary, as real people, which i find rather contradictory as i believe the great strength of the Christian religion lies on the real existance of these people. Christ's very humanity, it seems to me, allows beleivers some remit for emulation, and yet his Divine nature reminds us of the perfection of God and hopefully allows us not to feel too bad about ourselves.

I do take issue, however, with the idea that nobody properly believes in God anymore. I am not going to suggest i'm the best Christian ever, FAR from it, but I think it's a mistake to confuse such things as the acceptance of scientific explanations for the creation of the universe, and a reevaluation of what really matters in religion, by those believers in the Western Liberalised world, with an insincerity of belief. In my view, it is far too often assumed that one has to be a biggotted fanatic of the American Christian Right mould, to be considered a true believer. This too i regard as a mistake (though i would note that you haven't actually said this and hope this doesn't sound too preachy itself ...). Such people do demonstrate, however, that a considerable number of people still hold to a personal realtionship with their Creator. They do not, however, exercise a monopoly on belief and thiers is in my opinion no stronger (necessarily) than those who do not find a contradiction in defining themselves as 'believers' whilst also defning themselves within the prevailing liberal politcal and social attitudes.

In a slight divergence i feel that it is the so-called 'fundamentalists' who have missed out on the fundementals, particualarly in the case of the Christian relgion (the likes of judge not lest ye be judged, forgiveness and notbaly St Paul's [i think it was his] commandment that the Church has no remit over those who stand outside of it)

God still plays an important part in many people's lives, I would suggest that it was not mere supersition that prevents many from rejecting the existance of God all together.

Furthermore you can beleive in God and indeed attend a particular Church (or Mosque, Synagogue or Temple) without binding yourself to partiucalr teachings and doctrines. I don't see a hypocrisy in this as in my view the most important aspect of religion is one's relationship with God and an attempt to live life responsibly, with love for your fellow human beings.

I've gone on for quite a while now but bizzarely modules i have taken this year for my degree have made me question the 'black and white'-ness (for want of a better word - i blame the hangover) of religion and belief itself. People of belief are far too often accused of insincerity because they refuse to associate themselves with what may be considered the more prejudicial side of their religion as seen from the outside.

sorry for the rant...

mike

25 May 2008 at 15:52

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