London- Then and Now

Walking around London the past weeks reminded me how much has stayed the same, and how much is vastly different. When I first arrived in 1959, the first thing I noticed was that there were not that many cars in the inner city. London was late recovering from the Second World War, and didn't enjoy the boom we enjoyed in the USA in the 1950's. While we were testing TV dinners and in love with all the new gadgets - Presto Burger..remember that, bomb sites were common in London, expecially round St. Paul's in the City of London, where piles of rubble stlll lined the streets. Cockney ladies took your fares on the buses and Coca Cola was served warm off the shelf. Gentlemen going to work in the City wore black cut-a ways, a red carnation in the button hole,with an umbrella as faithful companion. It all seemed so English, with very few foreign faces on the streets.

Today it is a totally different story. London in so packed with cars drivers have to pay an eight pound a day fee to drive into the inner city. Traffic still crawls, and many hours are wasted. Supermarkets abound, and shops have folded in favor of mega stores and mega malls. The streets are full of people from all over the globe, and crime rates have soared. The latest craze is knife culture, and the papers are full of victims of this vicious crime. The UK must be the most watched society in the world, with cameras everywhere. There is even the new St.George Society, which is trying to preserve "Englishness" in light of the dumbing down and homogenizing efforts of the Labour Party...everyone on the same level, and supposedly,with the same chance.

Indeed, corrupt business practices are just as rampant as here, and politicians just as opportunistic. We don't have a monopoly on scandals in the USA.

The bright spot is the free admission to museums, and free rides on tubes and busses for senior citizens. (that is, if you are a UK citizen). Also, free concerts abound, many of very high quality, and the parks are just as inviting as before. Visiting libraries for research is still a very civilized proceedure, and lectures on rare and even arcane subjects entice.

Quality of life still abounds in London, especially in the near suburbs like Parson's Green, Hampstead, Putney and Kew. People still walk their dogs and play cricket on the greens. Invited for dinner, one is apt to sit in the kitchen, looking out at a small garden, enjoying a long meal with people from diverse backgrounds. People in London travel all over the world, and this lends a great vitality to conversation. The evening light goes on forever in the summer, and the clouds race in the sky.

The countryside is as beautiful as ever, and farming is still flourishing. Village life is active, with many clubs and community events, including sewing and quilting, gardening, choir singing, brass bands, movie nights and even bell ringing practice. Privacy is still valued and one does not approach a closed gate lightly. Roadsides are still, for the most part, clutter free, and many wild flowers are coming back along the verges as mowing is not intrusive.

One noticable thing was the many empty shops along the roads, and in London, the fashionable arcades around Piccadilly also have their share. Fortnums is twice the size, at the expense of the charm of old, but still as packed as ever. Old fashioned areas like Marlebone High Street are now "destinations", with trendy shops and many places for coffee and tea. Only occasionally does one find a book store with charm, but one is found at the top of Marlebone High Street called Daunt Books, where you can climb a ladder like staircase and look through old second hand travel books. But even there the once very comfortable reading area, sitting at an ancient round table, seems less inviting, with only a couple of chairs provided. There was also always a beautiful bouquet of flowers, but even that has gone missing. Perhaps it was too late in the week.

A Sunday caper took me down the Thames Estuary to the amazing Barrier, a series of massive doors that close to keep river storm surges at bay. Global melting will soon make it obsolete. The area is fascinating, with the Thames Park providing a comfortable oasis. The flower borders there are actually wild flower borders, full of bees and scent. Even furthur down the estuary one finds salt marshes, cows and meadows. All in the shadow of London.

A visit to the Chelsea Physic Garden to see the oldest plants in England was a treat, although, as a friend said, we have seen better kept gardens. The small restaurant serves a homemade lunch, and the day I was there the cook placed a glorious Salmon en Croute to cool on the window sill. Its all rather old fashioned and full of charm...right in the middle of London. Of course, I loved it!

Guirne Creith "Concerto in G minor" for Violin and Orchestra

Saint Paul's Knightsbridge proved an amicable setting for the West London Sinfonia's first public performance of Guirne Creith's Violin Concerto. Recently rediscovered, as told in a previous entry, the work deserves a place in the repertoire, as it is not only an important statement by a woman composer in the early 20th century, but more so because it is such an attractive and personal work. Written in three movements, and performed with great poise and poetry by Tamsin Waley-Cohen, the work comes across as a very polished, colorful and dramatic work, the highlight being the intimate slow movement which falls into the very best tradition of English string writing. There is something intensely feminine and sensual about this work, felt immediately by the motive that is heard immediately at the beginning, and reappears at important moments trhoughout the work. Its rather like a spontaeneous caress,being so surprising and intimate. The orchestration is big, and gives prominent display for the winds especially. Perhaps it would be a challenge to keep the orchestra down at times, but the violin part alternates from solo passages to concertante passages, where it is absorbed into the fabric of the orchestration. The work shows its time and place by reminding one of the style of Elgar or Delius, but the strength of the work is nevertheless in its originality which never comes close to being a mere copy of former styles,rather adding a path of its own. Waley-Cohen was able to hold her own against the full orchestra, and brought a distinct and very musical approach to her performance. Conducted with authority by the gifted conductor Peter Hesketh, the work was received with enthusiasm. One hopes a Prom performance is in the future.

The West London Sinfonia, an amateur group with a few professionals and music students, proved to be a well-trained and spontaineous group. The performance of the Berlioz "Symphonie Fantastique", only their second one, was very impressive, especially the excellent wind and brass sections.

Hearing a work that no one really remembered existed, performed after so many lost years, was a very moving experience for myself and the many family and friends gathered to hear the concert. I lived for a year in Guirne's home, and my memories of her are those of a very young man with more than a few rough patches throw together with a woman of vast life experience. Music was a common bond, and our conversations were probably the best I will ever have with another musician. That the concerto itself should so closely catch her personality and point of view made for one of life's more memorable moments. Soon to be published, the Guirne Creith violin concerto will undoubtedly receive many performances.