ROME - 2 October 2007 - 510 words
Rome: refreshing musical moments at the Trevi Fountain
Peter Jennings
The New English Orchestra and Singers gave a series of nine Recreatios (literally meaning times of rest and refreshment) in the church of SS Vincenzo e Anastasio, opposite the Trevi Fountain, one of the most popular tourist spots in Rome, last week.
The Recreatios, reflective mediations
in music, linked by words from the Bible, were performed by a
versatile group of six professional musicians from Britain and
Europe, plus 14 singers.
The NEO, based in England, was founded in 1976 by Nigel Swinford,
its creative Musical Director and Conductor, to bring together
professional musicians of different Christian traditions including
Catholics and Anglicans.
As well as frequent performances throughout the United Kingdom, the NEO is a regular visitor to Salzburg during the Music Festival and has also performed in Sweden, Russia, Switzerland and Spain. This late September visit to Rome was the first time in nearly 32 years that the NEO had performed anywhere in Italy.
Mr Swinford explained that the Recreatios were based on three themes: 'Living Water', 'Praise', and 'God's Calling'. The programme varied with each performance but included music by Bach, Handel, Telemann, Vaughan Williams, Duke Ellington, Spirituals and Gospel Music.
The NEO was put in contact with Fr Sebastiano Paciolla, a Cistercian monk and rector of SS Vincenzo e Anastasio, by the Prior of the Benedictine church of St Peter, in Salzburg. Fr Paciolla, a Canon Lawyer, who lectures at the Angelicum and Gregoriana, met Mr Swinford earlier this year. He willing agreed that the spectacular baroque church of medieval origin could be used by the NEO for the Recreatios, admission free.
The sound of a trumpet from the portico called the tourists into the church before each of the performances at 11am, 2.30pm and 4pm. The small church was soon packed to capacity with people standing at the back and down the side aisles for each of the 40-minute concerts.
At the final performance of the series on 26 September, the bright afternoon sunshine streamed in through the windows high above the sanctuary. Six candles on the high altar burned brightly throughout as the sound of joyful praise engulfed the beautiful interior of the church.
Congregations don't normally give a standing ovation at the end of a service in a Catholic church, but that's what happed at the end of a rousing rendition of the popular Gospel song, 'O Happy Day'!
The Recreatio ended with the beautiful song, 'Be Still and Know that I am God', during which Nigel Swinford led the singers and musicians slowly out of the church onto the portico with its panoramic view of the Trevi Fountain. For a few precious moments the cacophony of noise from the square was replaced by something far more profound.
© Independent Catholic
News 2007
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