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St Martin in the Fields Candlelight Concert

One of my favorite spots in London is Trafalgar Square. Emerging from the claustrophobic Underground into the openness of Trafalgar feels like being transported into the beating heart of London. Street musicians perform to the accompaniment of buzzing traffic and locals and tourists alike bustle around the square.

Nelson’s column pierces the sky, its feline guardians keeping watch while fountains mist the air. My eyes always go to the fourth plinth to admire its current occupant, which always seems out of place. Then, I admire the architecture surrounding the square from the neoclassical National Gallery and Admiralty Arch to the Christopher Wren inspired St. Martin in the Fields. Only after taking this inventory am I ready to proceed to our destination.

St. Martin in the Fields

This past Tuesday, our destination was St. Martin in the Fields, which regularly hosts classical music concerts. We had been meaning to find time to attend one but hadn’t yet. Then, a wonderful new friend offered us her tickets to Moonlight Sonata by Candlelight because she was unable to attend. We happily accepted her gracious offer.

St Martin in the Fields Candlelight Concert
St. Martin in the Fields

The church dates to at least 1222 but was rebuilt in 1542 at Henry VIII’s direction. It was rebuilt again in the 1720s, and that is the version standing today, after a recent renewal project. The church predates everything around it as it was originally quite literally in the fields outside of London. Today, surrounded by the hustle and bustle of the city, it has adapted as an institution to its modern setting. The basement crypt holds a gift shop, box office, and café aptly named Café in the Crypt, which is where we decided to eat before the concert, along with a number of other concert goers as it turned out.

The Crypt

The crypt entrance is a modern glass cylinder adjacent to the church enclosing an elevator and short spiral staircase. A clever sign lists the benefits of using the steps and leaving the elevator for the less able. The large and modern lobby at the bottom of the stairs contains the box office and gift shop. The café is in the actual crypt with an arched and vaulted brick ceiling and tombstones in the floor. Many of the tombstones are too worn to read. The high ceiling with up lighting makes it an attractive and warm space despite its name. We took advantage of the two-course special with wine and dessert. I enjoyed delicious coq au vin with roasted squash while Kurt opted for the aubergine pasty with potatoes. We both enjoyed an apple crumble with custard for dessert.

  • St Martin in the Fields Candlelight Concert
    crypt ceiling
  • St Martin in the Fields Candlelight Concert
    Cafe in the Crypt
  • St Martin in the Fields Candlelight Concert
    tombstones in the crypt floor

An elderly woman was eating alone at the table next to us. After looking at us a few times, she asked me if I would watch her things while she used the toilet. She came back and asked how we enjoyed the apple crumble. She said that it’s her favorite but that they don’t always get it right. Before her husband passed away three years ago, they would share one. She was going to the concert and was delighted to learn we were as well. When she headed upstairs to the church, I watched her stooped figure climb the stairs. I wasn’t sure whether to feel sad for her possible loneliness or celebrate her continuing doing things she enjoys.

Climbing the steps up to the church, the cold night air and hum of the city washed down on us. After showing our tickets, we walked into the church for the first time. It’s even more beautiful inside. Dark wood pews and paneling contrast white columns supporting the arched ceiling with molded details and gold leaf accents. Six glass chandeliers illuminated the nave. Two large candelabras with enormous taper candles lit the sanctuary, and tealight candles scattered throughout the church provided a warm glow.

After collecting our seat cushions, an usher escorted us along the north aisle to our seats in the third row facing the keys of the piano. Warren Mailley-Smith would play for us. Only once seated did we see the enormous pipe organ above the entrance to the nave. Kurt observed that it must sound amazing. We agreed we’d have to look for an opportunity to return to hear it. While taking in the beauty of the setting, I noticed our neighbor from dinner at the front almost within arm’s reach of the body of the piano. I smiled to myself and celebrated.

Beautiful Music

The concert began promptly, and Mailley-Smith commented briefly on most of the pieces before he played them. His playing was magnificent throughout. A highlight from the first half was Franz Liszt’s Hungarian Rhapsody No 2, which delighted everyone in attendance and conjured visions of Tom and Jerry cartoons. Kurt observed that everyone was smiling during that piece. Another favorite of mine was the joyful Wedding Day at Troldhaugen by Edvard Grieg.

After the interval, we were treated to a small assortment of Chopin pieces, but the highlight of the second half was the last two pieces. The penultimate piece was Sergei Rachmaninov’s Prelude Op 3 no 2 in C sharp minor. Mailley-Smith noted before playing it that one only needs hands large enough to reach across an octave to play the piano; however, Rachmaninov had unusually large hands and could reach much farther than that. Because of that, he wrote music that he could comfortably play but which presents a great challenge to other pianists. I watched in awe as Mailley-Smith’s hands flew across the keys without seeming to touch them yet yielded beautiful music. The finale was George Gershwin’s Rhapsody in Blue, another audience favorite that left everyone smiling.

A Church with Something for Everyone

It was an enchanted evening layered in beauty, and we are extremely grateful to our benefactor. The church is well worth a visit. In addition to evening concerts, the church offers tours, free lunch-time concerts as well as periodic talks and of course, church services. The church is known for its long-standing homeless outreach programs, which may be why its crypt toilet facilities are open to the public (no fee is charged, but a small donation is requested). So, if you find yourself in Trafalgar Square, surely at least one of those attractions will entice you to St. Martin in the Fields.

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Heroes at Highclere

Heroes at Highclere

Lynnette and I have only just realized how close we are to many of the places we’ve always wanted to see. Last night, as we drove home after a day trip to Cambridgeshire, she quoted Earle Hitchner: “The difference between America and England is that Americans think 100 years is a long time, while the English think 100 miles is a long way.” We laughed as we marveled at the truth in this observation.

Only a few days ago, a British friend related a story about a visit to Williamsburg, Virginia which left him entirely unimpressed. His host was astonished, protesting that Colonial Williamsburg is one of the oldest places in America, to which our friend replied that he knew of a dozen similar villages in Norfolk, England, all of which were older by at least a hundred years. Meanwhile, some of my English colleagues were astonished that we planned to drive the fifty miles to Cambridgeshire for the day.

It turns out that Highclere Castle is such a place, at just over an hour’s drive from our home in Pinner. (Honestly, it would not have taken quite that long, but we were behind a horse and rider for half a mile or so between Newbury and the castle.)

Fans of ITV’s “Downton Abbey” will recognize Highclere as the titular setting of the show. That connection was absolutely our reason for wanting to visit, but the castle and estate have so much more to offer than simple tours of a glamourous shooting location. Highclere is a place where fiction and history intertwine, lending it a magicality that is, if not unique, at least extraordinarily rare.

For example, in “Downton Abbey,” the character of Lady Grantham turns the house into a hospital for the many wounded sent back from the First World War. Under the supervision of Lady Almina Herbert, Countess of Carnarvon, Highclere did indeed become a veterans’ hospital in 1914, forming a strong connection between the Carnarvon family and the British military.

It’s that connection which provides the foundation for the annual Heroes at Highclere event we had the good fortune to attend.

Highclere Castle during Heroes at Highclere

We arrived fairly early in the morning. The efficient parking arrangements put us in a sheep pasture next to an immaculate Bentley, and we climbed the hill to the sounds of bagpipes and drums in the distance. We spent a moment in the check-in tent to show our tickets, and the staff there seemed as happy to have us as we were to be there.

From there, it was a short walk along the road to the house itself. If you’ve seen Downton’s opening credits, you know that road. Off to the right, on the lawn in front of the house, stood a Royal Air Force Chinook helicopter open for tours, a vintage Army helicopter, and several other attractions. Ahead and to the left were a number of tents containing presentations of the charities served by the benefit event. Nearer the front of the house was a small performance area and period offerings that included a storyteller’s tent, a collection of WWI-era military equipment and weaponry, and a display honoring early twentieth-century nurses. All of these were staffed by people in immaculate, thoroughly-researched period attire and character.

Danny and Mitch being put through their paces.

We met two of them, Mitch and Danny, who were not only impeccably dressed in their infantry attire,  but their hands were made up to look as though they’d just crawled out of the trenches. They were hilariously funny and wonderfully nice to chat with, but we didn’t really appreciate the effort they’d gone to until we saw them put on an impromptu rifle drill demonstration under the command of another reenactor. These young men were very, very good!

Since Lord Carnarvon’s exquisitely-maintained 1936 Rolls Royce Phantom III was on display at the front of the house, its garage was put to good use as an ad hoc hair salon. Lynnette and our friend, Betty, enjoyed having their hair done with “Victory Rolls” by the warm and friendly ladies there.

I’d be remiss if I didn’t mention the carousel, which was equipped with a calliope playing a rather non-traditional repertoire.

Situated around the house were a number of dining tents. Naturally, we had tea with our lunch, and I was surprised to find that it was served in china, rather than paper or plastic. “Of course,” Lynnette chuckled. “This is England.”

From time to time, aircraft from both World Wars performed aerobatics overhead, which was fitting, since there were eight crashes of British and Allied aircraft on the estate during the Second World War. Lady Carnarvon’s dedication of a memorial to the airmen who died on the estate provided a deeply spiritual context to the day on Sunday, and I found the memorial service to be profoundly moving. When you visit, please take the short walk down the hill to the memorial and spend a few moments honoring those who gave their all.

Cedar tree sculpture by Simon O’Rourke

Another of the high points on the day was the talk by Lord Julian Fellowes, writer and creator of “Downton Abbey,” who turns out to be an enormously charming man. He spoke at length about his surprise and gratitude at Downton’s success, and shared several interesting stories from behind the scenes.

Julian Fellowes and Lady Carnarvon

One of the scenes he’s proudest of, he told us, comes at the end of Season One, when Lord Grantham interrupts a garden party to announce that England is at war with Germany. When he was writing it, a second season was by no means certain, so he wanted to create a scene which would speak to the way the world was changing but also provide a launching point for a potential second season. As he struggled to achieve that, he remembered a story his father had told him of his own earliest childhood memory, of being at a garden party and the host interrupting the band to announce the declaration of hostilities. Writing, it seems, is a deeply personal thing, even on so large a scale as a television series.

The house itself is exactly as we expected it to be as fans of Downton Abbey. It feels familiar, right down to the furniture, most of which is used in the show. Many of the rooms contained photographs of scenes from the show, while others were connected with more amusing snippets of text: “The Room in Which Mr. Pamouk Died.”

I’m certain that we’ll go back. It’s such a lovely place to visit, I don’t see how we can stay away.

Correction: This post was edited to reflect that Downtown Abbey aired on ITV, not BBC as originally written. Thank you to the readers who pointed out the error.