St Pauls Cathedral
One wartime photograph above all came to symbolize
the resisting spirit of London during the 1940 Blitz that famous
shot of the dome of St. Paul's Cathedral silhouetted
against a wall of flame and smoke, standing firm under fiery
attack. There was an irony to the image, too, for it was the
Fire of London in
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1666 that destroyed the city's cathedral
and enabled Sir Christopher Wren (1632-1723) to build the magnificent new saint pauls church
that made his name and fortune. Wren dominated London's rebuilding
after the fire, designing 52 churches, of which the great baroque
cathedral of St. Paul (1675-1710) was his masterpiece.
Huge, domed, swagged, and magnificent, bulky St. Paul's
sits marooned in a green churchyard. Twin towers guard the west
front, built in 1707 the northern tower houses the largest bell
in England, the 17 ton "Great Paul." Inside
the cathedral, the saucer domes on the nave ceiling carry the
eye forward to the crossing under the great dome.
Wren wanted to build a basilica cathedral with
four arms of near equal length, but this was considered too
Italianate and too modern and the church authorities insisted
on the conventional long nave and shorter transepts. However,
Wren's innovative genius was allowed full play in the construction
of the dome, 364 feet high and second only to St. Peter's
in Vatican City. It measures 137 feet from
side to side of its famous Whispering Gallery,
and bears down with the weight of thousands of tons of stone
and lead the lantern on the top alone weighs 850 tons.
Before climbing the 530 steps to the topmost viewing gallery,
take plenty of time to enjoy a stroll around the body of the
cathedral. Here, the beautiful wrought iron choir screen was
made by Jean Tijou, one of the Huguenot
refugees who so greatly enhanced the cultural and artistic
life of Britain. Another foreign settler, the Rotterdam
mastercarver Grinling Gibbons (1648-1721) carved the
choir stalls and organ casing to Wren's original decorative
design.
MEMORIALS
It had been Wren's wish that his masterpiece be
left uncluttered with memorials, but the cathedral's symbolic
importance made this impossible. Indeed, much of the interest
of St. Paul's lies in its many monuments. Immediately on entry,
you pass on your left the Chapel of All Souls
with its deathly white effigy of Lord Kitchener of Khartoum.
There is a touching and seldom inspected pieta located above
the chapel's altar. In the north aisle and
north transept are notable memorials to famous men such as
Dr. Samuel Johnson and Field Marshal Lord Slim,
as well as to forgotten heroes like Maj. Gen. Andrew
Hay who died aged 52, "dosing a military life marked
by zeal, prompt decision, and signal intrepidity." Painter and
sculptor Frederick, Lord Leighton (1830-1896)
and the Duke of Wellington (1769-1852) both
have remarkably hook-nosed effigies.
Wellington himself lies buried in the crypt
in a giant marble tomb surrounded by lions, while nearby are
images of Florence Nightingale (1820-1910)
tending a soldier, and the hero of Trafalgar, Lord Nelson (1758-1805
), lying in a huge, black sarcophagus under a rather flashy
coronet and cushion. His coffin was orignally commissioned for
Cardinal Wolsey in the 16th centu-ry, then seized by Henry VIII.
It remained unused until 1805 when Nelson was buried within
it.
DOME
Shallow wooden steps lead up to
a short flight of stone stairs and the entrance to the Whispering
Gallery with its wall paintings and good view down into the
nave one of the angles from which in 1981 TV viewers around
the world saw the solem-nization of the marriage between Charles
Prince of Wales, and the 19 year old Lady Diana
Spencer. From here, more spiral steps climb to the
windy Stone Gallery, and there is a final flight
of iron stairs to the little railed Golden Gallery,
dizzyingly high, where you stand in the open 350 feet above
the churchyard and look out over London and
the Thames.
Reference:
Extract from "The National Geographic Traveler - Great Britain" written by Christopher Somerville.
eBay: liturgy and music
? to see hundreds
of children being
entertained as
they crowded
around the new
dome console
was moving
and inspiring,
and brought the
cathedral organ
to life for a new
generation ?
lucy winkett
precentor
on lord mayor’s show day, we suspended
the entrance charge and people came in their
thousands. part of their experience was a newly
commissioned work for organ and percussion
with music by the swiss composer guy bovet and
words by the poet michael symmonds roberts.
appropriately, the story told by our actors was the
story of dick whittington, lord mayor of london
(and his cat!). to see hundreds of children being
entertained by the imaginative use of ‘oranges and
lemons’ in bovet’s music as they crowded around
the new dome console was moving and inspiring,
and brought the cathedral organ to life for a new
generation. this was one fulfilment of our hope
for the newly refurbished grand organ, and we
are looking forward to many more.
we were also thrilled to welcome olivier latry
who played the opening recital on the new dome
console, and thomas trotter who took part in the
inaugural recital series. to see such skilled performers
directly in front of the audience has been
a revelation for our concert goers. within the
cathedral, for services and concerts, the organ has
been played this year by three new players. after
the departure of huw williams for america, tom
winpenny for st albans and jamie mcvinnie for
westminster abbey, we welcomed our new organist
and assistant director of music, simon johnson,
our new sub organist timothy wakerell, and
organ scholar, timothy harper.
our music administrator debbra walters took
up a new post at trinity college of music and margaret
rates has been an outstanding addition to the
team. all of our new musicians have thrilled us
already with their skill and dedication and we are
immensely grateful to them for all they bring to us.
the order of the british empire, the order of
st michael and st george and the imperial society
of knights bachelor all held ceremonial services
here during this year, and we were delighted to
welcome her majesty the queen to all these occasions
with the cathedral full to bursting.
we were delighted also to witness the world
premiere of a new piece by sir michael tavener
(words by june boyce tilman) and then, in
november, another premiere of requiem for the lost
child by the contemporary composer adrian snell.
the variety of musical styles of which we are
proud was maintained by these premieres and
commissions during this year. we were honoured
to welcome the distinguished conductor valery
gergiev with the london symphony orchestra to
perform mahler in two astonishing concerts during
the city of london festival.
the cathedral hosted large diocesan services
during the year, not only the regular ordinations
and confirmations, but the service to celebrate the
tenth anniversary of the diocesan link with
mozambique and angola. a ‘river of life’ flowed
down the cathedral from the font and hundreds
of people of all ages and backgrounds from across
london came to celebrate this important international
link. we also hosted the service to inaugurate
the new mellitus college which will train
clergy in london.
the cathedral fulfilled its national role as two
thousand gathered at a service to commemorate
the ending of operation banner, the british forces
campaign in northern ireland over 38 years.
princes william and harry also held a ‘city salute’
with veterans and military musicians on the steps
of the cathedral to honour those who have died
or been injured serving their country in war.
we are extremely grateful to our new music
patrons who are supporting the music at st paul’s
and their enthusiasm for everything from the daily
liturgical round, to our annual performances of
messiah and st john passion, our advent processions
and holy week meditations is much appreciated
by all of us.
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