One of the nastier aspects of the Gauleiters who rule us all under the heavy disguise of Local Government is their singular dislike for anything religious. My second son was planning his wedding, and because it was to be a civil ceremony, had to get the Registry Office people involved. One of the strongest diktats produced by these rigid clowns was ‘There must be No Religious Music at all during the wedding Ceremony’.
Now I must confess that my religion, which was once such a great part of my life, no longer holds any great thrall for me. The reasons for my withdrawal are many and varied, but they do exist; and the one strand of my old religion which still calls strongly to me is its music. Many of the Masters of the Renaissance and afterwards had religion and their beliefs at the very heart of their compositions, and when you hear the soaring strains from a Thomas Tallis or a Monteverdi piece, you can well understand the saying ‘All to the Honour and glory of God’. Not for one moment would I contend that the composers who do not have any religious fervour inbuilt to their works are any the worse for that lack; but for me, the music which holds the love and wonder of a Divine Creator has a special power.
At my son’s request, I compiled a selection of music on a CD, from which my son and his wife-to-be chose the strains which would celebrate their Union, and, unknown to me, for the entrance music, they chose this minor masterpiece.
My eldest brother, now dead, leant forward and whispered to me, ‘Hoi, I thought that the hard-faced supervisor didn’t allow any religious or sacred music, How did you get that one past her?’
I simply replied, ‘What they don’t recognise, doesn’t worry them!’
Fire, Pillage & Plague 