CAFE VIENNA | BELLS

Current mood: fascinated
Category: Dreams and the Supernatural

Hello,

Well I want to post about a lovely dream I had last week...

I woke up in the morning after having had a pleasant dream that left me feeling blissful. Tony and I were in Italy (as we will be for real in one month!!), and we were at a cafe. We ordered 2 iced lattes, and they were served on a tray. The glasses were tall, like old coke bottles, except the mouths of the glassed were gold-rimmed. And the shape of the mouths was strange and beautiful - much like a Rococo Grandfather clock or something of the sort. It was bright in the place, as if the sun were shining.

I fear this dreary Boston weather has taken a toll on my subconscious.

We've watched a few movies lately:
The Proposition (screenplay and score by Nick Cave)
Divorza alla Italiana (w/Marcello Mastroianni)
3:10 to Yuma (w/Christian Bale & Russell Crowe)

A wonderful trio.

The Proposition is beautifully shot and scored, but definitely leaves one feeling a bit misanthropic as it highlights the most negative sides of humanity.

I guess we're on a Western kick again!

Today I spent a misty afternoon in a bell tower (No, I'm not goth, dammit!). The Russian bells at Lowell House were featured in a special presentation as part of Harvard's Arts First Festival. I could have omitted that small detail, but when I walked into the presentation, I was reminded, "Oh, yeah, I'm in Cambridge - at Harvard" by the comments of the house master. She compared the use of the bells for secular purposes, despite their original Russian Orthodox creation (from the Danilov Monastery), to the playing of the Brahms Requiem in Sanders Theatre - originally created for a religious purpose, but able to be enjoyed by peoples of all faiths.

Anyway, we climbed up 6 stories to reach the top. Kybele was there{ goddess of high, windy places}. The mother bell is 12 tons. That's right. The bells are so beautiful.

Part of why I was so interested is that a few years back, I made a field recording of the bells as they rang on Harvard's Commencement Day.

It is the only complete set of Russian bells in the US, and it plays a mighty scale.

It is set up via a system of pulleys and levers. There are little tinkly ones, and the huge, low, majestic ones. The large ones have Byzantine-looking religious icons on them and lovely, cryptic Cyrillic.

All kinds of details abound on the bells. They inspired me nearly to tears. That man's faith devotion to God can be reflected in such a way - like Cathedrals and great works of art.

Heavy, like so many things Russian. I am continually fascinated by their culture. One day I shall go to Russia.