God God God

I’ve finally made a start on my Requiem. I don’t know whether it’s bizarre to start on the Agnus Dei sequence, but I had some notes for a setting of that particular Latin text, which I'd made about five years ago, and they seem to have stood up quite well. It’s difficult to start the process of inserting gravestone texts until all the votes from my friends are in, but I selected two that have proved fairly popular so far and ones which seemed to fit the feeling of the music and the message of the Latin text, which basically never moves that very far away from "God, God, God," so it's nice to be able to stick something in that has some proper meaning! "Be kind" says the first text, "for everyone you meet is fighting a hard battle.” The quote seems to be attributed to Plato, but it feels incredibly relevant in the 21st Century. Just at the moment, I don’t know many people who are living lives that don't feel like hard battles. I certainly feel that way right now.

The other text I’ve been looking at is “our life is like grass, a breath of wind passes over and we are gone and not seen again.” I think the origins of this quote are biblical, but I like the way it is written out of context on the gravestone, which I found in a Jewish Cemetery. It is a very true statement. We are all insignificant. In the blink of an eye, we’re gone forever... but to attach this to the natural cycle of life seems somehow comforting. I think I like being a blade of grass. It takes the pressure off!


Because I’ve had so many enquiries, I should point out that the court case in Leicester was adjourned yesterday. We had loads to talk about and we basically ran out of time, which wasn't ideal for any of us. We’re now looking for another date that everyone can make to finish things off, but it could take months. Boo! That’s about all I can say at this stage.

Monday 27th May, 1661, and Pepys spent the day pottering around Westminster, dealing with various bits of business. He went to the Legg on King’s Street where he met the two Mr Pierces. Whilst they were drinking, Captain Ferrers appeared, the first day he’d ventured out since his leap from the balcony a week before. He was obviously a very lucky man.