Monday 9 June 2014

The past and what we make of it

It being the Queen's birthday public holiday, things were rather quiet today.  There were lots of honours given to people worthy of recognition. There were many names I recognised, and some people I know, or knew.

I was awarded a Centenary Medal some years ago. It sits in a drawer. I did not talk about it, nor did I broadcast the fact that I had been awarded a medal. It felt like skiting. Lots of people were awarded the Centenary Medal, so it did not seem to be snything extraordinary. I do not even remember whether I told my children, or anyone else in my family. Yet I do feel quite pleased to have had some recognition of my work.

 I have been listening to the ABC's countdown on the most popular Baroque music. There were not all that many surprises, with Bach and Handel featuring prominently. And the most popular is Handel's Messiah.  Vocal music was very popular, which pleases me, as a chorister who has sung many of the works included in the hundred favourite works.

 During the afternoon I went to see a film, Belle, which was very good. I came home and looked up one of  my books, The Slave Trade, by Hugh Thomas, which did give a few details of the events with which the film deals - whether the loss of slaves at sea was covered by insurance. Lord  Mansfield ruled it could not be, slavery being so odious that nothing could be suffered to support it. I recommend the film, although I don't know how historically accurate it is. Nevertheless, it shows the moral issues and dilemmas, both in their past and present contexts.




2 comments:

Elephant's Child said...

The Centenary Medal in a drawer? Now that is really hiding your light under a bushell.
Glad that you are getting out and about - and hope you are feeling MUCH better.

Pam said...

Don't quite know what the Centenary Medal is but it sounds very impressive. Well done!