An Evening of Many Lamps
Music and Poetry
FILMS , MUSIC, DRAMA AND ART
8/1/20264 min read
We had been looking forward an evening of jazz and aperos at Lodève Cathedral for a number of weeks. It would be good, we thought, to 'go local' for once, and not have to travel into Montpellier as usual. What's more, Lodève Cathedral is an unusual venue, and cloisters always have that special atmosphere of peace and contemplation that I love.
We had planned to get there in plenty of time, to ensure a good seat. Things were going well as we left the house and made our way down the forest road. But as we turned the last bend before descending to the maison forestière in the valley we got a big surprise. Suspended from a roadside tree we saw at least 5 large metallic lamp shades. What on earth were they, and who had put them there?
Perhaps it was some sort of scientific experiment, I surmised. Or, much worse, maybe the lamps were an indication of a party to be held in the forest later that night. We continued as far as the main road to see if someone had put out a sign to direct party traffic. Party goers at a time of enormous risk of forest fire would be extremely bad news. Worse still, an illegal 'Rave Party' would be disastrous. Feeling slightly relieved that there was no sign for traffic,we returned to the forest once more to investigate further. We then found some more light bulbs, miniature globes, adorning a tree higher up the road. By now we were convinced that a party was about to take place. What could we do? As luck would have it our mairie is open on Friday evenings, so we dropped in there to share our worries with the maire. He promised to look into it, so feeling slightly reassured, we continued on our way to Lodève. By now, however, we were running very late. B. suggested that we may as well turn back...
...I am so glad that we didn't. We got there over twenty minutes later and the concert was in full swing with the kind of easy, joyful jazz that I like. With a glass of wine in our hands, one of 'les amis' placed two seats for us close to the band, and we settled back to enjoy the show . It was still light, and the Cathedral Tower loomed above us. The band consisted of six members with their instruments: trombone; double bass; skiffle board: bass guitar( hidden); horn(s) and trombone.
All too soon, the band stopped playing and we were invited to step up for food and yet more wine. The snacks, it would seem, had been made by some of 'les amis' and they were absolutely delicious. I wandered into the nave to enjoy the silence for a brief spell. As far as I am concerned, Lodève Cathedral is every bit as wonderful as Notre Dame , albeit not so famous. What's more, one can enjoy it in solitude. Another lamp shone brightly... a magnificent chandelier. This was a gift from the British Queen Victoria to a local Lodèvois Engineer.
I returned to the cloisters where very soon, the band was really swinging, and each instrumentalist performed a solo, before joining in again in unison with the others. They played on and on. It was growing dark now and the lamp on the olive tree near us glowed brightly, whilst tiny little lights sparkled from the box hedges that line the cloister paths. When finally they drew to a close, the audience were rapturous with their applause.
As we left the cloisters, the Cathedral looked strangely different, for the pride and joy of this magnificent building lay dark and sombre. Without daylight, it was as if those magnificent stained glass windows had been switched off.
After returning to the car, within twenty minutes we were re-entering the forest. I spotted lights in the trees and suddenly remembered the scare we had had as we had left earlier that evening. In the interim we had received a text from the maire, keen to reassure us. These lights had been placed by a cultural group who were organising a series of poetry readings , stories and music at different forest locations later that evening . There they were now, crowding across the road ahead of us, torches flashing to warn us to stop. We were eventually able to crawl past silently ( thanks to our EV!) and were greeted by many smiling faces. We learned later that they had set off from the olive trees in the village at 8.30p.m. and would return for refreshments there shortly after midnight. All in all they would have walked 4km ,meeting various artists at different locations along the way. How wonderfu! It had indeed, been an evening of many lamps.
