Ephemeral Stillness

I love the quietness in these photographs, a frozen moment of the interplay of light, time and space.

Girl at a Window, by Lady Clementina Hawarden, early 1860's.

This light-suffused study is more Impressionist in feeling than Pre-Raphaelite. Yet the combination of simple pose and an overt appeal to the imagination is also characteristic of the more intimate aspects of Pre-Raphaelism: Rossetti's drawings of Elizabeth Siddal are an obvious example. (source)

Clementina Maude, arms raised, 5 Princes Gardens; 
by Lady Clementina Hawarden.

Clementina Maude, 5 Princes Gardens, by Lady Clementina Hawarden.

Isabella Grace, 5 Princes Gardens, South Kensington (1864), by Lady Clementina Hawarden.

Nijinsky in Le Spectre de la Rose, Paris (1911), by Baron Adolf de Meyer.

Untitled (detail), by Baron Adolf de Meyer.

Untitled, by Baron Adolf de Meyer.

Dolores, by Baron Adolf de Meyer.

Le comte Etienne de Beaumont, by Baron Adolf de Meyer.

Julia Stephen at the Bear, Grindelwald, Switzerland, 1889.

This was Vanessa Bell’s favorite photograph of her mother. It was taken by Leslie Stephen’s friend Gabriel Loppé, the French painter of the high Alps. The subject is very reminiscent of the final scene in Virginia Woolf’s essay, 'On Being Ill' (1930). The essay ends with a description of the third Marchioness of Waterford gazing out the window on the day of her husband’s funeral. “She knew it before they told her, and never could Sir John Leslie forget, when he ran downstairs on the day of the burial, the beauty of the great lady standing to see the hearse depart, nor when he came back, how the curtain, heavy, mid-Victorian, plush perhaps, was all crushed together where she had grasped it in her agony.” [From Leslie Stephen's photograph album and epistolary memoir Mausoleum Book, source here.]

Vaslav Nijinsky in the ballet "L'après-midi d'un faune," photographed by Baron Adolf de Meyer.

The Kiss of Peace, by Julia Margaret Cameron (c.1869)

"A picture instinct with delicate observation, sweetness and refinement. One of the noblest works ever produced by photography."

～P. H. Emerson

Beatrice, 19th October 1870, by Julia Margaret Cameron 
(after Shelley's verse drama The Cenci).

*Today's music: Szymon Brzóska, discovered through Sutra, a collaboration between the composer and choreographer Sidi Larbi Cherkaoui.

Orovela

The other day I discovered the most beautiful and spiritual song I have heard in a long time, completely by chance, on this website (wait for it to load and the music should start automatically). After consulting a friend and my very knowledgeable husband, we thought it could be in Georgian, and to quote my husband, "people there are known to be great singers". Indeed! And... the pièce de résistance... my beloved found out through a Georgian contact that it is a Georgian folk song, Orovela, from the Eastern Georgian province of Kakheti, by the great singer and teacher of traditional Georgian music, Hamlet Gonashvili (lots of incredible songs on this page - Orovela is the 5th on the playlist). Ah... this has completely made my day (and the whole of my weekend, as I will spend it exploring his music!).

Below are the lyrics for Orovela, and no I do not read Georgian! However, I found out some possible explanations on the meaning of the lyrics: two words are repeated throughout the whole song: [ari aralo]. The words refer to soil/ land/ god of soil/ productivity, in a symbolic sense. Georgian peasants used to sing this song when they were plowing land with oxen. Georgia was then pagan. [*Edit: On viewing the YouTube clip again, a translation into English has been suggested, as updated below. (via)]

ოროველა (Orovela) (title)


გადი გამოდი გუთანო,
Go there [and] come back here you plough,


ღირღიტავ ბანი უთხარო
Ghirghita tell[give] him a bass[voice]. (to give him a voice, help in singing)
("Ghrighita" - name of ox)


სახნის საკვეთო გაუსვი
Your plough cutter cut it [cut it plough-cutter] [line it, cut in line]


რომ კაჭაჭს ძირი უთხარო
To dig out a bottom to Kachach [weed] [to sap out, to undermine a weed]("Kachach" - a kind of weed)


შენი ჭირიმე გუთანო
Your pain to me plough [love you plough] ("Let your pain be mine," a Georgian phrase, similar to "I love you" or "my darling.")


მაგ შენი მრუდე ყელისა
[pain] Of that your curved neck


შენა ხარ პურის მომყვანი
You are the bringer[leader] of bread


დამძველებელი ქერისა
The grower[old] of barley (To olden a barley, oldener of barley)



The sound quality of the following two videos is not very good, but the advantage is that you see a great musician in performance.





*Photograph: At the Abano-pass: The gate to Tusheti coming from Kakheti, source here.

My Wedding Blessing

It will be the anniversary of my wedding blessing soon, on the 30th of June! I thought I would do a photo journal in celebration of the (approaching of the) event, with wonderful music which was handpicked by us and used in the ceremony. The wedding blessing and reception took place in my favourite area in London, the peaceful, shielded and hidden jewel—Temple Church and Middle Temple (do visit their websites for detailed history and some lovely photographs). Our wedding blessing is the most special and beautiful day of my life, and will always remain closest and dearest to my heart.

Sweet Avalanche roses and Sarah Bernhardt peonies. The seasons of these beloved flowers of mine (as well as Lily of the Valley of course) determined our wedding date.

Order of service booklets handmade by me from scratch—David and I even had to steam and adjust every vintage silk tassel! I chose the theme of fairytale silhouette art to match our wedding invitations.

Lily of the Valley whispers "the return to happiness." (Lily of the Valley was my only floral choice when it came to bridal bouquet, right from the beginning of my wedding planning. Its heady perfume is intoxicating—my friends said they could literally 'track me down' on the day following the scent...)

My wedding gown is an original antique dress made in 1912 from the Edwardian era (La Belle Époque), which is the period I love the most, sartorially speaking.

This is one of my favourite photos—taken next to the wonderful little garden of Inner Temple.

Entrance to the Round of the Temple Church.

To have and to hold, from this day forward,
for better, for worse: for richer, for poorer;
in sickness and in health;
to love and to cherish,
till death us do part,
according to God's holy law;
and thereto I give thee my troth.

The Temple Church Choir is an extraordinary chorale. We had the full choir for our blessing and the music was such that it simply transcended you to a different place—it shows how similar our aesthetic consciousness is to our spiritual consciousness. We selected Bach, Palestrina, plainsong and Maurice Duruflé (be sure to listen to the most beautiful anthems Ubi Caritas by Duruflé and Exsultate Deo by Palestrina.)

Lyrics for Ubi Caritas

Ubi caritas et amor, Deus ibi est.
Congregavit nos in unum Christi amor.
Exsultemus et in ipso jucundemur.
Timeamus et amemus Deum vivum.
Et ex corde diligamus nos sincero.

Where there is affection and love, there God is.
The love of Christ has gathered us into one.
Let us rejoice and delight in him.
Let us fear and love the living God.
And from our hearts let us love each other sincerely.

Where there is affection and love, there God is. Amen.

Lily of the valley and roses...

The above two pictures are Peggy Porschen's exquisite creations (Peggy came to the venue on the day herself to deliver the cakes and arrange their display on my vintage mismatched china!).

Ladurée's gorgeous bespoke Ispahan cake made of rose petal macarons, rose scented cream, fresh lychee, raspberries and gilded with real red rose petals.

It took three people (two hairstylists and one assistant) over an hour to do my hair—my hair is so very long and I wanted a somewhat Romanesque, delicate updo featuring plenty of intricate plaits...

This is not just exquisite-looking, it tasted great too! Vanilla and chocolate marble cake with cream and almond marzipan... yum...

Our beautiful harpist Emma and I at the reception, Smoking Room, Middle Temple.

Hmmm... how can any girl not be happy with a perfectly pink slice of Ispahan cake?

This is my favourite corner in the Smoking Room (smoke-free of course!) at Middle Temple, with the bookshelf and fireplace.

David's toast at the reception, Parliament Chambers, Middle Temple.

My handmade invitations and order of service booklets along with some wedding souvenirs—photobooks which I edited myself including some of my favourite poetry and pictures of the special day.

On our honeymoon to the gorgeous Les Prés d'Eugénie in Eugénie les Bains, I discovered that this lovely painting in our room was also done in 1912, the same year my antique wedding gown was made. It was the best holiday I have ever had. :-)

More post-wedding souvenirs: this darling wedding cake topper of 18th-century bride and groom figurine is displayed on my grandparents' Japanese enamelled (?) little dishes.

*See a beautiful slideshow gallery by our wedding photographer here, and more pictures here.