Rome: The Vatican

One of the things that Sarah and I have encountered from this trip around four continents, has been the unexpected intellectual and emotional experiences from encountering so many different spaces that are held sacred by various faiths and divisions within those faiths. There have of course been the familiar and expected, like our start in NY where we have connections with St. Thomas and St. Patrick’s, or even London with the Wesley boys, and Westminster.  And there has been the unexpected but not uncomfortable, like Howard Goodall giving us a tour of St. Mary’s in Putney where in 1647 the “Putney Debates” where held and some consider American Democracy ideas were birthed.  But there have also been the new and sometimes uncomfortable including mosques, churches turned into mosques, and of course all the sacred sites that are pre-Christianity or Islam.  And with these come our meeting new people who are associated with these spaces- the guides, employees, clergy, staff, and visitors or congregants following their faith paths that we constantly are in contact with.

The thing that Sarah and I (and I think Tommy is still processing everything) have realized is that we have been personally moved in many of these different spaces, but we also have not been moved in others where we thought we probably should have ben. And to be honest, we have been thinking about faith and God in less confining ways. This may be happening for many reasons, but it may also be because America is always in the news over here, and the people of Europe, Asia, and Africa have not been shy about addressing their concerns that Conservative Protestant Christianity is becoming the National Faith of a country they thought had freedom of religion.  We noticed this especially in West Asia and Africa where people have wanted to tell us repeatedly about things like Ataturk giving the vote to women and weakening Islamic power in Turkey (and how scared they are that their current president is going backwards and scaring them), and in Tunisia we pretty much received a sermon on how freedom of religion is critical, and respecting others must be foundational to future of the world.  Without getting political, it is not fun when Asians and Africans feel the need to school visiting Americans on freedom and religious tolerance. So there, I said it!!

Now the reason for my above ramble on our experiences with faith and politics is to add weight to the fact that entering into Vatican City was like nothing I have ever experienced before. And I mean the entire country/complex identified as the independent Vatican City.  From the huge collection of rooms and buildings (collectively known as the Vatican Museums), to the famous square, and of course St. Peter’s Basilica.  It was an overwhelming spiritual, emotional, and intellectual experience.

I should note that one of the advantages of relocating to these major cities for extended periods of time is that our experience feels very different from when we are “on choir tour” or “on vacation”.  Perhaps the reason is that, when we do things like walk into a place as overwhelming as the Vatican museums, we don’t have the same stress regarding time. Our only requirement is arriving at our reserved time.  Once there, we can slowly take it all in until we are intellectually and emotionally overwhelmed. And if we run out of time, we just come back the next day! Or in this case of this trip where we are trying to make connections to our jobs, we can choose to focus on artworks and rooms where key events in music and art history occurred.  Of course, focusing on our academic connections does not work with Tommy who is a sponge and wants to read every sign, study every work, and gets upset if we try to just walk through a room that we feel is not worth our time.  As such he makes us both very proud and frustrated!

Not to be cliché, but it really is impossible for me to put into words what we felt seeing things only read about, seen in videos, or as the “old guy” learned about from physical slides projected on a wall in a darkened classroom as an art history student. Many of the works I took photos of just to have for my own lectures, but mostly I just took videos or photos to record our being there.  After all, the professional images in my lectures are better than what I could take! And as you may know, there are no photos allowed in the Sistine Chapel since the famous (and controversial) restoration that was funded by Nippon Television Network Corporation of Japan. As part of their 4.2-million-dollar deal, they were granted all rights to the images. However, those rights have now inspired, and since flash is no longer needed for photos, no one has a uniform answer as to why there are still no pictures allowed.

After our brains were mush, we left the museum and went to decompress in a cafe outside the Vatican walls. We may or may not have needed olives, bread, cheese, gelato, and some wine to make that happen!  And it was a beautiful day so sitting outside at a Roman café was certainly not punishment!

I am not sure when folks will read this entry, or what the future will hold, but we visited St. Peter’s Basilica on the day they were calling for an enormous vigil to pray the Rosary for Pope Francis who has been near death in the hospital. Ever since I read the book On Heaven and Earth by two Argentinian religious leaders- Cardinal Jorge Bergoglio (now Pope Francis) and Rabbi Abraham Skorka – I have been a huge fan of Cardinal Bergoglio/Pope Francis. And as I have watched how he has handled current political events; I have become even more impressed by him. Thus, I was glad to have a chance to say a prayer for him (in his own church) as he battles potentially life-ending pneumonia.

I am not sure what to write about St. Peter’s except to say that it is huge and having never been there before, is even bigger than I imagined. I have watched concerts filmed there, seen masses performed, and of course watched documentaries, but nothing prepared me for the size of everything. I had read that the designers intentionally made everything oversized so that giant space is both impressive, but at the same time has the illusion of being somewhat intimate.  And I think they succeed.  It is definitely impressive in its size, but yet it does not feel as big as it is.  Well, until you compare the normally small ornamental sculptures (like these tiny cherubim) to something you know the size of (like Sarah and Tommy).

The enormous scale of the building was driven home when I realized that the famous Bernini canopy at the heart of the building, and under which the main altar is located, is Seven Storeys Tall. And that is a structure inside the church!

Of course, this oversized approach can have a negative effect. As an example, for twenty years I have taught how in his Pieta, Michelangelo carved the middle of Mary’s body unnaturally large to add drama to the scene by allowing her to hold Jesus in her lap.  As such, her head, hands, etc. are proportionate to Jesus, but if she stood up, she would somehow be about 9 feet tall!  For this reason, I was ready for this statue I had studied to be enormous (a 9-foot Mary after all), but this monumental work almost felt like a miniature in the context of St Peter’s.  It almost disappointed me.  Well as much as one of Michelangelo’s most meaningful statues could ever “disappoint”.

One of the nice things about being in Europe in the winter is that the crowds are not only bearable, sometimes there are none.  This meant that we could simply walk down into the crypt and stand at the tomb of St. Peter.  And regardless of what you believe (yes, at this point in seeing relics across the world, I know the “one true cross” must have required a redwood tree to make) it was still a bizarre experience to stand there.  And, while he was far from my favorite theologically, it was interesting to stand over Benedict XVI since I had watched his funeral and seen the video of him being sealed inside his casket and put in the grave I was standing beside. 

You really can’t top Saint Peter, but as a music history teacher and choral conductor, it was really amazing standing right next the Pope Marcellus II!  Now, while Marcellus was not himself a ground-breaking pope (he actually died after only about a month into the role), in some ways he totally affected music history. You see, in the few days he was pope, he was the boss to Palestrina. And it was Palestrina who memorialized him in the Marcellus Mass. The mass that is said (at least in overly simplified texts) to have saved polyphonic music and paved the way for the continued develop of music as we know it. And for this reason, the name of that thirty day pope is on every music history test!

As musicians, the icing on the cake to this visit to the basilica was when we suddenly heard the organ crank up and saw a group of cardinals file in.  We were going to see a mass being celebrated by what appeared to be a group of French dignitaries.  It was so amazing, and the organ filled this huge space in a way that was most impressive and beautiful.  And lest this post feel too spiritual or academic, Sarah and I actually made a joke about how amazing the music was compared to the abysmal music in the Cathedral of Barcelona Spain where we heard a mass sung so poorly we could almost not keep a straight face.  To be honest, we could not believe we were in the major cathedral of Spain!  Here in St. Peter’s, they don’t seem to mess around with the music!!

OK, one last paragraph to make sure this entry is solidly labeled as controversial. What about women? In a world of men, there are six women laid to rest in St. Peter’s. And one has recently gotten more attention as she was next to John Paul II until he was moved a few years ago. Now, she is next to Benedict XVI (I am sure they are both thrilled…)

I could go on, but this has been the longest post of our trip and maybe even a bit polarizing.  But, hey it can’t be all drinking beer, pretty pictures, and conducting choirs!