Vangelis died a couple of weeks ago. So, you say, another death, who was he? but for me it brought back memories of the song I so love. I Will Find My Way Home by Jon and Vangelis. I came to this music late in life, Paul would laugh as I demanded all conversation and movement must stop whilst I listen. I had it played at his cremation ceremony. That day it was raining with such a ferocity that the fields as we travelled to York were flooded, and I believe a sink hole had appeared in one of the roads. Our taxi driver was so kind, she had undercharged me but refused to take more money when I said I would pay.
Those are the fleeting memories of one of the saddest days in my life. I haven't played the music since until this morning when I thought I could tackle it. It is about spirituality, acknowledging that we are always in the act of seeking, trying to find strength in the world around us. I know us agnostics are a minority force, though I think that is changing and the flowing natural world stands in for religion.
I think Paul was courageous, when as a young man, he stepped off that plane in Japan, stood at the train station in Tokyo not knowing what to do. He had thought he could get a train straight through to Kyoto at midnight. Until the station master called the police and they drove him to a hostel for the night and his life then began in Japan. His year as a monk was to begin in the Ryozen-an temple but was beset often by hunger in a little hut in the grounds and according to the article below he lived off apples and peanut butter.
I have at my side an article written by one Geoffrey Murray - Paul Wills, Conserving an Artistic Heritage. Its flowing prose perhaps exaggerates in its complimentary tone but I shall copy them for it is the intro to what I have been saying above.....
"The story of Paul Wills is a classic tale of the starving artist struggling amid privation to achieve a perfection that remains eternally elusive. He is not, however, the archetypal eccentric genius in a drafty garret striving to produce a masterpiece of painting or sculpture".....
He came to Japan in 1966 as an aspiring student of Oriental art. For the next few years, in order to survive, he taught English at night to be able to continue his day studies- first as a general art student and later as an apprentice of art conservation (a word he prefers to restoration).
That niggling over a word was Paul's attitude to life, his tidiness learnt from 10 years of restoring Japanese artwork, kneeling on a tatima (straw mat) floor and working at a long low trestle table with exquisite care at valuable artwork. He of course grew tired of it as he grew older, kneeling for hours does not do your knees any good, eyesight began to falter and so moving to Yorkshire was probably one of the happier moments in his life.
"His workplace has been a small, cramped room cluttered with irreplaceable art treasures in a quiet, secluded basement of Kyoto National Museum. The temples, castles, and palaces that are visible evidence of the past glories of the old imperial capital, making Kyoto a Mecca for the student of Japanese art, history and religion.
To be continued.............
https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/03094227.1985.9638463?journalCode=rcon19
We probably all have our different ones, but there are some pieces of music I have to listen to without distractions too.
ReplyDeleteI have always had problems with making out the words in music Tasker, but the above recording is quite clear.
DeleteI was rather sad when I heard he had died, and was surprised both by his age and his nationality; I had never clocked that he was Greek. Music, like poetry and prose, has so many different resonances to each of us, and within its phrases both exquisite and excruciating memories can be held. Your post made me thing what I'd like at my own funeral when it comes... Bobby Darren signing Beyond the Sea for sure.
ReplyDeleteSensible people arrange their own funeral and music Mark. Paul of course would not acknowledge it though.
DeleteBeautiful music - I remember it well. Paul lived a very full and fulfilling life. That was so brave stepping off the train and into a completely strange world. I can imagine the difficulty of making contact when there was a language barrier too.
ReplyDeleteHe came back to England to run a Japanese conservation department at the British Museum but then went solo. I also think it was a brave thing to do when he was so young, his father did not have much money and could only send Paul small amounts for food Jennie.
DeleteAmazing life for your Paul! A wonder that you two ended up together after living so far apart.
ReplyDeleteIt was the megalithic stones that brought us together, and poetry of course Ellen.
ReplyDeleteI am sorry to say that I never liked his music, but the soundtrack to Bladerunner did the job well. I never saw Chariots of Fire because I disliked the music so much.
ReplyDeleteWell the truth be told I am not a film buff, so never saw the two films Tom. Though on second thoughts have heard the music. Each to his own ;)
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