OXFORD

....'That sweet city with her dreaming spires,

She needs not summer for beauty's heightening'.....

Yes - I know this is a terribly hackneyed quotation, but it is so very appropriate, and how many people know the context? It is in fact from Matthew Arnold's nostalgic poem, 'The Scholar Gypsy' (or is it from 'Thyrsis' - a very similar work?), recalling the Oxford of his far-off student days, and his close friend, the other Victorian poet, A.H. Clough. Since I seem now finally to have begun a new chapter of my life, based in that city, I have decided to create a section of my site devoted to it, and my experiences of it.

While I am about it, may I recommend the beautiful An Oxford Elegy, by my perennial favourite amongst composers, Vaughan Williams? It is a setting for speaker, with choir and orchestra, and imbued with the most exquisite nostalgia and melancholy. There is a delightful recording with Sir John Westbrook and King's College Choir, conducted by Sir David Willcocks of which I have been fond since my own university days (sadly, not at Oxford) and before.

I have always, rather mysteriously, had a special attachment to Oxford; in a way I have regarded it for a long time as my 'spiritual home'. And it is known, amongst many other things, as 'the home of lost causes' (possibly as it was the King's headquarters for most of the Civil War) - which rather endears it to me! Also it is associated with numerous people whom I admire and who have been a big influence on me - not least Shelley, Gerard Manley Hopkins, Ruskin, William Morris, William Walton, Edmund Rubbra, C.S. Lewis, Tolkien, A.E.Housman, Oscar Wilde, John Betjeman, W.H.Auden, and many others.

The city has many delightful features, not least the three rivers and their various tributaries; some lovely countryside; and of course the University itself, which as well as an enormous amount of beautiful old architecture (together with the odd modern monstrosity!), also ensures that there is a huge amount going on culturally, particularly musically, for, most of the year. This is one of the main reasons I decided to come here from London, which has become far too noisy, dirty and demented, to my mind, in the last few years; though of course there is a vast amount going on there, the effort involved in getting out to things is so great, and the unpleasantness encountered on the way so extreme, that I almost stopped doing anything culturally. In Oxford it is much easier and pleasanter to go to all the multifarious events available, and even just wandering round, in the city or in the surrounding countryside, is a pleasure in itself - I've already encountered several wild-flowers in the latter I haven't seen before.

....'And air-swept lindens yield Their scent, and rustle down their purple showers

Of bloom on the bent grass where I am laid, And bower me from the August sun with shade;

And the eye travels down to Oxford's towers'....

Not least of Oxford's attractions, musically, is that it is a centre of excellence in church music, with three traditional choirs of international reputation - Christchurch, Magdalen and New College. For much of the year virtually any day of the week one can go to a service at one of these three and hear great music sung expertly in lovely surroundings - all a ten-minute bike ride away! This alone is heaven, for me. Of course, in addition to the traditional (ie., boys and men) chapel choirs, there are of course a myriad other mixed choirs of all shapes and sizes, plus at least one girls' choir, as I discovered today. Perhaps there should be a men's choir, too? I have an idea about starting one. And there are concerts all the time - some very good. There is a series called Oxford Contemporary Music, and also a new festival that has started up, the Festival of Chamber Music, featuring major international performers.

Lest I should paint too rosy a picture, Oxford is, sadly, by no means perfect. (But then, where is?) There is a long-standing tradition of conflict between 'town and gown', and have quickly become aware that this is an uncomfortably divided city. On the one hand there's the university, and North Oxford, home of retired academics and the moneyed classes, then there's East Oxford, and specifically Cowley, home of (whats left of) the car industry and some serious social deprivation. As usual, it is the middle class areas that are really nice, while Cowley I find quite depressing, and strongly reminiscent of many dismal parts of London. My solution is to avoid Cowley, of course; but in fact even if you stay in the nice parts, you still can't entirely escape the seamier side of the city - there seems to be a surprising number of homeless and disturbed people in the streets, for such a small place. Inverted snobs and the sentimental/excessively idealist pretend to prefer the 'working class' areas, but I find this unconvincing and in the end rather patronising. All the things I like about Oxford are unmistakably middle or upper class and 'elitist'! Still - it does bother me that there is this crude division, and the social problems of unemployment, drink, drugs etc. in East Oxford bode very badly for the future, specially for the young. There are various programmes in operation trying to improve things - so lets hope they work.

I recently discovered a rather touching fragment of poetry by Lionel Johnson:

'Ill times may be; she hath no thought of time;

She reigns beside the waters yet in pride.

Rude voices cry: but in her ears the chime

Of full sad bells brings back her old spring tide

Like to a queen in pride of place, she wears

The splendour of a crown in Radcliffe's dome.

Well fare she - well! As perfect beauty fares,

And those high places that are beauty's home.'

The rude voices a re much louder now, and the times even but there is still some truth in this late 19th century vision of Oxford - the City.