A Legendary Year

This has truly been the year of the legends when their value to the club as a whole, on and off the pitch, has become increasingly apparent. First the Madrid trip saw their own team push the Real Madrid journalists all the way in a classic encounter. Then, throughout the season, individual legends such as Brian, Neil, Tamber and Clarkey have returned to give the team shape and direction. Sunday's Legends game continued this trajectory when they proved to be stronger, both physically and mentally, than their younger opponents, to record their first victory in this third annual fixture. Three times taking the lead, the 3-2 final score was well-deserved.

On a beautiful Wandsworth afternoon, the sandy surface providing a few tricky dilemmas for all players, another very competitive game was enjoyed by a well behaved crowd and impeccably mannered wags.

The first shock of the day was the discovery that Wandsworth council had refused to cash the treasurer's cheque as it was in excess by £5.00 - a cultural turn from the weekly realities of the London midweek League. The Legends, in all black were captained by Joe, his first game in such a role since he captained the school cricket XI to regular defeat; Raj was reunited with Cornish Al and Owen and Tamber switched sides for the occasion.

The Legends started brightly with the burdens of office and those Labour Party fundraising dinners seemingly having no effect whatsoever on Raj, who occupied the centre back role as if he had never been away. Woody was awesome in holding the defence together and Tamber and Marco 3, on his return from over a year out through injury, were soon winning tackles in midfield. It was no surprise when they took the lead on 15 minutes when Ben, who had flown in that very morning, sleepless from Seattle, placed a sublime shot in Alan's right hand corner. As a member of the USA's Arsenal fan club the Henry videos had certainly paid off. With the Gaffer officiating in a not so neutral black (until formally requested to change midway through the first half), the Legends continued to control events until shortly before half-time when a desperate lunge from Woody saw Kieran tumble to the ground.

Large appeals from the Current Stars were met with claims that the Italian influence was having its effect on the younger players, but the Gaffer pointed to the spot. It was a more robust version of Raj's tackle on Luigi in Rome in December 2000. Still the Legends were outhinkng their opponents; Owen was quick to advise Dodo which way Damian would hit the penalty. He guessed correctly and produced a superlative save, only for ERic to bundle the ball over the line. A cruel blow just before half-time and surely the turning-point of the game?

The Gaffer made way for Rob the Cat at half-time to be reunited with the 4 year old Alfie, last seen aged three months in a pizzeria in Bologna where he was looked after by the cooks as the Philosophers enjoyed their pizzas. His warning that the Current Stars would move one of the big three from the back into the middle was unnecessary however; the Legends continued to boss the middle and despite Mikey's tireless running and some neat interchanges between Rob, Jose and Bryan, gave very little away at the back. They restored their lead when Marco 3 produced a stunning volley into the top corner; a great finish enjoyed by his parents over from Rome. Some tough tackling from Tamber and strong encouragement from the experienced ranks of the Legends ('They don't like it up 'em was Owen's taunt) kept the pressure on and the equaliser came against the run of play when Jose finished a neat move down the right. Undeterred and now down to ten men following Stefan 4's injury*, the Legends kept going forward with the 53 old Stefan Howald keeping the three central defenders busy. Fittingly, it was Stefan, following good work from Cornish Al (who has obviously been told to been strengthen his broken wrist with long throw practice), who scored the winner. Indeed in the dying minutes they could have made it 4 with only the crossbar denying another attempt. The victory was well deserved and celebrated with some exuberance; rich revenge for the game in Madrid where they were outclassed by the youngsters. Newspaper gossip has it that some of the younger players stayed in the Alma until after closing time drowning their sorrows.

Legends: (4-4-2): Dodo: Joe, Woody, Raj, Owen: Cornish Al, Tamber,
Marco 3 Stefan: Stefan, Ben
Current Stars: 3-5-2: Alan: Ally, Bryan, Damian: Phillip, Rob, Kieran,
Jose, Andy: Mikley, Eric.

Man of the match: Woody.

*Special prize if you can name all 4 Stefans, (who originate from 4 different nationalities).

Building a Classical Music Library: Palestrina

Fans of medieval music will complain that my survey begins in the Renaissance. However, as I stated in my introduction, I am writing this as a non-expert and taking my cues from Phil G. Goulding’s book Classical Music: The 50 Greatest Composers and their 1000 Greatest Works. He starts with Palestrina and so will I.

Palestrina (1525-94) wrote almost exclusively religious music in the form of masses, motets, offertories and so on. It was music specifically written to be played in church, not the concert hall.

His significance can not be over-stated. He composed at a time when the Catholic church was seeking to reduce the secular influences in religious music, attempting a musical retreat to the stringent world of the Gregorian chant. As beautiful as plainsong might be, such strictures would be the equivalent of asking The Arctic Monkeys to write in the style of the Victorian music-hall.

The story goes that Palestrina's contribution to this debate was his masterpiece, the Missa Papae Marcelli. Despite being an establishment man (and wealthy as a result), the Missa was resolutely non-Gregorian. But it was also so beautiful that it persuaded the Catholic cardinals to vote against the proposed plans.

Musicologists have questioned the accuracy of this tale and much of the mythologising that surrounds Palestrina, some of which has overshadowed the merits of his contemporaries.

However, this is not to question the glory of his output. Musically, he is regarded as the supreme model for polyphonic relgious music and the basis for the study of counterpoint.

But his modernity had its limits: he eschewed the growing contemporary trend for dissonance, preferring to concentrate on harmony and melody. For a 21st century ear, the question is whether the purity and beauty of his expression compensates for the lack of anguish we are more accostomed to encountering in our music?

Key composition: Missa Papae Marcelli
Recommended recording: Tallis Scholars Live in Rome (compare prices at Froogle)