An oratorio for a wreck
Sunday and an invited Orthodox choir was singing in the cliff top church: an Oratorio in memory of those lost at sea. The wind was blowing off the sea bringing with it a strong smell of salt and seaweed and the sound of the waves crashing on the rocks below that mingled with the voices of the tenors and altos. She bent forward and laid her little posy of wild flowers on the cliff edge. It was an age-old tradition in her village and it was her way of honouring the memory of her grandfather who had died in the shipwreck of one of the finest boats in the area. She moved forward gingerly and peered over the cliff edge. Below lay a small beach covered in shingle and small pebbles all various shades of pink. It was unreachable, even at low tide. The waves crashed onto the beach and transformed into a swirling mass of pink water that surged upwards until it finally receded back to the sea. As she stood there, a small boy joined her and stared at the wreck. She felt his hand reach out for hers and they stood for a long moment holding hands, listening to the eerie counterpoint between the choir singing in the nearby church and the waves below. It was extremely moving, she thought, as tears formed in her eyes and rolled down her cheeks. Then suddenly the kid let go of her hand, lurched forward and flung himself over the edge as if he were going to dive recklessly into the sea. Horrified, she looked over the precipice to find that he had not cleared the beach to reach the sea beyond. His body lay face down, unmoving, his arms and legs splayed on the pink stones as the following wave broke on the beach, engulfing him. She opened her mouth and screamed and screamed and screamed. Alerted by her screams, a man who’d been working nearby came running up and leaned forward to see what had happened. “We must do something,” she beseeched him, shaking his arm violently. “No point, Miss,” he replied as he freed himself from her hold and turned to go back to his work. “No point.”
(Rachmaninov’s Vespers for alto, tenor and chorus, Op. 37: Cantique de Siméon)
