The Sound Of September

1. Allegro

It's about 4pm. It's early September. I'm lying on the bed listening to an almost forgotten sound. One that I have been waiting to hear for  3 months. It's the steady drumming of rain on the windows. This signals a  change of tempo, a change of players and a change of season. It's the fanfare of autumn.



Whilst under the scorching sun it was acceptable to chill  in air -conditioned  cafes. Then we merely talked about  future plans over gelato. Now  like bustling  bees gathering up the  last  of  the summer nectar, we must make up the lost time. Suddenly the streets are full. Children return to school, walls are mended, grass is cut, couples are wed and grapes are collected.

2. Andante

It's about 7pm.It's Saturday evening. I'm walking across the English garden of the Caserta Royal Palace. All is quiet; except for a light evening breeze  rustling  the dense tree canopy. I'm heading for the former apairy for a un' estate da re  ( a king's summer ) concert by the San Carlo theatre orchestra. 

I'm heading for the north  part of the  garden that was originally  designed for burbling water, rather than bumbling bees. It is one of the most spectacular structures in the whole garden. It was created by modifying a large unused task, built by Luigi Vanvitelli, the palace's architect. The tank, sustained by solid pylons, was placed on the top of a wooded hill that was to be used in case of damage to the Carolino water system.

It was never used and in the 18th century became the aperia (apairy). How many bees were originally buzzing about we will never know. However we do know that the garden was rich in flora. Indeed the statue of Flora or Cerere was placed there in 1761. And this goddess would certainly have been in her element; amid the orchids, pines, eucalyptus, cypress, gingko, biloba, acacia, ferns, roses, camellias and waterlilies.

And we also know that Italy had a well established tradition in bee keeping, documented by Roman writers like Gaius Julius Hyginus, Varro, Columella and - most famously- Virgil.  Virgil describes the swarming of bees thus:
Hi motus animorum atque haec certamina tanta
Pulveris exigui jactu compressa quiescunt.

• Yet all this life and movement, all the strife
  May with a pinch of dust be brought to silence.

                   Georgics Book IV (29BC):

 In addition the Boubons brought with them the latest techniques in bee-keeping. Indeed it was not until the 18th century that European natural philosophers undertook the scientific study of bee colonies. It was in France that the first glassed observation hive was constructed and queens were observed for the first time laying eggs in open cells. Today certainly  the industry is thriving in Italy, with 45,513 bee keepers who produce 2 million euro worth of honey.


I sit waiting for the concert to begin. The musicians  begin to tune their beautiful instruments. I think  the bees would approve..

3. Scherzo. Allegro

Indeed we were all in for a real treat!  The stunning setting of the tree-lined classical theatre provided the perfect auditorium. Directed by Zubin Mehta, with Stefano Bollani as solo pianist the programme was as follows:

1. Verdi: The Force Of Destiny

2. Mozart: Concert for Piano and  Orchestra N. 23

3. Tchaikovsky: Symphony N. 5

 It was the opening of Verdi's Force of Destiny that stayed with me. The  garden darkened. The  audience waited. The  thundering trumpets called the storm to begin. The   growing crescendo of the strings echoed the responding rainclouds. A perfect storm was indeed conjured up. What better way to demonstrate the power of fate!

4.Allegro

It's about 8pm. It's Sunday evening. I'm helping my husband prepare for his first gig. We are in Maria Carolina's (wife of Ferdinand iv) garden near the Royal Palace for the occasion of the Beer festival.







They break the silence with their opening numbers:
The Sky is crying and Call me the breeze. 
I think of the rain. Have you guessed it yet?
The sound of September?

 1.THE SKY IS CRYING – Ray Vaughan 
 2.CALL ME THE BREEZE – Lynyrd Skynyrd 
 3.COCAINE – Clapton (MI)
 4.STILL GOT THE BLUES – Clapton
 5.THE THRILL IS GONE – BB King  
 6.THE BLUEST BLUES – Ten Years After  
 7.WHILE MY GUITAR GENTLY WEEPS – Jeff Haley
 8.NOBODY KNOWS – Clapton 
 9.OLD LOVE – Clapton  
10. HOLD ON I’M COMING – Clapton, BB King  
11. SITTING ON THE DOCK OF THE BAY – Redding
12. WE’RE AN AMERICAN BAND – Grand Funk 
13. HARD WAY – Johnny Winter (SI) - Riserva

5. Coda

I couldn't finish  without sharing this video with you. This was the scene that greeted us as we left the classical concert.  For me September ended as it had begun: with the sound of water. Despite two excellent concerts, it was to be that simple  sound  that  would stay with me.  For the rushing water was signalling a major change in tempo of my life - as the next ten days would prove!  After months of drought I must learn to embrace a tidal surge.    For without water nothing grows. And now I had a bumper harvest to gather in.