Ralph Beyer

I note an obituary of Ralph Beyer, the inscription carver whose work features in Coventry Cathedral. Basil Spence, the architect of the cathedral, praised Beyer's work very fulsomely in his Phoenix at Coventry.

Being the son of a German art historian, and coming to England at the age of 16, he is another of the surprisingly large number of 'refugee artists' who made significant contributions to church art in the years after the war. Another name that springs to mind is Hans Feibusch. For more see the exhibition catalogue Art and Migration, edited by Jennifer Powell and Jutta Vinzent (George Bell Institute, Humanitas subsidia series, 2, 2005).
There has of course also been some recent general interest in the influence of migrants on a receiving culture: see Daniel Snowman, The Hitler Emigres, and, more recently, Lesley Chamberlain's The Philosophy Steamer.

Larry Norman

I note the recent death of Larry Norman, one of the pioneer figures in Christian rock music in the 1970s. Obituaries have appeared in the Guardian, Times, New York Times and Christianity Today. There's also been some blogging activity concerning his importance.

Barenboim's Beethoven

Some interesting examples of quasi-religious language creeping into some of the discussions of the recent Barenboim Beethoven sonata cycle. A Guardian reviewer thought that ‘something akin to a canonisation’ was taking place (Erica Jeal, 8th Feb.); Martin Kettle has asserted a ‘moral and even religious element to the ritual’ (Prospect, February 2008), and the performances have been accompanied by debates on the ‘Artist as Leader’ (see Anthony Holden in the Guardian, 3rd Feb). It’s not clear what this means (religiously), but Kettle has enlarged on his view of the enduring worth of the music elsewhere (Guardian 16th Feb)

Fantasy and C.S. Lewis

A fascinating three-part documentary on fantasy fiction is under way on BBC4. The first part on Wednesday dealt with children’s fiction in particular. I was interested by the pasting dished out to C.S Lewis, a proponent of ‘bullying Anglicanism’ (surely a contradiction in terms); a propagandist and ‘warper of children’s minds’ who purveyed a brutal and cruel creed quite unlike that of the Jesus of the Gospels. Will Self thought the Christian allegory the thing that made the novels interesting, but Philip Pullman thought them not Christianity but something quite different: a ‘high-minded exclusion’ of normal children from salvation.
The open season on Lewis was in contrast to the lengthy treatment afforded to Philip Pullman and the notions of ‘dust’, sin and experience in the His Dark Materials trilogy. I’m bound to note Bernice Martin’s article in Redefining Christian Britain on Pullman’s religion.
The series continues tomorrow night with the epic tradition, including Tolkien and Lewis.