Eclectic Letters #7 — Henry Oliver

Six videos: Mozart, The Lords' Tale, a 70s pub documentary, The Aristocracy, Branagh's Henry V, and John Betjeman.

All I ever do is write about books, so I’m taking this opportunity to write about some YouTube videos.

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Mozart’s Divertimento

First, a performance of a Mozart Divertimento, recorded in 1988. Utterly charming, recorded in a period when Mozart’s chamber music was being well-performed. I love this music.

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The Lords’ Tale

Second, the Lords’ Tale. Not everyone shares my interest in (or affection for) the hereditary peerage, but you don’t need to care to find this documentary fascinating. Removing the hereditary peers was surely one of the most dramatic moments in British constitutional history — and we can watch it as it happened! It’s on YouTube in twelve parts. Here’s part one:

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The Hand and Marigold, Bermondsey, 1972

Third, an eight-minute clip of elderly Bermondsey residents talking in a pub in 1972. They sing as well.

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The Aristocracy

Fourth, a documentary about the aristocracy. Why was Downton Abbey so popular when the real thing was sitting there on YouTube the whole time?

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Branagh’s Henry V

Fifth, I love watching Shakespeare clips on YouTube, and this scene from Branagh’s Henry V is an old favourite. Ian Holm was a splendid Fluellen. The section beginning “What is this castle called that stands hard by?” is marvellous, full of the sentiments that make Henry V such a moving play. Shakespeare wrote so many slightly odd lines that are full of force. “If your majesty is remembered of it, the Welshman did good service in a garden where leeks did grow, wearing leeks in their Monmouth caps.”

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John Betjeman

Sixth, the poet John Betjeman was a dedicated and keen-eyed explorer of London. His London journalism is excellent (I once followed his trail through the City churches). This short documentary is full of his ruffled charisma and loving knowledge of London. What other documentaries were written in such melodic blank verse?

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Henry Oliver is a writer and speaker. He writes regularly for outlets like the New Statesman, The Critic, and UnHerd. He writes the popular Substack The Common Reader, which was recently mentioned in the Atlantic. His book Second Act is about late bloomers. In 2022, he was given an Emergent Ventures grant.