The organist librarian

To the show and quite impressed by drawings of the power station and the idea of putting your own face on to a famous work of art. had a chat to the teachers about bringing some of it to the library and another outdoor show by the musicians.

I've been thinking about belts today. In the first reading at Mass we heard how Peter was told to put on his belt and sandals by the angel who rescued him and in the gospel Jesus tells Peter that he will that someone else will bind you and take you where you do not want to go (John 21: 18) Paul speaks of the belt as part of the armour of God. Did all the disciples wear belts? The priest and deacon put on ropes around their waist to remind them of the service of Jesus at the Last Supper. Gird up your loins we are told! I bought a fine brown leather belt in Montepulciano last year but had to put a hole in it as it was too big. The leather has split rather badly. Belts are a good thing which can be misused - child abuse and worse. OPur government is outlawing the hitting of children.

Tuesday lunchtime for the first of 3 talks on "Introducing Hinduism" at All Saints church, Prince of Wales Drive, Battersea Park organised by the South London interfaith network. Very interesting and had a look at some children's books on the subject. Wed a.m. long chat to Ann in Sydney on Skype. Today staff meetings and much concern about lack of enough staff so I will be looking at getting casuals to come in more. To the cathedral and served at Vigil Mass of SS Peter and Paul which is a holy day of obligation (these are now nearly all transferred to Sundays). The statue wearing red cope and mitre and St John Southworth in middle of the nave in his glass case surrounded by candles. The full choir sang Perosi's Missa Pontificalis which is so tuneful! Fr Michael Durand on good form singing the prayers - he is 82 and loves to chat about the famous musicians he has known.

To St George's Hospital. 80 minute wait and told registrar I was using hearing aids at work. They are big and my ears get tired after a few hours but so far so good. I've not used them at concerts or church so far. I will try them at a meeting but I reckon I will pick up too much! Too late to go to St Michael's so on tube to Old Street. Shoreditch Town hall basement Saw Ed Davey - his charity he works for kidsco had an amazing display for kids art work on demons and angels addressing some very powerful issues like poverty, abandoned kids, gang warfare, drugs - it was worth seeing! To Canary Wharf and after some searching found Evans and saw Bruce who looks well. To the cathedral for feast day of St John Southworth. His body has been moved to centre of the nave. Mgr Mark gave a great homily. To chorus to rehearse Rosa's farewell piece for Robert Dean - quite good! Finished reading "The common heart" about interfaith meetings at Snowmass, Colorado.

Tuesday to Tooting Bec school for 7 p.m. The session actually started at 7.40 p.m. Marty is sensational. I liked his stories and approach and especially the idea that the musician helps the community to remember. This is so true of many of our music choices. Learned some useful stuff including a song for the interfaith group from Ghana "May peace be in your homes" and a lovely end of day song. Stephen Dean did 2 of his numbers which were good. Met lots of people - Lyn, Dorio, folk from Thornton Heath (Lewis gave me a lift home) and Kilburn and Grove Park. Over 200 there! Quite an experience! On Monday I set off at 7 for Victoria to get a train to Beckenham junction for the Catenian meeting there but abandoned the attempt after 30 minutes as no trains going there. Had I gone the Crystal Palace route I would probably have got there!

At Coulsdon we sang the Benedictus to an Anglican chant and Sumsion in F and John Barnard's arrangement of "Lord I want to be a Christian". We also sang "And can it be" one of Wesley's finest. Teresa gave a fine sermon about how we got our names. Just like Elizabeth, my Mum insisted on my name being John despite my Dad being Francis and my Granddad Frank. I always identified with John the Evangelist. I practised "O happy day" with Generations (the bride to be very happy with it!) and was pleased that they knew Mike Anderson's "clapping" Gloria. I also worked on Mandelssohn 5th sonata and the Widor Toccata. Buses home and quick lunch and train to London Bridge. Fine evensong at Southwark cathedral and Ellie and lots of others got their RSCM awards. Harwood in A flat and the Barnard taken slower than I did it. I do tend to play too quickly. Desmond Tutu preached there this morning - I should love to meet him and Nelson Mandela. Daniel ...

To work and Isaac and Mohamed made a good start. Served at Vespers and Mass for the feast of the birth of John the Baptist. Fr Richard nesbitt wsa an inspiring celebrant saying the Roman canon (which we hear so seldom these days as it is the longest) so beautifully and prayerfully I was close to tears. The Downe House school choir sang Faure, Durufle and Brahms beautifully and Thomas gave a great improvistaion at the end inspired perhaps by Martin Baker's comments about the forthcoming recitals, Richard's homily focused on how God looks after us from before our birth right through our lives and how we all have a calling. The party afterwards was pleasant and gave a chance to chat to friends old and new. The new deacon Edward was there too.

To Battersea library to chat to 2 trainees on the opening the book Frontline course about promoting books. I enjoyed this course and have 4 senior library assistants to supervise. 2 new staff started so did the Health and safety induction and worked on the risk assessment. Back so troublesome so did not go for my usual Friday evening walk in Battersea Park. At choir practice worked on Ouseley's "How goodly are thy tents" and Stainer's "How beautiful upon the mountains". Deacon Peter on his excellent blog Chapel of the Resurrection with its wonderful pictures loves to quote hymns so here is a favourite which we sing to "St Peter". It was written by John Newton who wrote "Amazing grace". How sweet the name of Jesus sounds in a believer's ear! It soothes his sorrows, heals our wounds and drives away our fear. It nakes the wounded spirit whole, and calms the troubled breast; 'tis manna to the hungry soul and to the weary rest. Dea...

I felt a twinge in my back as I got into the pool. I did 40 lengths on my back skulling or back stroke but all day long I was more bent over than usual. To the local police ward meeting in Battersea Park Parks Police office. The Somerfield car park clearup will happen 4 and 11 July - hurrah! Sgt David Cook (great guy!) informed us that "covert human intelligence sources" were helping to combat drug dealing - better known as "grassers". I popped over to see Andrew Crawford as his job as manager of the local college has gone. Glad to say he has a new job! I met him before he started there and we have been in touch ever since. The college is to become exclusively building trades based so the demand for English as a second language will not be met. As usual it is all about funding! Walked over Albert Bridge (our favourite bridge) to King's Road and got a bus to Victoria. Decided it was too late to go to chorus - visiting director for 2 nights who has applied for the...

Spoke to Ann on the phone and finally got my head round the tax return for the income from the church! To Coulsdon to choose hymns for July and part of August with Vicky. Then to St Michael's for Nigel Groome's recital which was several shorter works including Healey Willan. Willan was organist at St George's, Beckenham where Nigel plays before emigrating in 1913. Quote "English by birth, Canadian by adoption, Scotch by absorption" - Healey Willan. He has written very fine music! I lit my candles for Mum and Dad in front of the Our Lady statue as usual. Had coffee and pastry with Nigel and Christopher Moore and we were talking about bad recitalists and the state of the RSCM. To Hinsley Room for launch of the interfaith group at the cathedral and it went well with 10 present including an Anglican and a Buddhist. Alfred Agius gave an excellent presentation and meditation material. Fr Richard Nesbitt (5 days a priest and still moved to tears)celebrated Mass for the J...

To the cathedral in the hopes of getting a ticket for The Beautiful Names the new work by Sir John Tavener. Security enormous and no returns at all. Chatted to a young Muslim also hoping for a ticket. There was a quiet protest by about 20 Catholics. Having read some of their blogs I was relieved that none of the nonsense about Prince Charles being a Muslim was on show. I returned home to listen to most of the work on Radio 3. It semed rather bitty with several endings. Very effective choral writing marred by wierd brass effects. Thunderous organ and timpani. It would repay another hearing I think. I have no problem at all with the names of Allah (God) being sung in the cathedral. Excellent TV series by Andrew Marr on modern history of Britain. Yes Ed it is a bit bitty and the end is quiet after all that sound! I was clearly emant to be there to speak to the Muslim and say that not all Catholics are against Muslims!

At long last Thomas came for dinner and we had a delightful evening. His wife Madeline was unwell so could not come on this occasion. Thomas is from Wellington, New Zealand and is the first lay precentor at the cathedral. He is a fine organist and musician with interesting views about the liturgy which makes for a stimulating evening!

On Wednesday from 3 to 5 p.m. there will be the first meeting of the Westminster Cathedral interfaith network in the Hinsley Room, Morpeth Terrace. Alfred Agius from Westminster Faith will speak. Please pray for a good start to this group.

Just listening to internet BBC Radio 3 Performance of the week Wed on BBC radio player which is only for a week. It is the performance from the opening of the Royal Festival Hall. A strange programme - Julian's Anderson's "Alleluia", Stravinsky, Ives, Purcell and the 4th movement of Beethoven 9. The orchestral sound is tremendous and the combined choruses on great form. We sang from memory. The Falklands commemoration parade from Horse Guards parade is currently on TV. Royal Marines band as good as ever.

On Friday morning I was sitting on the station reading Morning prayer when along comes Maureen looking as smart as ever. Her son Eugene was tragically killed in a gang fight and he was not a gang member at all. I went to his funeral as he used to come to the library to see his Mum when she worked with us. She said to me "What can we do?". My inadequate reply "Try to do good, speak out against this tragic loss, fight to improve things". Saturday to the ordination of Richard Nesbitt at the cathedral. He was ordained with John Elliott by the Cardinal. What a wonderful celebration with good strong hymns for all to sing and some excellent cantors. Richard will be a fine priest as he is 40 and so kind. We gave him a candle Liz had specially made. The party in the Allen Hall garden which Richard tended for 6 years was delightful. Chatted to Deacon Peter and Fr Michael about music. Saw the famous mulberry which stood in St Thomas More's garden and visited the modern cha...

Ellie passed at the second attempt - I'm delighted!

Friday Shaun left to start a journey through Europe ending in Croatia. We will all miss him as he is so good with the kids. He wants to do teaching. Caught the X90 to Oxford and was at the Sheldonian theatre early so heard some of the rehearsal. The conductor expected the men there at 3 p.m. but called us early so some drifted in "late". Still all went well and the idea of getting the prisoners to enter through the big double doors worked really well. Had a nice tea with David and Anthea. Mark Griffiths was outstanding as chorus master. This is the most wonderful music expressive of liberty, love and freedom. I remember so well the Orange performance 30 years ago. Liz was expecting Dennis and there were various mishaps - coach crash, soprano flat on back for the whole fortnight, Nella broke her wrist. The producer really pulled it out of us and we saw the film 10 years after it was made which was very moving as several had passed on. Zubin Mehta conducted the Israel Philharm...

I missed my swim today as I woke up late - no wonder Ed considering my programme! My boss came to set targets for the year and I was able to suggest some I have already achieved like getting 4 authors for the reading group - Louise Tondeur comes Saturday. To serve at Mass at the cathedral for the middle Mass of the Quarant'Ore (40 hours devotion to the Blessed Sacrament). The flowers are stunning and the Mass was very beautiful with Mgr Mark. He gave a fine homily on love and the Sacred Heart (not a feast which has appealed to me very much) and I felt a real sense of prayer and forgiveness. The full choir sang Haydn Missa St Johannis de Deo (we sing it at Coulsdon) and it's delightful. In fact it's the setting we sang when I brought the choir to sing at mass and I'm very keen to have it at Louise's wedding. Saw Thomas Wilson and teased him about coming to dinner on Sunday (they couldn't make it in Lent because of his duties as precentor - see the cathedral blog ...

Did a workshop about the library at the Age Concern activity days conference. Sylvie from NAPA was very inspiring about getting the elderly involved. Jeff did Tai Chi - I had to miss Monday's session because of lack of staff. I didn't get a lunch break as I had to go back to the library form 1 to 2. The Power station community forum was disappointing. It seems the new owners are going back to square one and getting plans drawn up again so more delay. Doddington West residents association gave me a chance to talk about the library. it was interesting to hear of pigeons, rats and crime on the estate. Graham Harris chaired very well indeed and we heard from Tony of BaseD. Unfortunately the meeting went on to 10 p.m. so I was knackered. Today I had a rest and went to St Michael's from Thomas Corns' excellent recital. He played a fine piece on Veni creator by Kenneth Leighton and in interesting fugue by Brahms. Franck, Bach and Mozart were all well played. I lit candles for ...

The chorus took part in the 3rd section of the gala opening concert singing Beethoven's 9th 4th movement conducted by Christoph von Dohnanyi. The sound was trememendous and everyone said how marvellous it was. The London Philharmonic choir sang a new work by Julian Anderson "Alleluia". The programme was heavily weighted towards the modern. The Beethoven was preceeded by Ligeti's Atmospheres which included the brushing of a grand piano's strings (well they needed cleaning). Marin Alsop conducted 4 orchestras in Ravel's Bolero - it was amazing! The concert is on the BBC website for a week. Strangely it was not broadcast live nor did the Queen come. The Duke of Kent was there and so was Ken Livingstone. The audience had paid £100, £300 and £500 for a seat so it was mostly bankers and the like. At the champagne reception in the ballroom, I spoke to James O'Donnell (Westminster Abbey) and saw Janet Street-Porter and Alan Yentob from BBCTV but the great musical...

Yesterday after examining I looked round the stalls in Southwark cathedral for the vocations day. I chatted to a chaplain from the Maudsley about interfaith work and met a sister of the Church based in Bristol. I told her about Sister Rosamund in Glebe who looked out for Mum and Dad so well. There were 160 people at the day! I have finished reading Nick Hornby's "A long way down" which is a remarkable novel about suicide. The Tablet has had excellent articles about the Catholic Elgar and interfaith networks. Alfred Agius has agreed to speak at the launch on June 20th. It was a hot day today and I went by bus to church twice. At evensong we sang Harwood in A flat and The heavens are telling. All went well and I even managed a faster speed! To Royal Festival Hall for Beethoven 9 rehearsal with Dohnanyi who was very demanding. I saw Paul Daniel in the lift - he conducted the massed choir in orange, green, pink and brown in an English version of the work and Liz said it went ...

I spent the morning examining for the RSCM with Peter Wright. There were a couple of outstanding candidates for the Bishop's award. It was fun chatting to Peter about the Chorus and the new appointments at St Paul's and Norwich. I have since heard Adrian Partington is going to Gloucester cathedral. To Tate Modern but I'm afraid the Brazilian artist who does colour in a big way did not inspire nor did Dali on film. Bunuel's films all seem to be weird and I could never stand the Surrealists! Vespers and Mass for Corpus Christi followed by procession along the pavement of Victoria Street. I was crucifer and managed OK to my surprise! Liz features on the Westminster cathedral blog as one of the thurifers with Phillip as boatboy and Paul as MC. Mgr Mark was as always very grateful for our efforts. I submitted the poster for June 20th - the launch of the interfaith network. Lovely icon of St Columba.

Thursday to Catenian Dulwich circle meeting famous for the eats after the meeting. I consumed a pint of bitter and 2 lovely pints of Guinness. No wonder I had to get up in the night but at least I went straight back to bed. A very warm welcome and I had not visited them for some months. Choir practice last night went well. The clutch on the car went again (2nd time on a Friday) so Liz met me at the station and I went by train and came home by bus in time to see the moving end of Darcey Bussill's ballet career at Covent Garden dancing to Mahler "Das lied von der erde" on BBC2. She was clearly very moved by it all. Padrerob (A priest's musings on the journey) which is compulsory reading because it is so good needs our prayers as he applies for a new post. (He did get a new post later in the year!) He has this lovely icon of I think St John. He reminds me that I have said little about my past in South Africa so I will do a bit on that.

Monday to Catenian meeting when the Provincial president made his official visit. I am now Provincial councillor. Tuesday evening to a talk at the Pump House gallery in Battersea Park by the artists Matthew Cornford and David Cross about their work. It was fascinating. They put on one off events on commission. The first event was to fence off the only green space in the centre of Stoke on Trent which caused uproar and led to teh council introducing more green spaces. They dyed a pool at Bourneville Cadbury's HQ purple and renovated the pool as well. Their next project is to put a peace garden on a Peckham nuclear bunker. Today I spoke to Ann on Skype and went to the day at the Hinsley Room. Howard presented a DVD of the abbot and Fr Thomas Keating talking about listening to God. It was really useful and set me thinking about self-disclosure on the internet and the need for friends. I know I need hugs and Liz is my best friend and companion. I shared the reflection on the Rublev Tri...

Peter comments on "I saw the Lord" which I agree is a wonderful anthem especially the final section "O Trinity, O Unity". I told Simple village organist in L.A. about the Beethoven 9 at the Royal festival hall jamboree next weekend with a colour-coded choir. Sopranos orange, altos green, basses brown (well what else!) and wait for it tenors ..... pink! I'm glad I'm not taking part - I have evensong to play for. Add to that it is in English (yuk!) The real opening concert features the 4th movement of the Beethoven in German conducted by Christoph von Dohnanyi. The Tablet has an article this week about "Alleluia" by Julian Anderson and a fine article by Stephen Hough about Elgar's Catholicism. Stephen was involved in the excellent Radio 4 morning worship on Sunday about Elgar and his Mass is to be sung at the Cathedral on Sunday.

At Coulsdon we sang Oldroyd's Mass of the quiet hour, Psalm 8 and Tchaikovsky's Hymn to the Trinity which works better taken more quickly. I rehearsed with Ellie and practised the organ. Then dashed home and up to Gandhi Hall for rehearsal of Beethoven 9 with Per Friborg from Gothenborg with the London Philharmonic choir. We went to the cathedral for the recital by Marco Lo Muscio from Rome which had vulgarity and noise as its hallmarks! Then to the Queen Elizabeth Hall where Stephen Rose regaled us with selections on the piano before Christoph von Dohnanyi arrived. He seemed happy enough! Watched programme on the remaining Apprentice contestants.

Saturday there were lots of people at Vespers and Mass as there had been a day with Mary in the cathedral. We found ourselves helping to cense the altar at Vespers and doing everything at Mass as young Philip is still in the Philippines (sounds sort of right!) We drove to West Wickham arriving just after grace. As President elect I presided at the annual dinner of the Bromley and Croydon organists association. Dr Stephen Cleobury from King's, Cambridge was a delightful guest and spoke so well. He was very complimentary about the chorus and told us of the new appointments at St Paul's and Norwich. Oliver Brett is going to Westminster cathedral as organ scholar. He is senior scholar at King's and a very good organist. The other guest was our old friend Fr Tomas Creagh-Fuller now at Beckenham Hill and and he too spoke well. The meal was excellent and much enjoyed by all. Stephen's challenge was to encourage more young people to play the organ and sing and also to bear in m...