David Smith
Monday swim and aerobics. To St John's for David's funeral which was very memorable for the string quintet playing Schubert and for the Faure Requiem. A fine sermon from John (who apologised to Dennis for being a bit short with him yesterday). Long chat to Ben. Henry came and painted a canvas and played games. Only connect, University challenge, Earth. Anna Lapwood organ prom. Nice that she paid tribute to her parents on their 37th wedding anniversary.
Tuesday picked up Lou and Sean at Selhurst and Lou off to work. Told me about the Manila trip. All three went swimming. Supervision group. Clare came to "babysit". Fantastic Prom Mark Elder and the Halle The Bells and Shostakovich 5. The tenor was perhaps not quite forceful enough and there needed to be more men in the large chorus. Such a beautiful ending to The Bells. Have not heard this since the 2011 Prom. I sang in this at the Prom when Dad died. Bruce and Joan next to us, saw Sue and Alan. A sell out. Followed Shost with the score. Sewing Bee final - all excellent.
Thursday woke late. Decided not to go to art. Sean chilling out. Cheltenham prayer. Looked up car accidents for insurance. LSIUK zoom was good. Symphony of psalms at Prom. Henry came and played game and chess which he knows a lot about.
Friday to Biggin Hill Heritage Hangar. Excellent tour and we saw 3 planes take off including 2 Spitfires! It costs £3000 to go up in one. The rest of the party go in a light plane to watch. Not sure Sean was that interested. We had lunch at Biggin Hill museum. Dropped Liz at Bromley South so she could go to see Francis at Nat Gallery (and she boought the lovely book). To Cara's graduation party. We sat in the garden and enjoyed the evening very much.
Saturday lie-in. Checked the old water feature. As we have the new otter feature the older two can be moved and we don't have the right water pumps for them. Moved CDs to my study. To Elijah at the proms. Roderick Williams and Andrew Staples did not disappoint nor did the 2 sopranos. Not so sure about the alto. Lift thine eyes is a choral piece not for 3 soloists. Tempi were often too fast so details especially sfz were lost. Still enjoyed it! Stuck in a lift for a short while! Saw Gallery friends.
Sunday Played Communion by Vierne and Elegy in memorial Herbert Howells. We sang Be thou my vision by Bob Chilcott. To Lionel and Jill's for choir lunch which was delightful. Rain did not dampen it. Lovely house opposite the park and ended up playing the 2 manual pipe organ!
Monday swim and aerobics. Took blisterpacks to Superdrug - once again the box was full so gave the bag to security guy. To Farm St tea and visit to Heythrop library. It costs £22 to bring a book from the store! Lovely Mass for St Ignatius and Liz was cross (in red!) Wine in Mount St gardens. Only connect and University challenge.
Tuesday woke at 10.30 - the walk from Bond St must have done it. No swim. Quiet time 7 there. Henry came for a sleepover. Lots of Hairy Mclary stories! He did some reading and played Quack quack. Prom was good.
Wednesday took Henry to BTG for camp. Wet, To Beckenham crem for Bill Anderson's funeral. Reception at 2010 club Crystal Palace football club. We had problems getting away from the crem as a huge funeral party complete with horsedrawn hearse arrived. Nice food. Patagonia programme. Henry came to do some reading. Prom Mozart horn concerto and Rach 2. Bournemouth SO. Sent artices to OJ magazine.
Our 49th wedding anniversary! To swim and Liz went to the gym. Assembled the third finial for climbers. Took old house to Thrive at Battersea Park. Our day finished with dinner at the Verdi restaurant and we saw Bishop John Sherrington. The Prom by BBC Phil with John Storgards started with a dire piece by Gerald Barry. The Walton violin concerto and Sibelius 1 with a Nielsen encore. What a pleasure to see the Bradburys after the concert.
Friday Swim. To St George Beckenham to hear Norman Harper play. Good to see Mark Baker fresh from his Oxford course. Bought 2 jigsaws at St Christopher’s hospice shop. Mick came. Rose on lip reading and Richard Osman Who do you think you are repeat.Worked on letter to the PM. Prom Belshazzar - fps were not always there and the men's sound was just odd. Why do some chorus masters make final notes of a phrase short?
Sat lie-in and finished Sandi Toksvig's book which I enjoyed. Villages by the sea - Orford. Rain. Mass at Beckenham and Mark played 3 hymns. Prom was good. NerYO Hindemith. Strauss, Copland and a terrific swing band encore.
Sunday To mark our 49th wedding anniversary played Nun danket by Karg-Elert. Improvisation-pastorale by Joseph Jongen and Communion by Denis Bedard. Stunning prom from Laura van der Heijden and Jams Coleman in Dewsbury. Mozart C minor Mass.
Enjoyed listening to Walton 1 and Rach 2 while working on a new jigsaw. John Wilson on stunning form.
Comments