The organist librarian

A good day in the school library clearing up the mess and listening to the Last Night of the Proms (TV version). A great concert! Now catching up on the TV versions of the Marin Alsop and Edward Gardner concerts. RVW Dona nobis pacem a great work unjustly neglected. Sophie Bevan like an angel. Watchedprogramme on Princess Margaret and Great British bakeoff. Thursday to Mass and Noel came to the car to ask about the trip. To Dr Ojo for ear clearing and checked wrist and said nothing broken. I fell over in Glyn Close. 

Swam, mosaic then a superb prom at Cadogan Hall by the Calidore string quartet music by Caroline Shaw and Schumann piano quintet with Javier Perianes. A trip to the excellent free exhibition of forgotten London at the London metropolitan archives Clerkenwell. TFL got it wrong. The stop is Tysoe St not Mount Pleasant glad I followed Google maps. I had a meal at the Union and dropped off in the preProm talk on Shostakovich 7 which was well played by BBC Phil and Mena in his last season, The Lindburg clarinet concerto was pleasant and played by Mark Simpson. 

To Mass. Watched Victoria and Proms extra, also Gurrelieder from Prom. Setting up new dashcam. Ordered new printer. Liz's laptop has come. Haydn No 88 from the Concertgebouw and interview with Alan Hollinghurst. Mass for the circle at Addsicombe and I was asked to take up the gifts. Fr Keith attended the meeting in the hall and 2 new guys came along plus Beckenham and Terry. Tells me Fr Joe said the transition to Fr Keith would be a lot easier than his arrival! And who's fault was that? Sean had his home visit and did really well. Louise home.   Listened to Dvorak 8 from the Prom. LPO and Jurowski gave an interesting Russian programme with thrilling Shostakovich 11. The violin concerto no 1 of Prokofiev did not come over well.  It seems the 30 minute cutoff and noisy shoes moans at the Proms feedback meeting were dismissed. I agree a guide to promming would be a good idea as people do NOT know how to behave. A manager talked to us in the queue and got the feeling of our disco...

Played Pomp and Circumstance 1 and 4, Holst theme from Jupiter and theme from Elgar cello concerto. We sang Greene Thou visitest the earth and Fr Simon quoted Cardinal Cormac's last messages. Very annoyed that tfl expect us to walk from Victoria station to Hyde Park corner to catch a bus which could have stopped at Oxford tube stop. Got to the Prom in time. Mendelssohn Prom was lovely and an excellent Italian meal in Kensington with fellow prommers. Delicious ice cream with sambuca. Now it is raining. Gergiev Prom held up outside and started late. Prokofiev loud, Tchaikovsky piano concerto 3 fast and loud, 2 encores, Shostakovich 5. Lots of students and I spoke to one whose behaviour and constant chatting was very distracting.

Colin at Mass so had a chat. Liz could not get in to the prom. The system is unfair that online prommers get in up to 7.30. We have paid for the concerts. Annoyed by interviewer at pre Prom talk interrupting speakers on Lenin. Great playing from Oslo Philharmonic under Petrenko. But why was this a sellout! Rachmaninov, Firebird and Shostakovich 12. For the second time big black car parked by woman in our place and bollards moved. Jeanette was rude to Liz abut this.  To St Cecilia's North Cheam for funeral of Laurence Jones who was 90. Lunch at Victoria and Albert sweet potato with avocado. Sat at a table with a lady between two women who talked non stop over a cup of coffee with people looking for seats. Cannot get worked up about plywood but the Constables are great and were recently on BBC Fake or fortune.  2 splendid proms -Renee Fleming gave us two encores and was superb! Nielsen 2 a great work. Chineke! and Sheku excellent. Home at 12.30. Thursday to Mass. 

Delightful Keralan lunch with Fr Xavier, Sr John Mary, Maud and Jennie in East Ham. Got to first part of preprom talk on Sibelius 2. Stupendous Shostakovich October and violin concerto 1 with Nichols Benedetti. She plays throughout. Love Sibelius 2.  Roy Sutherland the director the Buddhist Jamyang centre let me down again so I led a lively discussion on Laudato Si.  A very odd Prom first half did not excite and Berlioz OK. Home late due to wait for bus and train.Lots of flies. Thursday to mass and art - good work on leopard. To Balham library by car for scores. Saw 3 staff I appointed and Jeremy's daughter. Excellent recital at St John's by Geoffrey Morgan well played and presented. Met John Belcher and Christopher Herrick! Skipped John Williams prom. Loved the story about the O level student who in desperation wrote Bach wrote a lot of pieces for the Associated Board!

Woke late and electrician cmae and fixed perspex next to cooker - at last! To art and drew an arrangement and borrowed an excellent book on drawing hands and feet - one of my weaknesses! To interfaith lunch and Fr David brought Fr Matthias (studying in Rome) and Teresa. Emily Howard's music did not impress at the talk and Prom. What is all this stuff about maths and computing? The tuba piece should have made us laugh but we sat there po-faced while the young man near me tried not to laugh! It sounded like Mary King's puppy imitation! John East and Colin Hartley were there but spoke to neither as once again had to go back for seat reservation tickets. Petrenko conducted Rachmaninov 3 and Shostakovich cello concerto no. 1. RLPO. Alexey Stadler stood in for the concerto and played brilliantly. Home to watch Alice Coote singing Mahler at the prom.

Fascinating film on Rachmaninov on BBC4 by Tom Service. Saw the rest of Gypsy. We  sang at Anthony and Consola's wedding at St John the Evangelist Upper Norwood - Zadok the Priest, carols and hymns - a very happy occasion. Alexander Pott played superbly. To 6.30 Mass at St Matthew West Norwood - pews are better arranged but the new parish priest Fr Cassidy is very Scottish and used a small table in front of the altar which made it feel cramped and candlelight. Guitar not in tune flute OK. Endured Silent night and all of First Nowell. Sanctus and psalm said. Jennie Mitchener was there. W atching fascinating BBC programme on Shostakovich's Leningrad symphony.

A wet Bank holiday Monday.  Today's Cadogan hall Prom definitely a highlight - Barber, Debussy and the Shostakovich Piano quintet. The second movement is Bach alla Shostie and is magnificent. Great Dvorak encore too! Home for lunch and Adventist wedding was holding up traffic so parked for the evening at West Norwood. Tried to follow Boulez Eclat with score without success!  An interesting talk about Willa Cather by Dame Hermione Lee and a fine concert by the San Francisco SO Ives, Bartok Piano concerto no. 2 and the Eroica.

To mosaic. Once again I have paid for 4 sessions 2 of which I will miss. Progress on Madonna's face very good.  Liz took Ciaran to Kidscape at Purley which he enjoyed. Very heavy rain. The Cadogan Hall prom was Jeremy Denk playing Scriabin, Bartok and the last Beethoven sonata. His introduction was excellent and his playing brilliant. Got very wet walking from bus stop. Ciaran went to see Molly.Li stened to the Philharmonia's Prom at home - Bartok, lovely Mozart and Shostakovich. Enjoyed Haydn Symphony no.90 (the audience fell into the trap!) and Barber from the Boston Symphony orchestra on Iplayer with scores. V ery impressed by TV broadcast of Nielsen with the Danish National Symphony orchestra conducted by the splendid Fabio Luisi .

Swam 20 and Liz came as well. Looked up Harry Mellor's details for his 50 year scroll. Hearing aid at AgeUK - lady 30 minutes late, new tubes and she agrees I need new moulds to stop the whistling. Went for yellow fever injection but informed that risk was greatly increased for over 60s so need to discuss with nurse. To Boots Whitgift after lunch for eye test. Small cataract in right eye but no need for new glasses and come back in 2 years. Liz met me at Selhurst. The intro to the Prom as rather too high brow and the young instrumentalists did not get to play much. West-Eastern Divan orchestra under Barenboim played uninspiring Schoenberg, Beethoven Triple concerto and Tchaik 4. To Acton. Wed to Whipsnade and had good journeys with no holdups. We all loved it and Ciaran became a young zoo explorer for a year. Saw red panda, sea lions under water, rhinos, elephants, lions, tiger, lynx, chimps, camels, deer, yaks, hippos, giraffes, zebras, waterbuck. Went on steam train ride. Had no...

Swam 20. Prepared talks for Wednesday's spirituality day. Delivered remainder of gate reminder letters  there are rather a lot who have not replied. To CML and got all the scores I wanted.  An interesting afternoon guiding at the cathedral. Who is the patron saint of London? I was asked. I said St Paul, also possibly Our Lady of Westminster. St Edward the Confessor is the Abbey and England I believe? Had lunch in the cathedral cafe with Thornton Heath couple.Rose let me leave items in locker. Interesting talk on Shostakovich Leningrad symphony. Only the end really took off - Bychkov conducting. The Mozart 2 piano concerto was excellent and the Lebeque sisters played Philip Glass encore. Did not use torch despite Adrian's suggestion. Rosa and Ben Saul there. Came home to listen to Bach violin prom  - not that interesting! Watched part of Planets on TV.

SS Peter and Paul played Peeters on Sine nomine, Moore on Aurelia, Titelouze on Annue Christe. Gigout Toccata went well at quite a pace! Crystal Palace station then Spectrum at St John's excellent wind ensemble. 21 at organ recital at St Michael's strawberry cream tea! At the station Count me in session with simple rhythms and saw Sue Carroll and Alan Thomas, Community choir sang a madrigal - it includes Duncan. Then to St John's Spectrum octet playing Faure, Massenet, Debussy and Mozart. Had a chat to Fiona about her paintings based on music and tried a new tea. David Wright did not speak and some of it was ponderous but 21 came and I spoke to him afterwards. Stephen and he both apologised. Nice cream tea and met the organist from Penge URC. Home and Liz came back from first Mass at Hounslow. Dennis came to Spectrum concert including Shostakovich, Sibelius, Holst, Mahler (not so good) and Camilla Jepesson singing Gershwin and the Blue Amen. Nice chat to Fr John. Not many...

To Carnegie Hall for London Philharmonic orchestra conducted by Jurowski who seems to be using smaller gestures! Rachmaninov beautifully played - the Rhapsody and an unknown encore. Shostakovich 8 - the sound was tremendous especially the brass and percussion - like a knife going through you. We moved to the end of the row - we were in the balcony so we could get away quickly. Cor anglais solo excellent and the violas - wow! Every sound is clear and precise. To Top of the Rock at Rockefeller centre and what a stunning view! Back by 12.30

Swam 20. Cleaned the floor and found at least 20 dead flies - yuk! Bruce on Skype. To Cadogan Hall for 1 p.m. prom - good seats. Janine Jansen and Sakari Oramo playing Prokofiev and Schubert with Itamar Golan who I thought could have had more pp. The encore was Shostakovich. None of the composers in typical mode! The 2 violins were most effective. To Central Music library where I returned by mistake the Strauss Burleske score need for the evening concert (and after all that trouble!) Still I got 4 more scores I wanted. Roast dinner at cathedral kitchen and acolyte when the body of Fr Michael was received. Vespers of the dead was simple and moving. Good to see Nick and Stephen from the choir there and lots of friends. To Prom (thunderstorm and hail) BBC National orchestra of Wales conducted by Thomas Sondergárd. Strauss, Mozart and Nielsen 5 in which the side drum player walked past us in the gallery. Francesco Piemontesi was the pianist. Home by 11.

To Senate House library to get 4 scores including the Berio. In the end I had two versions of Shostakovich 4. Liz took her camera back to Peter Jones for repair. The European Union Youth orchestra conducted by Petrenko performed the Berio Sinfonia but was it worth all that effort. The score is huge and amazing The Shostakovich was simply brilliant! To Acton and no pyjamas to wear as bathroom stuff all been moved into bedroom and everyone asleep. Had a shower and played with the boys. To Ham House, Richmond (NT) and 3 stories downstairs then drew some pictures. Sean ran about outside and I made a den out of branches which Ciaran loved. We had tea in glorious sunshine and I took Ciarán round the house searching for 6 treasures all of which he found. When we came back to the entrance I heard the guide say Woodcock and looking for a man with a child so I said it might be us and it was! Liz had fallen chasing after Sean and cut her eyebrow, glasses cracked and hurt hand and toe. I got the ...

We went to Clapham Picturehouse to see the Met production of The Nose. Very different and not particularly like Shostakovich! Very inventive production by William Kentridge. Can't say I enjoyed it but there was some amazing sustained singing. John Thing rang very pleased with the CD. Decided not to make the trek to Alexandra Palace but instead went to St Paul's cathedral to hear Lucy Winkett and David Lammy MP on generosity. It was most interesting. Ann Welch and Fr Dominic were there - the latter was in Soweto for 3 months in 1993! Thanked David for mentioning libraries and he opened the new Tottenham mosque. 

Arrived outside Cadogan Hall far too early with my folding chair so sat and read Kubu. Eventually another guy arrived so had a chat. It would have been fine to arrive much later! At 10 got my £5 ticket and to Peter Jones for tea and croissant with a wonderful view over Chelsea. Had a look at jackets - one was £535! To Royal College of Music for Britten singing workshop with Mary King - folksongs, Billy Budd, St Cecilia sections and a tricky Ballad. Liz came and not in good mood again. Eventually went to hall and got her a ticket and had light lunch at Peter Jones. The concert was Camerata Ireland directed by Barry Douglas with Alison Balsom - Britten, Berkeley, Shostakovich and Rainier. Fr Gerard Skinner was there. To vespers and Mass with Fr Michael Durand. Nice to see David playing Bach. Did not go to Urban Music prom. Home and fell asleep then had spare ribs and kebabs. Watched Proms plus programme. 

Up at 7 and typed out guidelines for Liz on essay. Swam 20 - it was busy! Mosaic and got one gold eagle done using ordered glass tiles - it's very fiddly! Tai chi and a good turnout and to Balham library to return scores. Found nothing on the shelves! Liz had done her quotes. Nice meal and then to John Le Carré interview Pre Prom. I asked a question about where real power lies. It overran so left early. Colin Matthew new piece OK, Prokofiev violin concerto 2 played by Daniel Hope, Welsh orch were great in Shostakovich 11. Reserved more scores. Saw Alan Murdoch on station and spotted Terry Waite!

Sunday took Bruce to the station with his boxed up screen and clothes. It was good to see him. We went to the Prom and the pre-Prom talk with composer Sean Shepherd and a discussion on the Jewish influences on Shostakovich. Excellent playing from the National Youtb Orchestra of the United States of America who have been in Russia. Gergiev conducted Tchaikovsky violin concerto with Joshua Bell and a lovely Brahms encore and Shostakovich 10. Monday to mosaic and started on the St John's badge pair and tai chi. To dentist for a checkup and clean and straight to the hall. Excellent pre-Prom talk and Rheingold superby conducted by Barenboim. We had raffle tickets in the queue! Got my usual seat and the lady next to me had a weekly season for the prom costing £42. Trains delayed so came via Norwood Junction and bus. Rain!!!