The organist librarian

Book bearer at morning prayer and tenebrae - lovely Victoria and an excellent homily from the Cardinal. Shopping and tea at Marks. Beautiful  evensong from Chichester featuring Bairstow Lamentations and Jackson in G. Had a fun day putting family tree onto ancestry.co.uk. Picked up Ann and Paul from West Norwood and Dennis came. To Beckenham for Vigil and Fr Paul sang Exultet very dramatically and effectively. Only 19 there but the singing was good. One baptism. Hallelujah chorus got a clap and a Bravo! To cathedral by 10.30 in time for consecration prayer. Choir sang Gabrieli but of course missed the Vierne. Vierne 6 at the end - splendid. Home by 12.30.  It seems Martin Baker composed the Mandatum music on Tuesday and choir sang it magnificently on Maundy Thursday.

Watched more Come dine with me and listened to part of evensong from Portsmouth cathedral. To St Michael's for the Vigil - have not played for this for 9 years! Coulsdon didn't have one. All went well and the soprano from St James joined us. Murray psalms, Water of life, Longing for light at start, Lord enthroned, A brighter dawn is breaking. Smashing Exultet and Litany of saints sung by Fr Paul. I played Bach at end then to Selhurst and arrived at cathedral as confirmations were taking place. Lovely Bassano, Vierne and Tournemire. Cold and frosty again.

Brilliant photos by Marcin Masur A nice meal at Pizza Express 2 courses for £10. The Vigil was superb - we were tapers and Communion torches. Details were changed at the last minute which is not a good idea. There was a scare when Emmanuel was carrying the lit EAster candle up the ladder to the stand after the baptisms. The candle went to the right and he ws lucky not to fall. Vierne Messe solenelle stunning, Palestrina Sicur cervus, Bassano motet.Langlais at the end. Archbishop Vincent gave a wonderful homily about the risen human body of Christ once again quoting the Pope. He brought a human touch to the baptisms handing the towel to the candidate himself and thanking Fr Tim for his hard work. It was good to be able to thank Martin, Peter and David personally. We started at 8.30 p.m. and finished at 11.10 p.m.

David Grealy has again excelled himself with these photos showing the light spreading through the dark cathedral. Liz stayed up all day putting out candles and various jobs. I needed a snooze and we met at Prezzo for an excellent meal of calzone and honeycomb cake at 6 p.m. It was packed at the start but emptied when the theatres started! The vigil was at 8.30 p.m. this year and finished before 11 p.m. Walking through the dark building at the start is always amazing. The Vierne Messe solennelle setting is fantastic and we were on lighting lights all round the balcony which meant climbing up dark stairs and eventually finding a switch. Sicut cervus from there sounded wonderful - great arches of sound. Fr Michael Dunne sang Exultet and gospel very firmly and well. We were also communion torches. A wonderful ceremony with the Cardinal baptising 10 people and confirming as many again. Langlais Incantation pour un jour saint at the end. We enjoyed Liz's cake and blew out all the balcony...

Welcome back Solomon I have surpassed thee! It was so good to see you at Mass again but please do not overdo it! To work and it was quiet so caught up on admin prior to our week in Germany with Ann and Paul. In the car enjoying the new Cathedral CD of Palestrina Lamentations. The weather was 4 seasons in one day including squalls of snow and sunshine. The library was cold so we were wearing our coats. There was one unfortunate episode when a member of staff took a fan heater out of the study room to warm up the staff room and did not offer an alternative heater. Mind you the person concerned was wearing a short sleeved shirt and no coat! Liz spent the day after attending morning prayer cleaning and preparing for the vigil. I made copies of the prayers for Holy week for the servers and publicity for the interfaith group. I arrived at the cathedral at 5.30 p.m. for the rehearsal. I checked my route up to the gallery where Liz, Lerone and I lit hundreds of nightlights right round the buil...

The organist librarian: Happy Easter! http://revprs.blogspot.com Just discovered a superb singing of the Exultet on http://godzdogz.op.org Both these sites are favourites! Easter Sunday and the organist pulls out all the stops to catch that feeling of triumph! At Coulsdon we sang Haydn's little organ Mass St Johannis de Deo, This joyful Eastertide and the Celtic Alleluia! At the end I played Herbert Howells' Saraband for the morning of Easter. I see there is a Howells on My Space! Picked up Grandma and drove to Acton for lunch at Louise and Tom's - delicious belly of pork and chocolate pudding. Bruce joined us and Liz came straight from the cathedral where the choir sang the Vierne setting. Unusual for us to miss evensong or vespers but we were both tired out. Watched Aled Jones on TV learning to play the drums!

The Vigil at the cathedral was a truly wonderful service with 5 baptisms and lots of confirmations (lost count!). We moved in silence through the dark building to find the new fire blazing at the back tended by Mark dressed up as security for once. Liz and I were acolytes so had to pass the light from the Easter candle. My hand was shaking with excitement! How quickly the light spreads from candle to candle as we all share the good news! It was a surprise to find that we extinguished our candles for the 3 readings. Deacon Richard sang Exultet and Gospel superbly. When we went during the Gloria to light the altar candles, Liz tripped but she was OK. My taper went out and one of the candles was very reluctant to light being new! I ended up helping the youngsters to light nightlights. They thought the door to the gallery was locked so I got Simon Lloyd to check it. Never work with children! The choir was stunning in the Langlais setting - top Cs in the Sanctus from the boys. Palestrina Si...

Today the Church teases us! Being at work I read morning prayer at 7 a.m. I love the ancient homily about "Awake O sleeper" as Christ goes to raise Adam and Eve to life. The Westminster diocesan Lent booklet "A holy nation" is completed and it has been excellent. "The Road to Emmaus" continues until Monday in the company of Julian of Norwich who has been mentioned in homilies a lot recently! It is a glorious spring day with just a touch of coolness in Battersea Park. The blossom is coming out on the trees around the library showering the ground with white petals. Tonight we celebrate the greatest Feast of the Year, the Easter Vigil with baptisms and confirmations. It is a little sad they I am not playing the organ for this celebration any more but of course tomorrow I will be letting rip with full organ especially in "Saraband for the morning of Easter" by Herbert Howells. When we were choosing the digital organ for Our Lady of the Annunciation, ...