The organist librarian

Unpacked and watching the Trooping - good old Britain. It's hotter here than in Botswana and Zambia. Good flights with SAA apart from the muddleup on the flight home. As it happens I needed 2 seats so I could elevate my leg. I grazed it getting off the safari vehicle so had to have treatment at the Avani hotel. We met a lady from Florida who said she normally came to London every year but not this year. Understandable but sad. The LMP concert attracted a good audience no doubt attracted by community choir singing Adiemus. Ken Burton conducted Vivaldi Gloria. Good for all to hear Poulenc and Mozart. The ensemble in the organ concerto was remarkable. Hot and trains replaced by buses so going whole way on tfl buses. We sang Day by day by How and I played Ronald Watson Elegy in memoriam Herbert Howells and June Nixon improvisation on Adoro Te. She signed my copy when I played it at Melbourne cathedral. Happy 50th birthday to her. Super concert by the London Mozart Players at St Joh...

After the excitement of the tennis Tuesday was a quiet day with Liz working away at reflective theological journals and me tidying up, cooking sausages, sorting out washing, etc. Have finished the book on Sydney Nicholson at Chislehurst which was interesting and it mentioned the blind tenor at York Minster. Louise brought the car back and did some work and then I went to Bromley library to get more scores. The prom featured RVW Fantasia on Tallis theme. Ireland These things shall be which is a fine piece. Delius and Belshazzar's Feast - it was well sung. We skipped the late Prom and went to Acton and caught up on more Olympic action. Wednesday we all went to Ravenscourt Park and met Rufus. They enjoyed the hour long football taster! Had lunch there and Liz had her hair cut. To the pre Prom discussion with Simon Halsey and Ken Burton. Good to hear many young people are singing around the country. I think the BBC would have done well to tell us that the new choir is in fact 5 excelle...

Pictures show the Queen and King George VI and Queen Elizabeth at the opening of the hall in 1951. Tuesday and the Royal Gala concert marking the reopening of the Royal Festival Hall. We had to be there at 3 p.m. because of security. 600 singers from 7 choirs took part and I sat between tenors from the Billingshurst choral society and the London Philharmonic choir. Paul Daniel conducted. The concert started late. The front stalls were full of sopranos in orange and altos in green, tenors in pink tops and basses in brown. After the National anthem, we sang Zadok the priest. The Sixteen and the Adventist chorale combined in a sensational version of Purcell's Come ye sons of art. Watching Ken Burton's face was an inspiration! The London Philharmonic strings then played Elgar's Introduction and Allegro. What a fine work this is and I don't recall hearing it live before. In the interval there was champagne and I spoke to Julian Lloyd Webber about his father's music. Also...