The organist librarian

Having woken again in the middle of the night as a result of jetlag I was reading my dear Mum's diary from the 1967 European tour and realised it sounded just like my blog! So many of the incidents come back to me vividly and I was telling Souk and Craig about the transforming moment on Dad's birthday Aug 23rd in Salzburg when we tossed for the tickets (2 between 4) and I went with Dad to hear the Berlin Philharmonic conducted by Karl Bohm with Barenboim at the piano. Never again could I accept the musical standards of Joburg - this was where I had to be! Watched Young Apprentice last night and managed to keep Liz awake. Ashleigh was a worthy winner. Am now up again and putting more videos on Facebook.

This would have been my dear Mum's 90th birthday. She understood so well the joy of a shared meal and would invite a stranger she saw at church back for Sunday lunch. As a result we made many new and interesting friends! She had no time for people being anti-social! She would have loved Facebook!

On Sunday Ann and Dennis came to the service at St Andrew's. I played Dad's "Lullaby for Claire" and the march from his Bishopthorpe suite which was played at their funeral. We sang Bairstow in E flat and David Ogden's "Christ has no body". The choir reassembled after the holiday and it was good to see them all again. The Peter Jones Gloria still needs some work! The hymns were "Let all the world", "Praise my soul" "All my hope" and "For the beauty of the earth". Delighted to hear that Stephen Bowey had passed ARCO so well.

Liz to hospital to help Mum come home - diverticulitis was the cause. Liz stayed over night with her. I went to Coulsdon to discuss hymns up to the end of September with Vickie. It was one of those days for missing trains and buses so i was late at St Michael's for Ian Harrison's recital. He is director of music at St Stephen's Bournemouth so played Whitlock, Mendelssohn Sonata No 2 and part of the Elgar sonata. Most enjoyable. Lit candles for Mum, Dad, Grandma and Padrerob! To Westminster Cathedral for Martin Baker's recital. Saw Andrew Cessana there and Ian. A splendid evening and a good audience! Beethoven Coriolan overture really worked well with reed stabbing sounds and gentler second theme. I cna do without Jean Guillou - I am not a fan! Liszt Fantasia on "Ad nos" was beautifully played. Then we had 3 tangos by Guy Bovet - the first illustrating a cat most charmingly. The finale was the March and Galop from "The Bartered bride" taken at a furio...

My Mum would have been 88 today. She would have had a party with cake and candles and smiled! Clare suggested to Ann that Mum would prefer money to be given to charity and she's right but I still think a celebration is right! How I miss her and Dad! The choir from New Hall school, Chelmsford sang at the Mass this evening and they were superb. Kyrie from Messe Basse by Faure, Thou wilt keep him by Wesley and a lovely haunting Agnus Dei from the Little Jazz mass by Bob Chilcott. Good to see Deacons Peter and Richard.

A very busy but fulfilling day. I rehearsed the St Luke Passion with Adrian Adams. It was a beautiful day so I enjoyed the walk up to St John's with a pause at the spot where Mum and Dad's ashes are buried in the Calvary garden. Then to the Centre for Spirituality at the Cathedral for a day led by Fr Paul Fox from Chelmsford. He has worked with disabled children and now with prisoners. He spoke of how our sins can be recycled and transformed by God into something good. This is a powerful message and he spoke too of the humanity of Jesus. To deny this is to deny the Incarnation. I took the opportunity to make my confession - always a difficult thing to do! I made the Stations of the Cross using Fr Cormac Rigby's excellent booklet and I found a quote from Fr Gerard Hughes in this week's Tablet which matched Fr Paul's comments so well. The Lent group followed on with a passage from Philippians as we met for the last time and we welcomed 2 newcomers making a group of 7 ...

Here are Mum and Dad on their 40th wedding anniversary. Herbert (Bert) and Olive were married for 65 years and they were not to be parted for long. Mum died within a week of Dad. Liz, Bruce and I travelled to Sydney for Dad's funeral and we saw Mum 3 times. The double funeral was very beautiful and Dad had chosen the music so carefully. The photos show the two lying side by side in Christ Church St Laurence and at the crematorium with Father John Spooner who knew them both so well. I miss them so much. Even though we lived 1000s of miles apart, we were so very close through letters, emails and phone calls. Dad would comment on the recordings I sent him and he was so encouraging. It would be great to find someone to do something similar. Another photo is of the family together at Ann and Paul's after the funeral drinking champagne. The interment of ashes and requiem Mass at St John's Upper Norwood were very beautiful with a magnificent choir of friends. Lots of Bairstow and ...

My second attempt at being thurifer this evening. Fr Mark was very patient as I struggled with the chains of the censer. I discovered after Mass that being right handed, I need to hold everything in my left hand and that makes life much easier. Mind you it is not an easy object to handle and takes years of practice and there is a lot to remember! My granddad Frank Woodhouse was thurifer at St Sampson's York where my Dad Herbert first learnt to play the organ. My Mum often said I had expressions like my Granddad although sadly I only saw him when I was 5 and 12 on visits from Johannesburg. My grandmother Phyllis (who's maiden name was Worley from Daventry)was a staunch Methodist like my aunt Nellie. It was from my grandmother that the musical talent came. I treasure a Bible my grandparents gave to me in 1959 soon after I was confirmed (as an Anglican). Bishop Ambrose Reeves confirmed us all in the school chapel and because he was allergic to hair oil, he wore white gloves. Shade...