The organist librarian

Liz was safely home from Ireland. AnnMarie has to return to Harlow to finally clear up. 40 lengths - woke up early. Staff meetings today and Georgia the new Saturday assistant. To the cathedral for Mass - Byrd motet and Tallis Salvator mundi with amazing clashes. To the Festival Hall for Philharmonia concert conducted by Pletnev who suddenly came alive although he shows no emotion at all. Beethoven 8 (followed with score) and 9 well played, the latter finishing very fast.Soloists very good especially Matthew Rose and the chorus got a good cheer. I was struggling to keep awake at times and my tinnitus was a nuisance. Train home and Liz picked me up.

Tuesday to swimming (40 lengths) and then an hour at work before getting trains to Cheam to play for the funeral of Bunty Phillips. She was 89 and married to Derek for 65 years. He looks frail and requested "Jesu joy" so I found a copy. On arrival the secretary got me a coffee. No word from the priest and I could have played them in - incense throughout with 2 servers with gold on their cottas! 4 hymns. Choir of 9 and conductor asked me to go slower. "Love divine", Crimond, Abide with me and To be a pilgrim. I played Bach, Handel and Brahms. 2 manual Norwich electronic. In paradisum sung by a man as coffin went out - pretty good for his age. Nice eats and a good turnout from the circle including Tina Bagatti and Cis Howard. My playing was much appreciated. Got a new watchstrap at the Cheam jewellers and I was back at work by 2.15 p.m. To Barbican London school for girls for Beethoven 9 rehearsal with Mark and Pletnev who was so dull! Sat next to Nick who sings in th...

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...

Tuesday was a long day. Swam 34 lengths - the pool was busy and not arranged as it usually is with wide fast and slow lanes. I did my best to catch up on work so I was tired by the time I got to the Festival hall. Liz sat in for the first half of Henze Bassarids suite which apparently was better to watch than to listen to. The Beethoven went well but Dohnanyi was not always clear and speeded up the finale. We were joined by Philharmonia Voices directed by Aidan Oliver and some members of the Bristol choral society so we filled the new choir stalls. Afterwards we went to the bar for the farewell to Robert Dean. He clearly enjoyed Rosa's choral item featuring some of his favourite expressions and rolled rs. He gave an excellent speech and was presented with wine and a leather bound score of Rosa's piece. It was Jean Taylor who got him to come 10 years ago and there have been some memorable concerts notably Gerontius and Mozart under his direction. We were home by 11.30 p.m. The c...

Thursday to rehearsal at Henry Wood hall with Christoph von Dohnanyi. We were required to be there at 6 p.m. for the piano rehearsal and all went well. We then had a gap before the orchestral rehearsal. On Friday came news that the rehearsal at the Festival hall could not take place and the concert on the Saturday was now Verdi requiem conducted by David Parry. Fortunately we were not doing the concert as I was working. Friday night to choir practice only to find I had forgotten that it was cancelled as the choir were not singing on Sunday so I practised the organ and piano and checked on the programme up to the end of November. Dealt very firmly with difficult children on Thursday and the result was a quiet library over the following days! I missed the choir on Sunday. Most of the congregation were at Teresa's ordination at Southwark cathedral. Richard celebrated on his own with one server. I played the whole of Milner's variations on a Northumbrian tune and Willan's Chora...

An excellent day spent at Battersea library discussing stock and how we buy it for the library. Good to have all the branches together plus home delivery service and the prison librarians to discuss this. Nice lunch too! To the cathedral but because the course finished late I was too late to serve. The full choir were back and Fr Tim was celebrating. My favourite passage from Colossians 3 was the first reading - sing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs to God in your hearts... always be thankful... put on love". To chorus for Robert Dean's last rehearsal with us as director. We are going to miss his happy smile and antics! Beethoven 9 yet again!

What a great concert! Jiri Belohlavek proved to be an inspiring conductor directing Beethoven 9 without the score. Walton Portsmouth Point overture got the season off to a rousing start and Paul Watkin played the Elgar Cello concerto with great feeling. How he perspired as one could see on the HDD recording when I got home. I was on a lot being right behind the trombones and between Andrew and Gerald both much taller than me! I saw Peter in the Prom queue and had a long chat, also John East gave me a wave from the choir. Wasn't impressed by the soprano but Rene Pape was commanding! Enjoyed the sunshine in the park - it was a pleasant evening. On the bus met a nice man who plays in an amateur orchestra and really enjoyed the performance. Like me he met his wife through music making! Liz picked me up at East Croydon so I was home by 11 p.m.

I hope to sing in Beethoven's 9th symphony on Friday July 13th and it should be on TV! It's on BBC2 from 8 to 10.30 p.m. I was at rehearsal Wed at Maida Vale and tonight Thursday) at the Albert Hall. I am sitting directly behind the trombones in the front row.

Just listening to internet BBC Radio 3 Performance of the week Wed on BBC radio player which is only for a week. It is the performance from the opening of the Royal Festival Hall. A strange programme - Julian's Anderson's "Alleluia", Stravinsky, Ives, Purcell and the 4th movement of Beethoven 9. The orchestral sound is tremendous and the combined choruses on great form. We sang from memory. The Falklands commemoration parade from Horse Guards parade is currently on TV. Royal Marines band as good as ever.

The chorus took part in the 3rd section of the gala opening concert singing Beethoven's 9th 4th movement conducted by Christoph von Dohnanyi. The sound was trememendous and everyone said how marvellous it was. The London Philharmonic choir sang a new work by Julian Anderson "Alleluia". The programme was heavily weighted towards the modern. The Beethoven was preceeded by Ligeti's Atmospheres which included the brushing of a grand piano's strings (well they needed cleaning). Marin Alsop conducted 4 orchestras in Ravel's Bolero - it was amazing! The concert is on the BBC website for a week. Strangely it was not broadcast live nor did the Queen come. The Duke of Kent was there and so was Ken Livingstone. The audience had paid £100, £300 and £500 for a seat so it was mostly bankers and the like. At the champagne reception in the ballroom, I spoke to James O'Donnell (Westminster Abbey) and saw Janet Street-Porter and Alan Yentob from BBCTV but the great musical...

Yesterday after examining I looked round the stalls in Southwark cathedral for the vocations day. I chatted to a chaplain from the Maudsley about interfaith work and met a sister of the Church based in Bristol. I told her about Sister Rosamund in Glebe who looked out for Mum and Dad so well. There were 160 people at the day! I have finished reading Nick Hornby's "A long way down" which is a remarkable novel about suicide. The Tablet has had excellent articles about the Catholic Elgar and interfaith networks. Alfred Agius has agreed to speak at the launch on June 20th. It was a hot day today and I went by bus to church twice. At evensong we sang Harwood in A flat and The heavens are telling. All went well and I even managed a faster speed! To Royal Festival Hall for Beethoven 9 rehearsal with Dohnanyi who was very demanding. I saw Paul Daniel in the lift - he conducted the massed choir in orange, green, pink and brown in an English version of the work and Liz said it went ...

Peter comments on "I saw the Lord" which I agree is a wonderful anthem especially the final section "O Trinity, O Unity". I told Simple village organist in L.A. about the Beethoven 9 at the Royal festival hall jamboree next weekend with a colour-coded choir. Sopranos orange, altos green, basses brown (well what else!) and wait for it tenors ..... pink! I'm glad I'm not taking part - I have evensong to play for. Add to that it is in English (yuk!) The real opening concert features the 4th movement of the Beethoven in German conducted by Christoph von Dohnanyi. The Tablet has an article this week about "Alleluia" by Julian Anderson and a fine article by Stephen Hough about Elgar's Catholicism. Stephen was involved in the excellent Radio 4 morning worship on Sunday about Elgar and his Mass is to be sung at the Cathedral on Sunday.

At Coulsdon we sang Oldroyd's Mass of the quiet hour, Psalm 8 and Tchaikovsky's Hymn to the Trinity which works better taken more quickly. I rehearsed with Ellie and practised the organ. Then dashed home and up to Gandhi Hall for rehearsal of Beethoven 9 with Per Friborg from Gothenborg with the London Philharmonic choir. We went to the cathedral for the recital by Marco Lo Muscio from Rome which had vulgarity and noise as its hallmarks! Then to the Queen Elizabeth Hall where Stephen Rose regaled us with selections on the piano before Christoph von Dohnanyi arrived. He seemed happy enough! Watched programme on the remaining Apprentice contestants.