The organist librarian

Tree surgeon came, mosaic and a super Cadogan prom with Dame Sarah Connolly. You could hear a pin drop! Played the organ at St Mary Cadogan Street. It is a basic 6 rank 1964 Walker and such a fine large church deserves something bigger and better. No reed or strings. No swell to great. Crescendo pedal. Excellent lunch at Cote Sloane Square calimari, seafood linguini, peach crumble with ice cream. Looked at hats in Peter Jones. I would not pay £40 or £119 for a hat! Talk on Ives Symphony no. 2. Prom 1 tonight Candide overture, Gershwin piano concerto and Ives which I slept through. Minnesota orchestra. Prom no. 2 the amazing Aurora orchestra Shostakovich piano concerto no. 2 and symphony no. 9 from memory. Could not follow scores as lights turned off. Now on bus to Battersea Park to pick up car. Home 12.45.

Swam 20. Getting ready for Jean Taylor party on Sunday. Listened to Ives Symphony No. 4 from the Prom. If I had not lugged the huge full score home from the library I would not have bothered. The second movement is called Comedy and that sums it up really - extraordinary complicated to little effect. Gu iding at the cathedral -once again too many people there and one added herself in despite this! I left at 3.15 and returned Kensington library scores. The meeting about the Proms was OK but rather the same as before. There are improvements which could be made - better lighting, better seats, more care about what is suitable for children. However it has been an excellent season. A lovely Gerontius with excellent youth choir conducted by Rattle. 

Galilee painting delivered to go to Bishop of Kingston's office. New watch battery (had a nice chat to the jeweller who is an organist) ears syringed, yellowfever injection at Trailfinders clinic.  Scores returned to Balham and bought ear drops. The BBC proms poetry winners were great.   An excellent Prom the St Petersburg phil with Temirkanov playing Rimsky-Korsakov, Tchaikovsky, Elgar and Stravinsky. Wednesday Sean in good humour and he enjoyed Snakes and Ladders. We had lunch there and Liz spent the day at school. The evensong at St John's to celebrate the Queen becoming the longest reigning British monarch was great with a good sermon from Colin Boswell. Stanford, Vaughan Williams, Parry and Handel. Why we had to have Ives at the end is beyond me! Wine and nibbles - Martin was there. 40 singers. 

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.

Phllip Scriven gave us a real Bank holiday recital which was fun at Bromley Parish church. The Croydon music festival organ class at St John's featured 2 accomplished players and 2 promising beginners all ably helped by Anne Marsden Thomas.