The organist librarian

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...

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...

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.