The organist librarian

At Coulsdon we sang Praetorius "The Lord ascendeth" and Walford Davies "O King enthroned on high" and Richard Jones "Mass for Hilary". I played Bach prelude for Ascension. Train from Coulsdon South to be at 12 noon Mass at the cathedral to mark Fr Michael Archer's golden jubilee. Eleanor was an excellent cantor (Lourdes setting) and Thomas Wilson on the organ. Bach again! Reception afterwards - nice chocolate cake made by Peter - not many there. Train back in good time to get a wrap at Waitrose and play for marriage blessing at 3.30 p.m. Karen sang Schubert Ave Maria beautifully. Evensong from Lincoln and Songs of Praise from Liverpool. It was hot so I changed from suit into shorts! Garden bits and pieces. Watched BBC "South Pacific".

At St Andrew's we sang "Mass for Hilary" by Richard Jones who is now Jo Richards. It worked well to transpose the Sanctus down a tone to G minor. The anthem was "O Lord increase our faith" by Henry Loosemore which echoed today's gospel from Luke. Hymns included "Let all mortal flesh", "Dear Lord and Father of mankind" and "Now thank we all our God" so I ended with Flor Peeters' fine prelude on "Nun Danket". As the Refresh service was on I came home rather than waiting to practise and produced a report on Friday's choir meeting. We had a taste of Morocco for lunch. I hoovered and washed the kitchen floor. Choral evensong last Sunday was from Westminster Abbey and this week from Lichfield featuring Stanford in G and Howells Paean. The Classic FM 15th anniversary concert sounded good despite a boomy echo effect - the BBC does these broadcasts from the Albert Hall with closer miking I think to avoid this. The Verdi...

Another busy day but managed to get to tai chi. Geoff away in October but class will continue. Need to practise! To party in Battersea Park and Chris Tew gave me a lift home. Met a fascinating man called Richard Jones interested in so many things not least Lebanon and Israel.