The wandering organist

The Advent Carol Service at the Church of the Holy Spirit, Southsea always marks the beginning of the countdown to Christmass. I wandered thence yesterday and, although not over-employed (three hymns, O Thou, the Central Orb and the Bach Wachet Auf ) had a nice time and grabbed this photo while the choir rehearsed. Wandering back home the snow was falling, snow on snow between Farlington and Arundel, but in Portsmouth and Worthing there was nary a flake.

The weekend before last I renewed my acquaintanceship with Portsmouth Cathedral's organ (CofE, though I have played the RC one). Nicholson's did a good job in the 90s, and mechanically it seems ok with the daily use that a busy cathedral organ gets. I couldn't work out if the electric assistance coupling was on or off with the switch down or up, but it made a difference to the coupling: Swell to Great pulled down fully on all notes (one or two in the middle octave were a little iffy with the switch in the other direction) so I left well alone. I liked the little extras Portsmouth Cathedral chorister... which were above the console - however, I was less enthusiastic about the other extras which are soon to be added: not that extra stops are in and of themselves bad, just that I don't really see the necessity for a loud trumpet at the west end of the nave, which is not exactly far from the loud trumpet on the main organ.The other thing I didn't like was the c...

There really isn't much you can say, other than nowadays the C of E would make them take it down and re-do it straight. The organ pipes, on the other hand, were straight. At least, the bits on display. It's a bit of a cheat, actually, because the side towers' pipes should poke over the top of the case, but Henry Willis (I imagine it was HW 4, his firm put the organ in in 1963) mitred the pipes so they didn't. It was impossible to get a picture of this, but at the top of the pipes they put a 45-degree mitre back into the organ so the pipes were full-length but not poking up. I suspect an architect who didn't ask and didn't believe in talking to organ builders. The photo of the church (Chesterfield PC) and the organ (north transept) were taken this last weekend when I wandered up there (207 miles).That's almost olympic-class wandering. The organ is quite loud by the altar under the crossing, but by virtue of its position, in the nave it's almost subd...

A trip to London one hot July afternoon, to play for that high art form, the service of Choral Evensong, with Wyndcliffe Voices and Philip Drew. St John, Holland Road was the destination, invited by the church's organist, Paul Joslin. I had visited the church about 30 years ago and knew it as the last stone-vaulted building to be built in London. Built from 1885 to 1910 the website is worth a look, and explains some interesting little oddities, like the floor-level. Walking in, the immediate impression is "wow". We arrived after another service had finished and incense was still lingering. In the history of this church, that was nothing new! An estate agent's blurb about a flat for sale next door: " Holland Road is close to the green open spaces of Holland Park and the Shepherd's Bush's Westfield shopping centre " which made me smile. The organ has no case, and is almost unphotographable, being 50' above floor-level. The origina...

A friend of mine chooses the ties he wears on Sundays by the liturgical colour of the day - predominantly green in the Sundays of Trinity, gold for Easter and Christmas, red for Martyrs - and, nowadays, Whitsunday - and so on. Whilst I have a large number of ties, they don't seem to have a predominating colour, being mostly musical notation or instruments (Christmasses became a little predictable a while back!). And then, about three years ago, I spotted a multi-pack of socks in Marks and Spencer and my problem was solved - liturgically appropriate socks. Unfortunately, the green pair has had rather more wear than the others and has gone into holes, so here is a tribute to the set before they start, one by one, to go through. I had thought to take pictures of them actually being worn, but it was an unusual day, quite summery and warm.

Well, not quite, in fact that headline contains about as much truth as a tabloid red-top article. The badge However, the Bishop of Portsmouth did - in effect - cancel the Choral Evensong planned for Pentecost at the Church of the Holy Spirit, Southsea, by scheduling the presentation of the first ever St Thomas Awards in Portsmouth Diocese on the evening of Pentecost at 6pm. My friend, Philip Drew, was one of the first 12 to receive one of these, and over 30 people from his church went along to see him receive it. Post-service, just before the bun-fight Very pleased that Philip should have this, well-deserved. Not eating, talking! Choral evensong resumes on 5th June with Walford Davies' Chant Service setting.

Friday's post brought the first bill from the new managing agents of the flats where I live. Paying half-yearly, I was expecting it to be about £900-1,000 as there is a lot of work which the previous managing agents just didn't do, we've a lot of catching up to do. I had enough saved, but not much extra. How does this relate to holidays, I hear you ask? Well, the bill was just under £500, which means that I have the money to go with Cantores Vagantes to Derby Cathedral for a week in August. (BTW, not the Estonian one, the one run by Philip Drew.) I like that church, the organ is a classic Compton rebuild of a Hill (with a little tinkering since)  http://www.npor.org.uk/NPORView.html?RI=N02750  with a lovely little 2-manual by Cousins in the Retro-Choir (that doesn't mean a choir which looks or sings in a 1950s way)  http://www.npor.org.uk/NPORView.html?RI=N05294  which is used for weekday services. A small specification, but every stop counts. It needed a little ...