The wandering organist

I am just completely fed up with 1) Inland Revenue (as it used, in simpler days, to be known) and 2) the Diocese of Chichester for blindly following the stupid HMRC diktat which completely contradicts the church's earlier position - not contradicted by the revenue at the time - that organists were not employees and thus eminently sackable . And here . And here . Two churches have mentioned this to me, that I am to be treated as an employee. It would be financially doubleplusungood as my expenses would be slashed at a stroke and, much more importantly, my National Insurance Number, birth-date and everything necessary to commit mayhem and ID theft would be at the mercy of about 10 parish treasurers and their internet security. One treasurer-click on a phishing link, and there's my bank details gone. No. No, no and NO. One person mentioned that I would get a pension - well, no. I'd have to be paid £10,000 by each church to qualify for that, likewise sick pay. Even the ide...

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.

Yesterday was a sad day - the funeral of John S Smith, past President of the Organ Club and long-standing secretary of my local Organists' Association, Brighton & Hove. A fount of information on matters organic who will be missed. A true old-fashioned gentleman. It was also sad as I said goodbye to the last remaining part of my graduation present from my parents, the Dual 505 turntable (which was connected to a NAD3020 and Acoustic Research AR18s). It just stopped working. Bearing in mind it was 35 years old and was one of the old-fashioned sort that had an extra lead to connect to the amp, and that it had been quite well used before the advent of CDs, I actually had to put my hands over my ears as it went into the skip at the local tip. And lastly, I got so fed up with not being able to find music I wanted to hear from my CD collection, I indexed them all. It was started by not being able to find the Holst St Paul's Suite which, even when they were finally put into co...

Danehill, Parish Church of All Saints'. Now, that's not something you might expect to find in a small parish church in the depths of East Sussex. Taken from the east the console is behind the red ochre doors. The manual compass is an octave short of normal (nipped off the top end) and the pedals only have two rather than two-and-a-half octaves. Despite this, it was pretty standard, the builder (in about 1892), Wordsworth of Leeds, aligned the pedalboard so that it is almost in the standard position. Because of the lack of depth in the loft it is impossible to get a view which shows both manuals and pedals. From the console you get a superb view of the reredos, a pretty stunning creation with more gold leaf. This was taken from just beside the priest's stall in the choirstalls, return stalls to save length. The service was BCP Mattins, straight from the book, with Ferial responses (accompanied), Venite and Jubilate to chants, and four traditional hymns. A ...

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.

The lack of the fine organ in Finedon was the only regret. It was lovely. Path from gate to the North Door . A fine day, lovely weather, and up to 23 C. Only days ago it was 8 C. The organ behaved itself, as did the electricity supply, and a nice, very ordinary parish eucharist was celebrated. The only thing of note was that a bee landed on Revd Bucqué and seems to try to have some fun with the wireless microphone she was wearing. Nothing else to report. Just have a couple of photographs. I am so lucky to live so close to such lovely countryside. View of Lych gate towards the Downs Tree in blossom