The organist’s blog

Wedding – St. John’s Wood
A second visit to this church for another wedding. A really nice organ to play. The Bride came in to Promenade from Pictures at an Exhibition. This was a first for me, but it worked reasonably well. A little know fact - most brides take about 40 seconds (plus or...
Wedding – Dulwich
This was an interesting one! The wedding took place in the Old Library in Dulwich College, a really nice setting, and a lovely little organ. Bit exposed for my liking - I like to be hidden away, but today I had to behave myself as I was right out in the open! The...
Wedding – Isleworth
An interesting situation for the organist today. Perched on the balcony at the rear of the church with a sheet of half inch wood to stop me falling backwards over the edge and making an entirely different noise as I hit the floor. Tiny bit vertiginous!
Morning service
This morning I played at a 'high' Church of England who were unexpectedly down one organist. I am a heathen Presbyterian at heart, so a lot of this was new to me, and slightly scary. But I had a decent script to follow and it seemed go pretty well. Gloria, Agnus Dei,...
Wedding – Kingston
Not the best start to the day - had to drive to Kingston because the wretched SouthWestern train drivers were on strike. Ah well ... A small organ in a large church but it works reasonably well. Queen of Sheba to go out to. Good fun.
Funeral – Brixton
A large church and a decent sized organ. Getting from the church up to the organ reminded me of the Crystal Maze. A couple of dark passages and a tiny windy stone spiral staircase opening out into a fairly large balcony.
Wedding – Eltham
Great organ today, but very confusing for me. The organ I play on regularly has the Swell stops on the left, and the Great on the right. Today they were the other way around and this caused way more confusion than it should have done. Bride went out to All you need is...
Wedding – Essex
Somewhere in the wilds of deepest Essex is a small church with a small but nicely formed organ. I played there today for a wedding. It was fun.
Funeral – Wimbledon
An early one today - 10:00. Nothing surprising about this service. The most notable thing was that this is the most cramped position I have ever played in. And the approach to the organ bench had a cunning trap waiting to break the ankle of an unwary organist. Mmmm ...
Funeral – Clapham
No picture of the organ this time. I forgot to take it.