The organ was certainly in good voice on Saturday 6th September to sing its heart out – and the audience too! As one of the choir members that evening, I am not quite so well placed to comment on the heartiness of the choir, but take it on trust from several audience members that the choir sounded very impressive. Especially impressive given that there had only been one proper rehearsal before the concert – a fact (or apology?) which Paul Leddington-Wright, our St Mary’s organist extraordinaire, was eager to make sure that the audience knew.
The programme of well-loved hymns, choir anthems, solo organ repertoire, and a few chamber ensemble pieces was interspersed by deeply encouraging and moving testimonies from St Mary’s folk of why the various hymns chosen were especially precious to them. This, along with a generous selection of drinks and nibbles to keep us going through what might otherwise have been supper time, made for a thoroughly enjoyable evening.
The undisputed star of the show, however, was the young page-turner who never left Paul’s side throughout the concert, arranging the music on the stand with utmost efficiency and mastering the stop changes with complete confidence. From my position in the choir, I was lucky enough to get a closer view of these proceedings than most. I would see a highlighted mark or pencilled instruction approaching on the sheet music and the young page-turner’s finger would already be poised over the correct stop, face turned attentively towards Paul, ready for his nod. Nod received and, all at once, soft flutes would swell to strings, strings would give way to triumphant brass and, with the tap of a foot, a gloriously deep rumble would emerge from the largest pipes that you could feel more than you could hear. We are truly blessed to have such a wonderful instrument in our building and such a skilful musician in Paul to play it for us.
If I may indulge in a more personal reflection on the evening, it was a rare and special opportunity to enjoy God’s gift of music in a context where the purpose was so much more than just marvelling at the skill and craftmanship of instrument and performer, but to give glory to God, the creator of all our creativity. So often I find giving a performance is saddled by the anxiety of making mistakes, made exhausting by constant self-analysis, and followed by the deep frustration that I should have done better. On this evening however, the words of the hymns and the whole-heartedness with which they were sung reminded me that “well our feeble frame (and my anxiety) he knows” but that “fatherlike he tends and spares us.” Rather than just analysing my own performance, I was encouraged to “behold him there, the risen Lamb, my perfect, spotless righteousness” and, whatever our frustrations were that evening, we could collectively ask the Lord that “whatever befall, still be my vision, O ruler of all.”
“Alleluia! Alleluia! Praise with us the God of grace.”