A wonderful experience last Sunday, while doing a bit of guesting for Evensong in a choir a few miles away. Nothing to do with the singing (which was wonderful, for the participants, at least), but for what happened after the service. Despite the lure of biccies and Fairtrade coffee and a post-service chat, people were glued to their congregational seats - actually listening to the organist's voluntary. But the best thing was that when he finished, they, the congregation, and we, the choir bods, burst out in spontaneous applause. I have never before, in more than 50 years of church musicking, heard or seen that happen, even in a cathedral, and I dare say there were quite of few of us there whose hearts leapt for sheer joy.
I'm going to have to mention it to my friend Barry Acne - I mean, Barry, the organist warmed up with the Karg-Elert thing, and only so that he could set his pistons!
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