Following a rather early half term start, Mummy and I spent a lovely day in Lyme Regis. Sadly, we didn’t get to see much of the town or the sea, but we did spend a full day inside their rather lovely church, St Michael the Archangel.
The day started with a short talk by another organist, David Bruce-Payne, who in fact judged me in the Eisteddfod last year and remembered what he had said was outstanding playing. He talked about dealing with nerves and how to beat them – practice (obviously; know your piece better than it knows you (as in squash the gremlins telling you that you can’t do it when you can), breathe; copy pages (make them bigger if need be) and stick them together; know your environment; record yourself playing and listen back ; and more.
We were then told organ,in the church, which was installed a few years ago at the cost of £300,000. The tutor explained how it works and then Philip played the Animal Parade by Ian Farrington. It’s the most complicated of pieces and Philip was very humble taking his applause. You can select extracts by following this link to the composer’s page http://www.iainfarrington.com/animalparadeorg.html
The adults left and the children, one by one, took a turn at playing their pieces. Here are my two sessions
