20th August 2018

Westminster Abbey, trumpeting angel

One of the privileges of giving recitals in our great buildings is being locked in on one’s own to rehearse. All churches and cathedrals take on a different character when the visitors have left and they settle down for the night. None can be be more special than Westminster Abbey, where in preparation for my recital on Sunday Anne and I spent the whole of Saturday evening in the empty building. In my breaks from rehearsing on the 5-manual Harrison we ambled around as dusk descended, visiting memorials to poets, musicians, statesmen and scientists. Truly inspiring. If only some of their skills, wisdom and intelligence had rubbed off as we passed by!