Westminster Pilgrim; Being a Record of Service in Church, Cathedral and Abbey, College University and Concert Room, with a Few Notes on Sport

urn:iso:std:iso:639:ed-3:eng

33-4

text excerpt

My organ lessons were not very regular, but I practised almost daily, and curiously enough my greatest critic was the old blind blower, Fred, whom I have mentioned as having allowed me to toll the bell for the funeral of the great Duke of Wellington. Intensely musical, he played the violin uncommonly well, and along with a friend the blind organist of a neighbouring church was employed at all the dances in the vicinity. It was a local saying that "people liked to have blind men to play at the dances, because they would not know too much of what was going on"! Blind Fred had a great love for Church music, and would constantly come round from the bellows-side to the keyboard side of the organ to correct me for a wrong note or something that I had not noticed myself. He could do this, because I was only allowed to play softly, and the organ not being pneumatic it did not require a great amount of wind. I remember his delight when for the first time we had some of the more modern chants introduced, notably one by Turle, which is well known and usually sung to the `104th Psalm. There is a very striking chord in the second part. Old blind Fred would whistle this chant to me, accenting this chord with all his power ! He was always rather hard upon my extempore playing (which I admit was not very good), but once I tripped him up by taking a phrase from one of Mendelssohn's Lieder, using it as a subject. This brought him round to me, with the exclamation, "Ah, Master Fred, that is something like"! I thanked him, but was artful enough not to tell him whose it was.

excerpt from 'Westminster Pilgrim; Being a Record of Service in Church, Cathedral and Abbey, College University and Concert Room, with a Few Notes on Sport' pp. 33-4 (294 words)

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