A hectic weekend, or two days well-spent.
Antwerp and St. Boniface it was on Saturday, for the yearly Choral Festival, organised by the RSCM. Simon Lole from England is an excellent choirmaster, drilling us in such a way that we enjoyed what we were doing and didn't mind repeating musical phrases over and over again till we got it right. It is a pleasure to meet other choristers from different Episcopal, English speaking churches, all united by our love of church music. Alas, the church was freezing cold and at Evensong we did not perform half as well as during the rehearsals. Fatigue? It was after all a long day but I wouldn't have missed it for the world. For the first time in years I could admire the church which has been almost restored to its former glory. Next Sunday there will be a rededication service. It was 6 o'clock before we finally called it a day. It was a great pity that so few people came to the Evensong. The choir stalls were not even half full.
Sunday it was Mattins in The Hague. I slipped out through a side door after the anthem and before the sermon, to go to a party of a friend. It started at 11, as the service did, but lunch wasn't served till 1 o'clock, so I arrived in time for that and had enough time to chat with the few people I knew there. It was a dreadfully stormy day. We were sitting in a conservatory with a canvas roof, one which can be rolled up if the weather is fine, which my friend had hoped for. It was making such a noise in the storm that I found conversation rather difficult. Being near the sea and on the banks of a man-made lake, a sand pit, meant that nothing could break the wind and it hit the building at full force.
After a few hours at home I went out again to an organ recital in a neighbouring village, Voorschoten, given by my organist friend. The Catholic church, de Heilige Laurentius, is big. I had never been inside, but was struck by the very unusual and beautiful altar piece, which apparently came from a dismantled church in Prinsenbeek, near Breda. It is an intricate wooden work of art, with lots of pinnacles, scenes and characters from the Bible, the figures painted in bright colours. It must be wonderful for a child to just dream away looking at it during a long and perhaps not very interesting sermon, if Catholics ever have to endure long sermons. Anyway, a former priest of that church pointed out many interesting details to us. He also told us that a large team of volunteers had been busy lovingly restoring it for over two years. They were given assistance by "Monumentenzorg", a Dutch institute which tries to care for our heritage.
The recital was very well attended, by some 126 people, which is a lot for an organ recital. Afterwards we, some friends and I plus the organist and his wife, enjoyed drinks and titbits at the house of a friend who lives nearby and is the main organ assistant. II had not seen them for quite some time and it was a pleasure to meet them.
By the time I was back home it was past midnight, so the weekend was well spent. I closed the door of the kitchen carefully before going to bed, not to be confronted with the backlog of dirty dishes. They would have to wait till Monday.
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