Ways to console the itinerant organist…

1 Initial arrangements made over the telephone can be misunderstood. There are so many books in use nowadays that it is only too easy to play the right number of hymn &endash; but from the wrong book.

2 To make sure of a prompt start the following day, make sure the old banger is in working order the day before. If you are to play a tracker action, get your wife (or husband or partner) to fill you up with a good dollop of Scotch porridge oats to fortify you for the fray.

3 On arrival wipe the organ seat &endash; it may have rained in overnight. Can you switch the organ on? If not do you know where the main swith is? By the way, can you mend a fuse as well as play the organ? Take a screwdriver with you. Spot the ciphers and decide which manual to use. A Sunday newspaper may come in handy if ciphers persist.

4Will all the hymns be announced? It would be a help. Are any verses to be omitted? How responsive is the swell box &endash; has it given up the ghost? Can you hear what is going on: a chorister to lean on would be a boon. Bring back to the choirs.

5Which psalter do they use? Different pointing again? Which chant and which chantbook? Do you know the chant from memory. If not you have problems. Jump on to the swell. Good luck!

6Is there a processional hymn, and a recessional? Do you help the aged to rise from their seats with a 'gathering note' or do you go off like a shot out of a gun?

7Is the choir (if any) provided with the Setting you have agreed to play?

8Have the hymns been changed at the last minute? Can you find suitable tunes when you should be playing the voluntary?

9 Is the organist's battle with the bellringers part of his contract, or should he be paid a bonus for this?

10 The organist plays until the start of the service to create atmosphere. Wrong again! First and foremost come the notices: coffee mornings, sales of work etc.

11Weddings and funerals: Have you checked the hymns with the printed sheets? Are there notes on the organ which are needed to play the requested pieces eg Widor's Toccata? Have you allowed in your repertoire for delays up to half an hour?

12 Can you decide how to introduce a happy clappy tune so as not to lose the congregation at the kick-off?

13If the hymns are pitched too high, have a keyboard handy. Better still, resolve to work at transposition to the Millennium and realise your potential. Limpus of the FRCO: immortality smiles on such.

Nil desperandum. Hope never crashes. One thing is certain. Your efforts are much appreciated.

Obituary: Harry Preston and Philip Stead

WE record with sorrow the passing of two of our loyal members, Harry Preston and Philip Stead.

Harry Preston died peacefully on January 9, aged 91, writes Liz Pearson.

His parents moved to Meltham to work at Meltham Hall, which was owned by the Brook family who had the cotton mills at Meltham Mills.

He was taught by the organist at Meltham Mills church and first played at St Mary's Wilshaw for 18 months before applying for the post of organist at St James', Meltham Mills in 1929.

He worked as a clerk at David Brown Tractors.

In 1979 he had been organist for 50 years and this year would surely have been a record as he celebrated 70 years.

He had seen nine vicars come and go and last year Rev Jane Austin became number 10 &endash; and his first woman vicar.

Harry was also choir master and was very proud when asked to sing a solo.

It is said that he had hardly ever missed a Sunday; if he was going on holiday he would book Monday to Saturday.

Philip Stead, who died last October aged 75, spent his working life in the gas industry, mostly in Huddersfield, writes Alec Dunn.

Philip worshipped most of his life at Meltham Mills Church. He was a churchwarden in the darkest days of St James' and his strong faith and leadership ensured the survival of that church and saw it through to its present powerful witness.

Philip had an abiding love of music. He sang tenor with the Metro Singers and sang and laughed uproariously in the chorus of Meltham Parish Church Gilbert and Sullivan Society.

In his later years, he enjoyed Evensong in Meltham Parish Church choir.

He had an extensive collection of records and taped music (much of which he bequeathed to the association &endash; Editor) and he enjoyed playing the piano. He found great joy in travelling around the various churches and cathedrals with the Huddersfield Organists' Association.

He had an encyclopaedic knowledge of church architecture and the organs within diverse churches and cathedrals.

Philip loved children and all mankind; he loved books and had an enormous personal library.

He enriched the lives of all of us who had the privilege of knowing him.

How he must have enjoyed hearing the trumpets sounding for him on the other side.