Shortly after we moved to Farnham Common in 1971, we noticed a plea from the Windsor Amateurs, seeking a musical director, so I joined them. I was due to conduct the “Vagabond King”, but part-way through rehearsal they decided they’d made the wrong choice, and it was cancelled. The next show was “Ruddigore”, and Katie saw this as her chance to join the chorus of professional bridesmaids, and be in a show; unfortunately, just before first rehearsal she realised that she would at the time of the show be a very heavily pregnant “bridesmaid”, so that was the end of her stage hopes, and led to the end of my involvement with the Society. Indeed, with work pressures mounting, it was the last time I was involved with amateur theatre, except as a member of the audience.
To compensate, soon after we got involved with the Beaconsfield church, my musical involvement there grew in a new way. When we first arrived the organ was used, with a paid organist from High Wycombe, but gradually we moved to a combination of electronic organ (me) and piano (usually Chantal Kerrigan). Later on we assembled the beginnings of a small music group. And in 1977 we formed a small orchestra to play for the Christmas carol service, and I started arranging the David Willcocks carols[1] for a small orchestra (a task that continued into Woodley days, and eventually were transcribed onto “Sibelius” on the computer).
Our hymnbooks at Beaconsfield were the 1962 Baptist Hymnbook and Redemption Hymnal, until the charismatic renewal of the early 1970’s started sweeping through the churches. From Houston, Texas, a group of people from the Episcopal “Church of the Redeemer” had come to the UK, and had toured a number of areas of the country; they came to lead a church weekend in October 1973, at the Wycliffe Centre in Stokenchurch. While there, they went to look at a nearby property they had been offered, to set up a community – Yeldall Manor! Their music was infectious – nothing like the hymns, or even the “20th Century Hymns” the UK had been used to. The tunes were “light music”, and the words more personal and less formal. For several months, folk from our church went to Yeldall, on their “open” Friday evenings, to absorb their music and worship. Also, the community church in Bradford was the centre for the “Dales Bible Weeks”, and folk went there and came back with new songs – which of course were immediately needed for Sunday worship.
At first, what I had to do was listen to folk remembering the tune, and copy the tune onto manuscript paper. Soon, we could get at least printed copies of the words, and next the songsheets included the key and chords. Some years later, we got the melody line and chords; it was some time before we got a full piano arrangement – and sometimes (e.g. “Songs of Fellowship” volume 1) the results were very different from the way songs were learned. Cassette tapes, when available, helped. Having three people, who each clearly remembered a song – differently, did not. Sometimes I had to use my own imagination as to how a composer would have treated a musical phrase; when I later heard the song from a reliable source, it was amazing how few changes were needed (the biggest problem I remember was caused by folk singing a 3/4 song to me in 4/4 time).
But it wasn’t just a set of new songs to learn and teach others; it was a different emphasis in worship. Now members of the congregation might start singing a song with no warning, and in who knows what key, so the musicians needed to “pick up the tune” and find the key – then either keep going in that key, or if it was a long way out, somehow change between verses to a closer one. Improvisation suddenly became a needed skill, to play in the background during times of prayer or quietness, as well as to improvise accompaniments during normal singing. All I learned under Mr Tonge as an organist proved invaluable, as most pianists were not taught these skills (improvisation, transposition, etc). The other new thing was “playing in the Spirit”, but that is far more a matter of faith than musical skill.
The quantity of music in each service grew, as did the perception of the congregation about its importance in worship. I was glad to have been a part of this exciting time, in a church that refused even to contemplate any division of opinion concerning “musical tastes”.
At home, the old piano (bought in an auction in Guiseley) gave way to a new upright (paid for from overtime during the “Linesman” commissioning period); smaller and more suitable for a modern home.
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