Weeks ago I booked myself a ticket to see the renowned organist Anna Lapwood. I’ve been following her work for a while and was so excited to see she was performing at Canterbury Cathedral.
I had a couple of wobbles with my physical health during the week and contemplated not going. I was pleased to feel well enough yesterday to don my glad rags and head out.
I haven’t been out in the town at night on my own for a long time. I know there’s more trouble in the town centre these days but thought to myself I’ve trekked through worse in Belfast. As soon as I got off the bus and walked on to the high street they were two police officers trying to arrest two people who were putting up a great deal of resistance. As I was passing by, a police van turned up with reinforcements. I didn’t hang around. I went and got some dinner and then had an uneventful journey to the Cathedral.
I got there early…just like I get everywhere early! It was a lovely cold evening. I was standing next to a gentleman who was also on his own. We were seated next to each other. We were in the listening seats which had an obstructed view. As I went to sit in a different seat he beckoned me over, the seat beside him had a pretty good view of the screen and he said it would good for me to sit there. As there was still half an hour before the performance began we started chatting. He, himself played the organ and had played regularly at the Cathedral. He had been a teacher and played for the boys choir. He told me lots of interesting facts and how the organ in the cathedral had been refitted about five years ago. I felt lucky to sit next him and chat with him.
The concert itself was incredible. I enjoyed the moments I watched the screen. More importantly I savoured the moments I closed my eyes and let the music wash over me. In the louder parts I had this vision of pulling my chest apart and letting the music fill me up. I loved how vibrations rose up and reverberated in every atom.
Anna herself is such a joy. She introduced each piece she was playing and told us a bit about how she had transcribed each piece. I loved how she described how she first felt when she had heard the piece she was going to play first. She explained that she heard it as I little girl and it had brought her to tears. She had sat down afterwards and worked on the piece to try and understand why it made her so emotional. She dedicated that first piece to the little girl in her. This moved me so much.
The concert finished at 10.20pm and I started my walk back to the bus station. As I was approaching a small car park behind a row of shops there was another commotion. A guy was swearing and trying to chase down a car. The car side swiped him and sent him flying across the ground. An elderly man asked the guy if was ok but he got up and limped off swearing as he went. I jokingly said to the man “ah the Wild West of Canterbury”. He laughed and said he never usually came into town at night and he wouldn’t doing again anytime soon. I agreed with him and said I was off home to cuddle my cat!
I decided to forgo the twenty five minute wait for the bus and jumped in a taxi, to leave the madness of the city nightlife behind.
Nothing could diminish the high of that performance though.
Phoenix
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