Running on Fumes

I have to learn how to say "no".  The music director at my parish took a well-deserved vacation after Holy Week.  She had asked if I could fill in for her at the Masses this weekend.  Even though I knew I would be out of town and tired, I agreed to fill in at the two Sunday Masses.

Not having the talent to sit down and play a piece of piano or organ music, I have to spend a fair amount of time practicing.  I arrived home from an out of town event late last night, spent four hours practicing, slept for four hours and then got up to go to church.  Even though I was tired and would have loved to have gotten in much more practice, the music was just fine at the two Masses.

Even though I was running on fumes, I was able to "wow the crowd" in an appropriate way and at an appropriate time.  The final hymn at both Masses was "Joyful, Joyful, We Adore You" (based on the famous tune, Ode To Joy, by Beethoven).  Knowing that the people at this church have not heard an organ "opened up" for nearly a year, I improvised a very joyful postlude based on that final hymn.  About half of the people in the pews stuck around to listen.  Of those that did, half suck around because they wanted to listen and they other half were likely in shock.  I would not have been able to play this improvisation if it were not for the gift of crossing paths with an excellent organist, teacher and friend many years ago.  This good man and priest remains an excellent organist, teacher and friend to this day.