I attended the Liverpool Cathedral Organ Anniversary recital on the 17th. October, 10 days ago, and was pleasantly surprised by how few coughs, sneezes, chair rattles etc. there were, and that was with an audience of around 2,000. It was particularly appreciated as Ian Tracey played a fair number of pieces with quite long quiet passages in them. A very enjoyable experience, and well worth the journey. Once again, he explored the extensive tone colours of this huge organ, and introduced new (at least to me), and enjoyable, music.

How very refreshing to hear that!

We went last Friday to a recital at St. Cuthbert's, Lytham and two members of the generally elderly audience openly coughed long and loud, throughout the performance and performer's amusing "chat" between pieces, and yet were both entirely "cough-free" during the 20-minute interval and in the general melee after the recital !!!

Is it some form of warped attention seeking? - "IT'S ME - I'M HERE"

Never mind a cough sweet or dose or Venos - fetch me a LARGE KNIFE!! (to quote Beatrice Lillie)

Sorry to hear about your recital at Lytham. That's more what I expected, but at Liverpool it really was quite noticeable how quiet the audience was.

I did wonder whether the media publicity given to swine flu had kept people with minor symptoms away.

Am I the only person that thinks it's downright rude and selfish to attend a concert if you have a bad cough/cold?

(a) It's a environment where you're likely to infect others.
(b) Coughing and sneezing ruins it for other people.

Selling the tickets on seems the best idea if you're really ill.

Recently I was accompanying a choral concert and, in the first half, contributed a solo item. During the interval I met a musician in the audience who was boiling with indignation at the number of peeple in the audience who had been talking, unwrapping sweets etc all through my performance, completely ignoring the music. Apparently he had nearly got to his feet and told them all to shut up!

Audiences for this choir are usually better behaved and I am quite sure that on this occasion the culprits were church congregation members who had come to support their priest, who was one of the basses (the concert was in his church). I am sure that people like this quite genuinely believe that solo organ music only exists to provide a background to their talking to render it is less intrusive than it would otherwise be. We live in a philistine age. People are not taught to value classical music and so have no clue whatsoever about how to behave. In short, it's pig-ignorance.

I played for a funeral of a musician friend a short while ago and there was organ music and a piano duet before the service. I was very cross that the choir sitting just below me were talking uninhibitedly (not helped by the fact that one of them was rather deaf!) while I was playing a Bach Prelude and Fugue. However as soon as the pianists began - silence!

What a contrast to playing, as I do from time to time, for the Christian Science Church.

There the congregations arrive before 10.50am in time to hear all the opening voluntary. At the end of the service they sit to hear the closing voluntary and only move to leave when it has finished.

Details of the voluntaries are posted on the notice board. The music is thus a full and appreciated part of the service - as it is in the Protestant Churches in Germany and Holland.

I feel that the approach of many congregations devalues the work of the musicians.

Barry Williams

I was in the audience at a concert several months ago where exactly that happened - and it wasn't you playing, Vox!

I was sure, too, that it was the church people who started talking as soon as the performance of the solo organ items started.

It's taken me a number of years in my place, in conjunction with the Vicar, to get them to appreciate organ music - or at least not to talk over it. It can be done, but is an uphill struggle.

It was very much the same when our forum friend Holz Gedeckt gave a recital there a couple of months ago.

Thanks, FSM!