Chocolate and Whiskey

It has been a busy and pleasant week.

I failed to mention in an earlier post that I had another message from Gudny during the week. When her name popped up on my phone, I looked out the window and thought ”strange, it’s a very pleasant day - not the usual conditions that Gudny takes me out in” but on further investigation it was a picture of a leg of lamb and a time. A very pleasant evening ensued with a lovely meal and the company of her family.

Most of the week has been taken up with Easter services.

Yesterday (Mandy Thursday) the minister and I had to catch the ferry to Vandve, a small island to the west of Dønna. And when I say small, it’s only about 2 square miles and it’s flat (the highest point is 27 meters). The population is less than 40, which means about half the island turned up for the service which was nice.

There is no organ in the chapel so I had to lug the Kommune’s Johannus One keyboard with me. It’s a wonderful machine but bit of a beast to carry. I had been tempted to buy one back in Dundee so was delighted to discover that my new employers owned one. One of the features of the machine is the ability to use different countries’ organ stops. I’m sure the congregation really appreciated my nuance of playing my French voluntaries (Louis Couperin and René Vierne) on French stops while playing the hymns on German ones….

Once again there was kake and kaffe after the service which was nice. However, I do intend to get back to a regular walking routine as I don’t want to put the 3 stone I lost in lockdown back on. It has been pointed out to me by someone that my shirts are getting a “bit tighter“…..

I was reclining in great splendour in the lounge of “my” guest house that evening when the owner Jen’s appeared. He had a small of chocolates for me and a rather large whiskey with a wee note for me that said ”Happy Easter”. You will know that I don’t drink but I didn’t want to be read so for the first time I had a whiskey night cap. I’m sure it was my imagination but I did seem to be having balance issues while getting ready for bed.

Today, Good Friday, had two services, one in Herøy and the other In Nordvik. The services were much less stressful than the Sunday ones - the main feature of the service is (fairly obviously!) the reading of the Gospel. If I picked it up correctly, the Church of Norway do a cycle round 3 of the gospels and this year it was St John.

Each service starts with the ringing of the church bell and when that stops it’s my cue to play the Preludium - I played the 2 Brahms’ settings of ”O world I must leave you now“, one at each service. Following a hymn and a prayer the gospel section of the service starts. I played a Bach chorale prelude (BWV 621 & 622) before the reading proceeds with sections being separated by verses of a hymn and towards the end Trine and Marina sang a couple of movements of Pergolesi’s Stabat Mater.

The service concludes with the ringing of the church bells again - 3 x 3 and then my cue to play. This afternoon I re-discovered Kohler’s Introduction to Der Tod Jesu which I played in Nordvik with it a Buxtehude Chorale Prelude this morning.

After all these services, it does seem like it‘s a Sunday but I have to remind myself it’s only Friday so need to be ready to go back to work on Sunday. Everything shuts down for A few days over Easter here in Norway (or at least on Dønna) - the shops were closed yesterday and today and will be closed on Sunday and Monday so need to remember to go and buy some supplies tomorrow.

Sunday being Easter Day means that the service will be the most complicated I’ve had to deal with up till now. The minister is fantastically patient with me as he talks me through the service so fingers crossed I don’t mess up on one of the most important days of the Christian year!