—Eleanor Medcalf

As a teenager I played A Ceremony of Carols for a performance in a big, beautiful chapel in London. The piece was second in the concert, and the director of music had this vision of a seamless atmospheric transition from the end of the first piece straight into the plainchant processional of the Britten, with the singers looping round and returning to the stage via the long aisle in the center of the chapel. 

Of course, his vision hit a snag when he realized that he had not accommodated for the movement of the harp (for whatever reason it was not possible to preset it). 

“Can you join the back of the procession?” he asked. Being young and keen to please, I said, “Yes, of course!”

I ended up wheeling my harp down the aisle on its trolley, singing “Hodieee” as I went. When I arrived on stage, I attempted to retain as much composure as possible while quickly removing my harp from the trolley. I sat down and set my pedals just in time to launch into “Wolcum Yole!” •