My eye problems (see “Cyclops“) were only the beginning.

On Sunday morning when I arrived at St. Mark’s, I started playing the prelude, Bach’s “Nun komm der Heiden Heiland, BWV 659,” one of my favorite chorale preludes for the Advent season. I immediately knew something was wrong because a number of notes were not sounding in the solo voice—especially the 8′ principal. I quickly pulled out more 8′ and 4′ stops, and there was no improvement.

As the service progressed, I went into a tailspin. It seemed like ALL of the principal stops were not working! But then, as I tried to play the hymns, I discovered that the reed stops were also affected. Some notes sounded, but others did not.

It was so disappointing that my postlude landed with a “THUD!” because of the notes not sounding. I felt absolutely helpless to fix the situation. But I figured I just had to keep going. That’s what I tell my students: If you pull out the wrong stop, or hit a wrong note, don’t stop. Let people think that’s the way you intended it to be!

Of course, Father Paul Lillie, himself an organist, knew something was wrong and wondered which stops were not working. “All of them!” I replied. “Principals, flutes, strings and reeds!” I called and left a message for Steven Hoover, the organ technician, only to have Fr. Paul text me a short while later:

What a relief that it was only the problem of a loose plug!

Here’s an update on my eye situation: I went to the retinal specialist this afternoon, and I’m happy to report there is some improvement. I was able to see the technician’s fingers at a distance of about 12″ — that’s something I could NOT do yesterday! However, I still can’t see the big E on the eye chart but at least we’re moving in the right direction.

Instead of leaving for California right after the service on Christmas Day, I have an appointment with the retinal specialist bright and early on the day after, Dec. 26th, and then get on the plane.

Moral of the story: JUST KEEP PLAYING!