Chapter 8
Willow told her mother about her day on the way home, then allowed Wendy to tell her how her day at work was. They arrived home before Ashley and started preparing dinner together after they had changed. Willow was finding soothing to be preparing vegetables and learning how to cook, something that most girls go through well before they reach their teens.
Ashley was given the full story after dinner, then Willow went upstairs to her computer to download the ‘Seven Improvisations for Organ’ by Saint-Saens. She listened to it, twice, added it to her MP3 files and then played her keyboard through the headphones while listening to the original. In a very thoughtful frame of mind, she got ready for bed and told Tiger all about her day until she drifted off to sleep.
Tuesday, she was back in the school, unsure of what would be happening. She was taken to a room in the theatre area by Mister Jamieson and given a number of exam papers that were from the more academic side of the music curriculum.
“These are the full exams from last year. I know that there was a lot that you may not have studied, but with your inquiring mind, I guess that there is some that you have some knowledge of, so feel free to write what you think. You have as long as you want, can take toilet breaks when you need, and we’ll go through the results, together, after.”
The first exam was about the background, meaning and plot of the Joseph show. She had seen the video of it, so was able to make a fist of the answers. She took a break and then picked up the second paper. Staff notation was her bread and butter, so she breezed through that one. Rhythm and the eight-beat composition was a little harder until she was able to create the music in her head.
After another break and some water, she moved to the instruments of an orchestra, which was almost too easy, and then finished the use of technology paper quickly, having used a lot of what was asked. She took another break before trying the Indian and Chinese music paper.
There was a lot of it she didn’t know, mainly being questions about the history of both countries, but she took a few guesses. The questions about timing and rhythm were easy as she thought about some of the music she had heard in her short life. She grinned as she remembered pieces that she may have only heard a couple of times on the radio. She knew that it was unlikely that she would be asked to play anything, even if they did have the instruments in the school.
While she was working on that paper, Mister Jamieson was going through the ones she had completed and making notes. When she finished, he told her to go and get herself something from the lunchroom. He would meet her there and they would go through all the exams that she had done.
Willow was digesting a cream bun, bought as a present to herself, when he came into the canteen with Miss Russell. She sat while they went through all the subjects from yesterday, declaring that she was well able to carry what she knew into second year. With the music papers, it was as she had expected. The lack of actual playing of Indian and Chinese music was not a problem. She would be able to try the different instruments out, if she wanted, but it was a specialist field with there being players within the school, should they need them for future projects.
The result was that she was cleared of most of the things she needed to know. Miss Russell said that Wednesday would be a class day. She would be given the textbooks for both History and Politics, and for Social Science. She would be allowed to read them in the library all day and take them home with her. That was purely for her to say if she wanted to carry on studying the two subjects. This afternoon, however, the school organist was coming in to give her a try with the school organ.
Miss Russell took her to the chapel, where a man was taking the covers off the organ. He showed her where the main switches were, then a couple of the buttons that changed the timbre of the sound. She was sat at the keyboard, and he told her to play something for the students to come in with. She played the Bach that she had opened with on Sunday, and he listened to her with a smile on his face. When she finished, he grinned.
“I’m sorry I didn’t introduce myself before. I’m Reg Edwards and I wondered if Miss Russell was trying to get me to teach a complete beginner. She’s done that to me in the past. Where have you played, other than the Purple a couple of weeks ago?”
“I did the full service at the church in Stoneleigh on Sunday.”
“How many hymns?”
“Four, all from the standard book.”
“Do you remember any?”
“Mister Edwards. I remember anything I’ve played a couple of times. I can tell you the numbers if you want to sing along.”
“I have the book here. I’ll hold you to your claim, young lady. Any slip-up and we’ll do it all again until you get it right.”
She told him the number and played the intro while he looked it up. He was ready, so she started playing and he sang the hymn, in a beautiful baritone voice. When they had finished the first verse, he called for her to stop and asked what the second hymn was. She told him and played the intro. They got through all four hymns in the same fashion. When they had finished, he smiled.
“Now that, my girl, is what I call playing. The settings that you’ve been using, and the ones I showed you before, are really all you need to play church organ. The fact that you played perfect Bach and the bones of four different hymns without needing the music puts you into a league of your own. I will be asking for you to work with me on the special days, and when we work with the choir. Now, Miss Russell said something about the ‘Seven Improvisations’ and that you’ve never heard it. Was that right?”
“It was when she spoke about it. I downloaded it last evening and played about with it on my keyboard at home. There were some notes and passages that I had to imagine because of the limitations of my set-up.”
“All right, show me how far you’ve come with it. It is a tricky piece, and I don’t mind if you have to stop.”
Willow addressed the keyboards, remembering the music in her head, and then started to play the piece. After her time on this kind of instrument, she was able to find the keys and the pedals she needed without needing to search for them. When she finished the piece, Reg looked at her with amazement.
“That was almost perfect! The only hesitations were with the second row and a couple of the bass pedals. Let me call Miss Russell and then we’ll do it again. I think that it will be perfect this time.”
She sat and took a sip from the water that was in her backpack while he used his mobile to call Miss Russell. When she arrived, Reg grinned.
“Miss Russell. I believe you spoke about Willow playing the ‘Seven Improvisations’. She told you that she hadn’t heard it. She downloaded it last night and, to put it in her words, ‘played around with it.’ Sit in a choir stall with me. Willow, whenever you’re ready.”
Willow waited until they had sat, and then played the piece, with no hesitations this time. When she had finished, Reg called out.
“Do you know the ‘Toccata and Fugue’?”
“Only the first bits. I hadn’t considered the organ as one of my instruments before.”
“Play what you know. Producing that iconic opening on a church organ is enough to hook you into a lifetime of playing one, if you’re not hooked already.”
She turned to the keyboard and thought of the powerful opening, turned up the volume and hit the notes hard. He was right, the power of the piece entered her bones, and she played about the first minute of it before she stopped. Now, the only thing she wanted to do was to get the sheet music in front of her so she could play the complete opus. Before the teachers could say anything, she hit the keyboard with the opening of the organ finale of the Saint-Saens. If they were going to play that at the Cathedral, she was going to be at the keyboard.
Tears were running down her face as she finished. The experience of playing power pieces of music transcended all the violin and clarinet pieces she had played. At the keyboard, she would be the one to wake up an audience, the one to get all the attention. From a bullied boy, she could become the girl in the spotlight. It made her happy, hence the tears, but it was also a little frightening.
Miss Russell also had tears in her eyes as she gave Willow a tissue.
“I understand the weeping, Willow. We girls get emotional at times. It may be great pain but can also be great happiness. That’s why we cry at weddings. You’ve just realised your calling. We will concentrate on the organ with you this year, but you will have to keep up with your other instruments for some relief. When the rest of the orchestra have mastered the ‘Organ Symphony’, we’ll have to get the Cathedral people in to hear it. We can use the portable organ in the theatre for that.”
“Thank you, Miss Russell. I just felt the power of the music in my bones, and it made me realise that I could produce that power. I’ll buckle down to everything that I’m taught. This school is like a parent to me, and I’ll be a good child to it.”
“That’s a very adult thing to say. Mister Edwards has promised me that he’ll teach you everything he knows, and that is an awful lot. Why don’t you have a rest and then you can sit with those textbooks for a drastic change until your mother arrives. It will calm you down, that’s for certain.”
Reg helped her get up from the organ, her legs feeling a bit wobbly.
“Miss Russell, I would like Willow to be here with me on Thursday. I’ll get the sheet music for the Bach, as well as his four Sonatas for organ. I think that Willow could be able to play a Bach recital by the time the term opens.”
“All right. If she gets a start on the two textbooks today, I might just give her the two tests tomorrow afternoon, to see how much she has absorbed. She will be well on board with her subjects then. The Clifton school had certainly taught her well, even if the other pupils weren’t so good to her.”
She led Willow back to the admin area, via the toilets, and gave her the two books, and the photocopy of the newspaper article.
“The paper between the pages is how far the first years have got, and that’s all that the exam will be on. If you want to read further, it’s your choice. Just sit in the library, tomorrow, and I’ll give you the exams after lunch. When you’ve done that, I want to hear your clarinet, so have it with you when you come in.”
Willow sat quietly, starting with Social Science. There were parts of the subject matter that she had experienced with. The bullying and group violence was something she knew well. She could see why it had been set as a subject, in order to give the pupils that knowledge of how to be good members of society. The ability to restrain one’s urges was a long way towards maintaining an orderly society.
When her mother arrived, she went out to the car, and they went home. After dinner, she spent some time in her room, downloading the toccata and those four organ sonatas that Reg had spoken about, and working through them. In bed, she told Tiger that today was the chapel, tomorrow was the world!
On Wednesday morning, she had her clarinet in its case and the two textbooks. When she was dropped off, she went to the library, to read up as far as the paper, and then another chapter afterwards of both books. Miss Russell came for her in the lunchroom and took her to a room where she sat for the two tests. After that, they went to one of the rehearsal rooms, where a music stand had some sheet music already set up.
“Look, Willow. I don’t know what you’ve played before. This is a test piece for solo clarinet. You should be able to play it from the sheet music if you haven’t already played it. Warm up your lips and then play what you see.”
She played a few notes and worked up and down the scales, then played the piece. It was one that she had played in class at Clifton, so made it sound easy. When she had finished, another sheet was put on the stand.
“This one is the examination piece from the fifth-year music.”
It was a piece that she had never heard, and noted that the composer was called Jamieson, and was quite complicated. She was hesitant with the first playing, and Miss Russell got her to play it again. This time, she was right and decided that it was rather a lovely piece of music. Miss Russell took away the music.
“Play it again, with feeling.”
Willow closed her eyes and didn’t see Miss Russell with her phone out. She played the piece as she would in a recital, and when she had finished, Miss Russell gave her a hug.
“Jim Jamieson is going to love you. I’ve recorded that and will send it to him. There’s a piano over there. Why don’t you sit and show me what you’re like with it. I know that it was one of your main instruments before we threw you into the deep end with the Purple. Just do whatever you want, I’ll just sit and listen.”
Willow sat at the piano and warmed up her fingers with scales, then played some Chopin etudes and then the quiet part of the ‘Moonlight Sonata’. She didn’t notice that she was being recorded. She ended with a few of the Satie pieces and then she packed her clarinet away and picked up her bag. She sat in the reception area until her mother arrived, reading more of the two books.
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That evening both Jim Jamieson and Howard Bamborough sat in their respective easy chairs, after their dinners, and looked at the three files that Hilda Russell had sent them. They each showed the pictures to their wives and commented that this girl, Willow, was going to turn the school on its head this year, and in the years after. That she was so good on piano, and organ, was amazing, but Jim Jamieson had tears in his eyes as he heard his little opus being played so beautifully.
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The Reverend Russell watched the file that his sister had sent, then transferred it from his phone to his computer, switched on the speakers and went to the door, calling out.
“Edie, darling. Can you come into the office. Hilda has sent me a recording of the next E. Power Briggs.”
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Willow had enough of playing for the day. After dinner, she sat with her parents as they looked at the copy of the newspaper article. It was, she thought, a bit lopsided, with half of it filled with details about all the acts of the first half, and the rest waxing lyrical about the second. The whole band were named, and compliments bestowed on all of them, fairly equally. She had a paragraph all to herself, with praise of ‘such adult interpretation of Deep Purple mixed with snippets of Bach from a girl in her first year as a teenager’. It also mentioned that she had also played violin in the quartet but missed that she had been in the choir. Her mother took the page ‘as start of a scrapbook’ and kissed her daughter on the forehead.
“Wait until you see me at the concert that they’re cooking up, Mum.”
“Is that going to be in the school theatre?”
“No. They’re planning it for Coventry Cathedral, with me on the big organ. It’s still in the talking stage, but knowing the people I’ve met, they will make it happen. I found out that the drama stream has played Shakespeare at Stratford, so anything is possible. There will be other concerts, in-house, for you to come to.”
“We’ll be looking forward to those. When is the one in the Cathedral?”
“In May, next year. It’s an anniversary of the first performance of the ‘Organ Symphony’, by Sain-Saens. They want that to be the second half of the show.”
“Is it one I should know?”
“It’s the main theme from that film about a pig, you know, ‘Babe’.”
“That’s a wonderful tune! There was a pop song with the same tune, I think it was called ‘If I had Words’.”
“Tomorrow, I’ll be with Mister Edwards at the chapel organ all day. I don’t know what they have for me on Friday. It’s been so full-on this week. I’ve sat for almost a dozen exams as well as playing my music. I think I’m due a rest.”
The next morning, she walked into the school and there was a girl behind the reception desk.
“Hello. I’m Debbie and I sit here during term. I’m just getting up to speed on what’s happening.”
“Hello, Debbie. I’m Willow Rose, and I’m spending the day with Mister Edwards in the chapel.”
“Willow. Ah! Miss Russell left a note. She said that you can have tomorrow off for being such a hard worker. Then you have to experience the first day of the new term. It starts with an assembly in the theatre. That usually goes a while, depending on what the Head has to say. After that, you’re to go to your first class. There will be an entry on that in the info sheet you were sent. What year will you be in?”
“Second year.”
“There is a morning service in the chapel. First year on Monday, second year on Tuesday, and so on. It doesn’t take long; a prayer, a hymn and a message, and you’re set loose to continue your academic career. Have a nice day!”
Willow gave her a smile and headed for the chapel. When she walked in, she was alone. She put her bag down and saw a note on the organ. It read ‘Will be a little late, please start without me. Sheet music is on the stool’. She looked at the sheets, seeing the full music for the Toccata and Fugue, as well as the four sonatas. Underneath was the music for a hymn, with a paperclipped note ‘For second year service.’ She uncovered the organ and turned it on, putting the sheets on the rack, the sonatas first.
She looked around and, seeing that she was alone, turned the volume up and started playing. She didn’t notice Reg creeping in and sitting in a choir seat behind her. She worked through the four sonatas and then got to the ‘Toccata’. She was smiling as she played the opening chords and was now warmed up enough to do the complicated keying that sounds so melodious. When she finished that, she took the hymn music and looked at it, being one of the standard ones that she had sung at Clifton. She played the intro, and as she started the hymn, she heard a full choir behind her, along with Reg with his baritone. They worked through six verses, and she sat back as the last notes faded.
As she swivelled on the stool, she saw the girls she had sung with at the concert, as well as another group. All of them were busy putting their shoes on, having crept in with stockinged feet. Reg was smiling.
“Sorry about that, Willow. I came in while you were playing the first sonata, and the girls joined us while you were knocking the walls down with the ‘Toccata’. Today is choir practice before the term starts. Here are the sheets for all the hymns for the first term. You will be playing the organ, today, and I will stop you if I want the girls to repeat something. We have a lot to do, so let’s get moving.”
For two more hours in the morning, and three in the afternoon, Willow played the hymns and the girls sung. They only had to stop a couple of times to repeat the hymn from the top, or to allow a toilet break. During both sessions, several teachers came in to listen, before heading for their departments to set up for the following week.
At the lunch break, Willow was hugged by all the girls and told that she has to be part of the choir sessions after school. Barbara, Zara, and Dianne were happy to see their friend again, and there was a lot of chatter over the lunch. The lunchroom was now operating as normal, seeing that there would be a lot of students coming in on Friday as well.
When Mister Edwards declared that the session was over, Willow was tired, but happy. She had been at the keyboard for over six hours and had gained a fluidity of playing that Reg noted with a smile. As she picked up her bag, he gave her another shock.
“The organ you used for the concert will be on the stage on Monday morning. You will be playing for the choir who will be leading the hymn at assembly. There will be the entire staff on hand, and, for once, I’ll be down in the stalls. I’ll leave you the list of events on the stool, if you can come in early, the same as you have been, this week. Wear your uniform but bring the blue dress to change into for assembly, so that you match the choir. The hymn will be one we played, today, and the religious part will be led by your friend, the Reverend Russell.”
“Thank you for your faith in me, Mister Edwards.”
“It is me that should thank you, young Willow. Miss Russell told me that you were very tired after the concert, and we needed to pace what you get asked to do. The thing is, this week, you have been subjected to a set of exams that usually take place over two weeks and I could see you taking to extended playing time with better fitness. You need to be fit to play a big concert, especially if it is over three different days. The Cathedral concert, if it goes ahead, will be sold to the public, and I expect that it will be a Friday and Saturday affair. If you don’t do so now, see a fitness coach and get a set of exercises to build up your arms and legs. Admin can give you a contact. I look forward to seeing you on stage on Monday. We will spend a lot of time together, over the year, and I fully expect that you’ll be better than me by the time we get there.”
Willow was in a reflective mood when she waited for her mother. It was lightened by the chatter of the girls waiting for their own parents. She was drawn into the talk and was a lot brighter when she saw her mother arrive. It had been a big week that had almost overshadowed the previous weekend.
Marianne Gregory © 2025