Playing at church

I played flute at church this morning, not mine, but another one where a friend plays the organ. I play with her perhaps a half-dozen times a year, sometimes flute, sometimes cello, sometimes both. I like this church, not for the sermons, but for their grateful acceptance of my musical offerings.

Today, I played the prelude and three hymns. One of the hymns had a flute descant, which I enjoyed playing in rehearsal, except for one measure, which had an awkward, and in my opinion, unattractive, run. I have to admit I forgot to practice for this event. We rehearsed briefly before the service, but I still had a problem with the measure.

When we played it, I managed to fumble not only the troublesome measure, but also the one before and after it. Nevertheless, the organist beamed at me when we were done, saying, "great job!" I mention this not to justify non-practicing, but simply to say sometimes (maybe often) no one notices when you blunder.