NOW in its eighth series, these Saturday morning organ recitals go from strength to strength. The standard of performance seems to get better and better, audiences are forever increasing in size and, oh! those cakes become more and more delicious.

Nigel Nash, accompanist of the Bristol Bach Choir, chose an extremely challenging programme and surmounted the many technical difficulties with apparent ease. For example, the opening Toccata and Fugue in F by JS Bach makes many demands, not least those pedal solos, and there are many complexities to traverse. Most impressive!

I enjoyed Mozart’s Fantasia in F minor which was apparently written as a commission for a mechanical pipe organ inside a large clock. The piece is busily inventive. Herbert Howells’s first set of Psalm Preludes has a pervading melancholy interrupted by that loud climax in the middle. The horrors of World War ! were ever-present for the composer. This challenging recital, performed with much authority throughout, ended wit Sir Walter Alcock’s Introduction and Passacaglia which is full of variety and concludes with an extended, complex finale played at full volume. Great stuff!