Jessica Dean and Anthony Hunt

Every so often, you come across something interesting and special that reminds you you’re in London.

In this case, it was during a little gig I did on the weekend, playing the organ for a recording of a choir a friend is involved in, in a church in Stanmore (north on the Jubilee line). Whilst playing Gibbons’ verse anthem Glorious and Powerful God I noticed a little plaque placed on the casework of the organ - “Handel was organist of this Church from the year 1718 to 1721, and composed the oratorio of Esther on this organ.”

So there I am, playing the very organ which the great Handel himself used to play. Neat! Of course, a little investigation shows the story goes a bit further than that. The organ itself has been significantly restored in 1994, as detailed here, and so is not exactly as Handel left it - which is definately a good thing, as before the restoration it was in quite poor condition!

Also, the little tingle at the thought of touching the very keys which Handel had touched proved to be a false hope - the original keyboard itself is on display in a side chapel round the corner, protected in a glass cabinet.

A quick google hints that the suggestion Handel wrote Esther there is a little fanciful - R.A. Streatfield’s 2005 biography Handel calls the attribution “another baseless tradition,” as no-one actually writes oratorio’s “at the organ.”

But I’m happy for now believing Handel sat where I was sitting and composed his glorious music!

P.S. It seems the church is a bit of a hotspot for Handel activity: the grave of William Powell is in the churchyard, who has long been erroneously attributed with the inspiration for Handel’s “The Harmonius Blacksmith.”

P.P.S. Fame comes naturally it seems to St Lawrence Whitchurch, Little Stanmore. Also in the graveyard can be found Long John Baldry, a gifted British blues singer; one of his claims to fame seems to have been discovering and recruiting Rod Stewart after hearing him busking at Twickenham railway station, not to mention later performing with the not-yet-Elton-John in the band Bluesology. So there you go.