IS this one of the country’s longest serving church organists?

David Dennis can still be regularly heard playing in Brighton and Hove’s churches and shows no signs of slowing down.

The 87-year-old from Patcham is celebrating 75 years of service after first performing at the age of 12.

Over the years Mr Dennis, from Patcham, has played at various churches including St Andrew’s in Portslade, The Church of the Good Shepherd in Mile Oak and Holy Cross in Hove. National Service took Mr Dennis away from Sussex but he was quickly snapped up by the top brass at an RAF base in Hertfordshire to play at services.

This was followed by a posting to Defford, in Worcestershire, in 1947 where he played the organ in the private chapel of Lady Deerhurst.

Returning to Sussex in 1948, after a spell back at Holy Church, Mr Dennis was appointed organist at St Saviour’s church in Brighton where he met his future wife Teresa.

The most notable performance for Mr Dennis was at St Lawrence Church, Falmer, in 1993, when several of the largest organ pipes broke away from their fixtures and crashed to the floor, bringing some unplanned percussion to a Christmas service.

Mr Dennis said: “It was a big shock when it happened but we were able to keep going.”

It was also at St Lawrence that Mr Dennis featured in an episode of the hit comedy series Waiting for God after the producers needed an organist prepared to play on-camera and pretend to fall asleep.

Mr Dennis was happy to oblige on both counts.

Since 1989, Mr Dennis has been one of the team of organists at Woodvale Crematorium, a role he has combined with being the principal organist at the Aldrington Parish of St Leonard’s and St Phillip’s, Hove. He said: “I love to play. My legs may play up a little but my fingers are working well and so I will carry on for as long as I can.”

Reverend Stephen Terry who has known Mr Dennis for more than 25 years, said: “David regularly plays two services back-to-back on Sundays, in different buildings.

“Incredibly, given that he is well over 21, he plays for Christmas Midnight Mass, follows that with two services on Christmas Day, and then drives off to spend Christmas with his family.”

FACTFILE

THE pipe organ produces sound by driving pressurized air (called wind) through pipes selected via a keyboard.

The distinctive sound is created through multiple ranks of pipes in differing timbre, pitch and loudness that the player can employ singly or in combination through the use of controls called stops.

A pipe organ has one or more keyboards (called manuals) played by the hands, and a pedal board played by the feet.

Popular composers include Bach, Purcell and Strauss, along with music including the Wedding March and Ave Maria.