Mass at St. Patrick's last night had the usual annoyances (the usher who always decides that the consecration is a great time to dump money into the box, and he's standing right outside of the choir!), but the organ playing was very strange. The program said the playing was being done by the principal organist. The solo playing and improvisation was outstanding, including a "Tu Es Petrus" (not Durufle's but it escapes me at the moment whose it was) that was amazing. The hymn playing included, however, impossible ritardandos at the end of the hymns and exagerated rubato. This made singing along very difficult. (The choice of communion hymns was also unfortunate. We had both "Be Not Afraid" and another similar hymn. One would have been alright, but two in a row was a bit too much sentimentality all in a place.)