AN AUTOBIOGRAPHY
37
The reference to the parlour lamp makes me realise that I have lived through a wonderful evolution of lighting,
from the crude hanging wall lamp, the squeaking fish-tail gas light, the incandescent burner, the arc light, electric
filament lamp, and the neon light. When ten, I became a chorister at Christ Church, Bermondsey, wearing a
surplice, singing the Psalms, Hymns and Anthems, but having not the slightest knowledge of the way of salvation,
nor even being conscious that I needed a Saviour. Once, and only once, I, together with the massed choirs of many
churches, sang in St. Paul's Cathedral, but no interviewer singled me out as a juvenile Caruso! Music without Christ