If you’re quick, you can still catch Beethoven’s Missa Solemnis on BBC iPlayer following Sunday’s performance as part of the Prom series – just follow this link.

I say this with a little trepidation – as a member of the London Symphony Chorus I was on the concert platform and feeling just a little anxious on the night so I know I gave a slightly less than optimum performance.  The thought of being seen on screen giving anything less than the perfect performance is not easy for me.

And even as I share this, I am fully aware of the folly of such a high expectation:  performance is, by it’s nature, a bit of a messy business – a perfect entry here, a less than perfect ending there.  To think this way is also a form of vanity – as if the experience of members of the audience depends on me and me alone.  In truth, the end result is the sum of the parts just as it is in any other “workplace”.

If the feedback of friends and family is anything to go by, there was enjoyment to be had regardless of any nerves, mistakes and omissions.  Some played “Spot the Dot”  and others bathed in the magnificence of Beethoven’s music.  And equally, I notice how much – as I watch the recording – I enjoy seeing my colleagues sing and with no thought of any mistakes they may be making.

Such is life!  There is always a gap between our perceptions of ourselves and the perceptions others have of us.  There is, too, the risk that we believe our own story about what others might think.

The mistakes are done and nothing about the performance will change.  Still, there is much to enjoy.  The question is:  will I choose to enjoy it?