Funeral 2

So I went to play for the funeral yesterday. The organ is very small and up on a gallery which will seat 25 people. The deceased was only 50 and a popular person in the village, so the church was packed.

I arrived 40 minutes before the service to get used to the organ which had been unlocked. There were four people in church. Soon, a couple* in their late 40s came up to the gallery (the nave being reserved for close family and friends) and the man* was quite the comedian. Indeed, his wife said she hoped I would not be too loud. They started checking their phones and, each time new people arrived, the man used the same greeting line, "It's 'ticket only' up here".

'Oh dear', I thought. This guy is going to be noisy and behave inappropriately. Luckily, once he had greeted everyone in turn he shut up and I heard no more from him. He certainly didn't sing in the hymns.

The service passed off without incident although I think the pall bearers were family and friends and rather untrained so they took a long time to bring the coffin in and to remove it afterwards.

*It strikes me that, in this day and age, a couple could be a same-sex couple: this was one lady and one man who I presume were together.

Funeral

I will be playing at a funeral later today. I doubt I shall enjoy it because the organ is small and I will not feel that I am giving the congregation a good lead. Volume is not everything and rhythmic playing is important. However, I have not played this instrument for a few months and it is very old: I hope it all works. There is also a big Confirmation service there on Sunday but I am not playing for that. We are having a cold snap and defrosting the car is a chore I dislike so I am glad.

Meeting people

I made myself go out ringing on Monday evening at the tower to which I had gone on Saturday but hadn't rung. It turned out that several of the usual ringers were unable to come that evening so it was quite useful that I had turned up.

Although I had revised both Cambridge and Yorkshire Major we actually only rang Doubles methods, with a cover. However, they were nice bells and the company was good.

On Friday I am playing at a funeral and it happened that one of the ringers is due to toll the half-muffled tenor at the nearby church where the service will be held.

It is a small world.

Cold

In the UK energy prices have soared. This must be why churches (which one can expect to be cold, even if the heating is on) are very cold. I played for a funeral today and it was hard going for my cold fingers on a stiff, and ancient, tracker action organ. There were space heaters in the nave (so the boiler was not on) and I could have had a fan heater on except that the risk was that my music would blow off the music desk.

Thankfully, it was quite a short service. I have known funerals go on for ages if the relatives want to give the deceased whole life story.

Content at present

For the time-being I am content with my work as a deputy organist although the driving can be a bind. I have found a benefice where the services are to my liking (as much as services can be!) and I should also be able to have a calmer life in the church where I play once a month, now that issues have been addressed.

Sadly, there is a spate of funerals coming up and I have been asked to play at three in the near future.

All Angels

I had not previously heard of "All Angels" but I have just received the music list for an upcoming funeral. I will only be playing the hymns and two "All Angels" tracks will be used, at the start and end of the service. Here is one of them.

Standing room only (and not paid yet)

I played for a village funeral yesterday. It was at a small church with a very small organ which is situated in a gallery. The mourners filled the church and also the small gallery and two rather large ladies stood for the whole service. There was a stool next to the organ bench I was using for my music and hymn books which I cleared and offered to the nearest lady, but she declined - twice - as did the second lady.

It was a long service; a good 45 minutes. There were three hymns and three of the deceased's children spoke about his life. Two of these talks were fine but the daughter spoke for 20 minutes which, I felt, was too long. Obviously she was distraught at having lost her father (at 82) but to try to tell his whole life-story was inappropriate: not my choice or business and I daresay the village people would not agree.

The service was also streamed to the village hall because the deceased had been such an important member of the community during his life as a farmer. The singing wasn't too bad but I had to establish the speed of the hymns early on as one loud male vocalist wanted to adopt his own tempi.

I didn't know the family as this funeral was a 20-minute drive away from where I live. However, I did find some of the service moving. Why? - I wondered. I expect that I was recalling the lives of my own departed parents and comparing my relationship with each of them to the relationships being described.

Once home I checked my banking app to see if I had been paid by the funeral directors: they had been very efficient on a previous occasion. I had not been paid so I fired off a polite email to them. The reply came back that the contract was with the church so it was the church who needed to pay me. Next time I will check up how I am to get paid.

"Every day is a school day."

Short Funeral

I played for a short funeral today by which I mean the service lasted some 20 minutes. There were two hymns and all the readings and the homily were given by the vicar: none of the family spoke.

There has been a 'rush' on funerals recently as the vicar told me. I have another next week at a very small church. The service is to be streamed into the village hall as the church will be packed.

People do use/attend the church when they need it.

Funerals

I played for a funeral yesterday at a lovely church which only had a small organ on a balcony. There were 5 stops (but 6 knobs, as one stop has Bass and Treble which is very common because the bass is shared). The organ did not produce a great deal of volume but I was very happy with my playing: rhythm and purpose in playing can lead a congregation better than volume. I played for a good 15 minutes before the service: the congregation had started to arrive 30 minutes early but I let them chatter for a while.

Sad to say the hymn singing was poor, at least up in the balcony where the overflow congregation was seated. 'Crimond' was not too bad but the dreaded 'All things Bright and Beautiful' was dire as was the requested 'The Old Rugges Cross'.

The service was taken well and without awkward pauses. I have another one to play for at the same church next week.