A piper's part in a celebration may be at the first, last or middle. Regardless of his or her placement, it is imperative to be there about an hour early. Directions can be received and last minute tuning can be done.At one funeral service, I arrived in my suit because I was a mourner at a friend's funeral. The mortician asked, "Where are your pipes and your kilt?" I replied that I had not been invited to play. He asked me to go home and get my pipes because the piper had not yet arrived and it was close to starting time.
I lived rather close to the church and was soon back, having tuned up at home. The piper had just arrived late, and was in the basement tuning. The mortician thanked me, but waited for the piper to be ready. After the service, he returned to the sanctuary to play music of his own choosing. Obviously, this piper was not considerate of those who were bereaved. Since that time, I proposed to explain to all pipers to be well practiced, punctual and considerate. It is of extreme importance as a professional.
In the case of a funeral, especially, just playing personal favorites of the piper -- or any musician -- alone is unbelievably inconsiderate. It's whatever the bereved family wants, period. The musician should ask the family well before the service what the deceased persons favorites are in order to have them ready. A funeral is about the loved one who just passed, not the musician.
ReplyDeleteSome time ago, a dear old retired pastor of a church I attended passed away. His widow asked me if I would play at the graveside service. She wanted "Amazing Grace," and ahw got it, followed by a hymn of the church as I walked away from the graveside.
MidSouth Funeral Pipers of Memphis, Tenn. has a very good protocol for funerals on their web site, www.midsouthfuneralpiper.com for those interested in learning more. Perhaps, Dr. MacDonald, you might contribute more of your own experiences to enhance this.
Jim Rankin
San Antonio, TX
Thanks Jim, for referring me to the web site, Mid South Funeral Pipers of Memphis Tenn., which provides a protocol for funerals. The site is www.midsouthfuneralpiper.com written beautifully well by J. Stephen Sanders, a full-time professional piper. He supports "Piping With A Purpose" by saying "providing music to lament the passing of a loved one is central role of the piper." He states that 'the bagpipes are played as if for every broken heart. There is a desire to remember the life and to celebrate that life.'
ReplyDeleteJim has asked if I might enhance Stephen's remarks with a few of my own experiences as The Church Piper. These won't be made to detract from Stephen's.
Granted, "Amazing Grace" is the most popular of hymns, and is usually played after the benediction. After the service, my custom has been to play one last hymn a short distance from the graveside. This provides a time for relatives and friends to express their condolences to one another. It might be, "God Be With You 'Til We Meet Again," or "Goin' Home" for examples. If the deceased was a person who loved the hymns, one can play a hymn such as, "I Stand Amazed in the Presence," or "Face to Face with Jesus."
Usually, the hymns that will be played are ones chosen by a family member following the funeral director's arrangement for the piper. An interesting example is the request by a widow for me to play "Mull O' Kintyre." She explained that it was only a few weeks previous to his death that they had been married and that was the selection played at their wedding.
On another occasion, when the director informed me that the deceased person's favorite song was "Danny Boy," which had not yet been added to my repertoire, I made a playful comment that he had not given me much notice, and he replied, "Well Keith, we didn't get much notice either."
The family may not always request a hymn. At one funeral, the song was, "I'll Take You Home Again, Kathleen," because that was the name of the lady whose funeral it was. At another funeral, the request was for "The Road to the Isles," the tune to be played from the hearse to the grave. It was a song dear to the deceased person and her family and that is what is important.
I tend to disagree with Stephen in one respect which is regarding the relatively limited number of hymns that can be played on the bagpipes because there are only 9 notes in its scale. Actually, an abundance of favorite hymn tunes can be arranged. In my 14 music books for "The Church Piper," are approximately 1000 hymn tunes arranged for the pipes. I heard a piper at the Canadian Pavilion in Epcot Center explain to a lady that he was unable to play "Danny Boy" because there were insufficient notes on the scale. Afterwards, I mailed him the complete arrangement which I had already written.
I have to commend Stephen for playing "The Wedding March" by Felix Mendelssohn-Bartholdy for the bride. It must have sounded beautiful. I recollect playing a bride into the church with "Trumpet Tune" by Henry Purcell. A recognized trumpet player came to me afterwards and said,"If you continue to play tunes like that one, you will surely put us trumpet players out of business." I thought that was a nice compliment.
It is my hope that Christian pipers will do their very best because it is for God, that one does his work and not for man. The Scripture says, "Whatever you do, do your work heartily, as for the Lord rather than for men; It is the Lord Christ whom you serve." Colossians 3:23 I agree with Jim when he said it is not for the sake of making the piper sound good, but for the sake of the occasion. It is "piping with a purpose."