Category Archives: funeral

where has this piece been?

Every so often I sing a piece for the first time and wonder how I’ve not even heard it before. This happened at a funeral at church recently, the piece in question being Es ist nun aus mit meinem Leben … Continue reading

Posted in funeral, singing at services | Tagged , , | Leave a comment

Brahms in Doynton

Sadly two supporters of the music at our church died recently and were commemorated with appropriately musical services. Dawn, a gifted pianist who had given up playing professionally when she married, had lived in Doynton and her well-attended memorial service … Continue reading

Posted in funeral, singing at services | Tagged , , , , , , | Leave a comment

A Badminton racket

The title was chosen for the sake of the pun, not because of the sort of noise I think we made! I sang at the funeral of a former assistant priest at a church in Bath, who had earlier been … Continue reading

Posted in funeral | Tagged , , , , | Leave a comment

I had that Barry Rose in the back of my congregation once….

This happened to me once before, quite recently. This time the occasion was a memorial service at church for Martin, who sang in the choir until a couple of years ago. Martin was musically well connected (he’d been a recording … Continue reading

Posted in funeral, singing at services | Tagged , , | Leave a comment

three more funerals in May

I sang at four in all this month. I have already mentioned the first – the second was that of an old friend back in Cambridge. We sang Byrd’s four-part Mass, and I heard a voice from heaven by Tomkins, … Continue reading

Posted in funeral, singing at services | Tagged , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Walking with YouTube

Last week I sang Handel’s ‘Where’er you walk’ at a graveside ceremony for a member of my husband’s family. I shan’t write more about the occasion here, but instead talk about my use of recordings in preparation. This aria used … Continue reading

Posted in funeral, repertoire | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment

Two funerals

I’ve recently been to a couple of funerals – one as an invited singer, one as a family friend. The former was my first visit to Bath crematorium and its chapel overlooking farmland south of the city. The family wanted … Continue reading

Posted in funeral, singing at services | Tagged , | 2 Comments

a sad visit to Cambridge

I am not yet at the age where one regularly attends funerals of friends who were no older than oneself, but one such occasion took me to Cambridge early in the New Year. I had once been a member of … Continue reading

Posted in funeral, singing at services | Tagged , | Leave a comment

two Abbey services and a funeral

I joined the choir of St. Peter’s Caversham to sing a Saturday Evensong in Bath Abbey. Our canticles were Stanford in G and the introit and anthem were selected for Epiphany: Here is the Little Door by Howells, and Mendelssohn’s … Continue reading

Posted in choirs, funeral, going to services, singing at services | Tagged , , , , , , | 2 Comments

Epiphany at Partis and a naval funeral

For Epiphany we paid a visit to Partis College, a charity which provides homes for women of professional status, all arranged around a large, elegant central court. Being private, and on the outskirts of the city, it’s one of Bath’s … Continue reading

Posted in funeral, singing at services | Tagged , , , , , , | Leave a comment