Radio 3 during the period of National Mourning

[oddoneout]

Maybe R3 could have simply transmitted the whole thing, without commentary. Rather like we get the whole of the King's Christmas service in the repeat on R3 (do we, I now wonder; is there preliminary music there too?) whereas R4 cuts off before the final voluntary.

A little while ago Penny Gore referred to joining R4 for the service, so I guess that's the answer - R4 isn't doing the preliminary music so R3 doesn't get it either. However the coffin is late to its funeral so we are currently getting some organ music...

[Pulcinella]

Odd pointing in Psalm 121 just now, I thought.
And isn't there a different Doxology (is that the word?) instead of the Gloria for a funeral service?
I seem to recall it on a King's Psalms of David recording.

[Simon Biazeck]

Odd pointing in Psalm 121 just now, I thought.
And isn't there a different Doxology (is that the word?) instead of the Gloria for a funeral service?
I seem to recall it on a King's Psalms of David recording.

On KCC Psalms of King David, Walford Davies' chant for Ps. 121 is followed by 'Requiem aeternam II' (set to the Latin text) as it is in his 'A Short Requiem'. Today, we heard that chant with a Doxology, 'Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, [...] is now and ever shall be: world without end. Amen', as distinct from the 'Gloria in excelsis Deo [...]' ('Glory be to God on high') which, of course would never be heard at a funeral service. I don't think the Doxology is excluded from a committal service, but someone will tell me. According to the Book of Common Prayer for 'The Burial of the Dead', the Doxology is appropriate after all the Psalms.

[Petrushka]

Not sure I get it - if people are fed up with media coverage of this event, I’m sure they can figure out some way to otherwise entertain themselves, and does no one own any recorded music or books, or subscribe to any streaming services? Reading the complaints, anyone would think listening to broadcasts was a mandatory daily activity. It’s not like a head of state dies in office every decade.

I've been making this exact point to others! It's not as if we were forced to watch the coverage. It's really very simple: if you don't like it, don't watch it. The key to watching these sort of events is to be highly selective. I watched the entire funeral coverage today but very little of the rest of it.

Memories came flooding back for me of watching, aged 10, Churchill's State Funeral live in black and white in 1965. I've never forgotten it and would hope that many youngsters today won't forget what they have seen.

[teamsaint]

I've been making this exact point to others! It's not as if we were forced to watch the coverage. It's really very simple: if you don't like it, don't watch it. The key to watching these sort of events is to be highly selective. I watched the entire funeral coverage today but very little of the rest of it.

Memories came flooding back for me of watching, aged 10, Churchill's State Funeral live in black and white in 1965. I've never forgotten it and would hope that many youngsters today won't forget what they have seen.

Some people might say that the wall to wall coverage( apparently, as I don’t have a TV licence) has excluded other important news stories and discussions. Some people might also say that news agendas are highly selective and slanted in particular ways in the normal run of things

[cat]

I've enjoyed a week without Westminster title-tattle and footyball talk on the radio. I'm sure we'll be catching up with both of those from now until forever.

[Eine Alpensinfonie]

Please stick to the thread subject when posting. Political discussions should be restricted to the Ideas and Theory sub-forum.

A large chunk of posts have been moved to the Democracy and Monarchy thread,

[Petrushka]

On KCC Psalms of King David, Walford Davies' chant for Ps. 121 is followed by 'Requiem aeternam II' (set to the Latin text) as it is in his 'A Short Requiem'. Today, we heard that chant with a Doxology, 'Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, [...] is now and ever shall be: world without end. Amen', as distinct from the 'Gloria in excelsis Deo [...]' ('Glory be to God on high') which, of course would never be heard at a funeral service. I don't think the Doxology is excluded from a committal service, but someone will tell me. According to the Book of Common Prayer for 'The Burial of the Dead', the Doxology is appropriate after all the Psalms.

On a related matter re Psalm 121. My late father requested the metrical version of this Psalm for his own funeral (which was back in 2013) but did not specify exactly what he meant. In the end, in discussion with the Vicar, we settled for the hymn 'I to the Hills Will Lift My Eyes' (to the tune 'Dundee') which I thought was the closest to what he would have wanted as it is indeed based on Psalm 121. It's too late now, obviously, but wonder if this was what he meant. Don't worry about telling me I'm completely wrong, it's all water under the bridge now!

My father was a Funeral Director for very many years and was, in all matters relating to his own funeral, very clear about what he wanted - apart from this minor mystery!

[Pulcinella]

On KCC Psalms of King David, Walford Davies' chant for Ps. 121 is followed by 'Requiem aeternam II' (set to the Latin text) as it is in his 'A Short Requiem'. Today, we heard that chant with a Doxology, 'Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, [...] is now and ever shall be: world without end. Amen', as distinct from the 'Gloria in excelsis Deo [...]' ('Glory be to God on high') which, of course would never be heard at a funeral service. I don't think the Doxology is excluded from a committal service, but someone will tell me. According to the Book of Common Prayer for 'The Burial of the Dead', the Doxology is appropriate after all the Psalms.

Thanks for this explanation.

[Simon Biazeck]

On a related matter re Psalm 121. My late father requested the metrical version of this Psalm for his own funeral (which was back in 2013) but did not specify exactly what he meant. In the end, in discussion with the Vicar, we settled for the hymn 'I to the Hills Will Lift My Eyes' (to the tune 'Dundee') which I thought was the closest to what he would have wanted as it is indeed based on Psalm 121. It's too late now, obviously, but wonder if this was what he meant. Don't worry about telling me I'm completely wrong, it's all water under the bridge now!

My father was a Funeral Director for very many years and was, in all matters relating to his own funeral, very clear about what he wanted - apart from this minor mystery!

I wasn’t going to! It sounds like you made the right decision given the instructions.

[oddoneout]

On a related matter re Psalm 121. My late father requested the metrical version of this Psalm for his own funeral (which was back in 2013) but did not specify exactly what he meant. In the end, in discussion with the Vicar, we settled for the hymn 'I to the Hills Will Lift My Eyes' (to the tune 'Dundee') which I thought was the closest to what he would have wanted as it is indeed based on Psalm 121. It's too late now, obviously, but wonder if this was what he meant. Don't worry about telling me I'm completely wrong, it's all water under the bridge now!

My father was a Funeral Director for very many years and was, in all matters relating to his own funeral, very clear about what he wanted - apart from this minor mystery!

I wonder if he didn't know or had misunderstood the right way to describe what he wanted? A difficult one for you to sort out, but it sounds as if you found a workable solution - I imagine the meaning of the words would have been at least part of the reason for his choice.
My mother left detailed instructions for music at her funeral but she had done so on the assumption that it would be in a church with a choir, hopefully the one she had been part of for 25 years, but in the end things were very different on all fronts - location, venue, facilities, congregation, so I was given the task of coming up with an alternative.
Something I am still puzzling over is the shock of recognition I felt as soon as Psalm 121 started. A glance at the text and I was able to sing quietly right through. I would have sung it when I was involved with an active singing parish - but that was 45 years ago and I don't think I can have sung it more than once, if that, since then. I know it's simple notes wise but even so...

[cat]

For those interested, Davies' Psalm 121 is coincidentally on St John's long-awaited CD of psalms, released today.

[Belgrove]

My complaint to the BBC about the blanket coverage on the day of the Queen’s death drew attention to the lack of coverage of events in Ukraine and the Government’s fiscal interventions in the fuel crisis that occurred during that week. I first received an apology for the delay in providing a response ‘due to a recent large volume of complaints’, then this:

‘The death of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II is an event of national and international significance which is being reflected in our output. This has meant changes to our schedules. Programme alternatives have been available - including on iPlayer and Sounds.

We have noted your comments about the level of coverage which has been shared with senior managers across the BBC.’

(For what it’s worth, I quite enjoyed R3 during the weekend following the Queen’s death.)

[alywin]

Some people might say that the wall to wall coverage( apparently, as I don’t have a TV licence) has excluded other important news stories and discussions.

Yes, I turned on to the BBC News last night hoping to hear something at the end about Ukraine, the typhoon in Japan, etc., but no. My hopes were raised after the day had been summarised in less than 25 minutes (I think), but then we went back to the beginning again and looked at it from various different angles, at which point I started thinking enough was enough. But apparently it wasn't :(

[oddoneout]

Yes, I turned on to the BBC News last night hoping to hear something at the end about Ukraine, the typhoon in Japan, etc., but no. My hopes were raised after the day had been summarised in less than 25 minutes (I think), but then we went back to the beginning again and looked at it from various different angles, at which point I started thinking enough was enough. But apparently it wasn't :(

Is Channel 4 news any better? It is in the normal run of things, but I don't know if it is at the moment.