Funeral of The Duke of Edinburgh

[jonfan]

Wonderful singing and a superb choice of music from the Duke. An emotionally draining service in its simplicity.

[Edgy 2]

Wonderful singing and a superb choice of music from the Duke. An emotionally draining service in its simplicity.

Yes indeed

[ostuni]

Miriam Allen, as well as being married to one of the lay clerks, is also one of the sopranos in the recent wonderful recordings of Gesualdo madrigals from Les Arts Florissants.

[muzzer]

Yes, agreed. I thought the whole event did all present immense credit.

[Ein Heldenleben]

Not sure whether this is the right thing to say because one does not “review” a Funeral Service but listening on radio I did think the Archbishop of Canterbury read John 11. 21-27 in the most moving and affecting way.

[Quilisma]

First, let me concur that it was a very fine and extremely appropriate service from a musical point of view, and indeed more generally. If there is one thing which this country genuinely does well, it is things like this.

Second, let me clear up some misconceptions. Some here are suggesting that cathedrals and other foundations which have been using more than four singers must have a more cavalier attitude to COVID-19 restrictions than St George's Chapel does. This is simply and categorically not the case. It is true that from September to Christmas 2020 a number of cathedrals were able to resume to a greater or lesser extent a "normal" cycle of choral liturgies, but this very much depended on the circumstances of the foundation in question, and there was ultra-scrupulous adherence to protocols, procedures and measures for safety and hygiene. Those of us with lots of space in our buildings were at a massive (unfair?) advantage insofar as it was possible to achieve proper social distancing with a relatively "normal" number of singers; it was also a huge advantage to have choristers who were boarders and therefore constituted residential bubbles, whereby within their own group they did not need to distance from each other. Nevertheless, in places with both boys and girls, it was often the case that the two sets of choristers were in separate bubbles and therefore had to be kept apart from each other, and of course at a distance from any adults outside their bubble. As it happened, it was possible to continue with these arrangements, strictly behind closed doors only, during the second lockdown in November. Circumstances changed again with the third lockdown in January, not least because schools were closed again. Some places carried on with some sung services, but with a much greater prevalence of COVID-19 others had no option but to suspend operations again. After public in-person attendance at church services was permitted again the initial rule was that whenever any in-person congregation was going to be admitted there must be an absolute maximum of three singers (and only "where essential"); there was no explicit restriction on numbers of singers for services "behind closed doors". This was the understanding upon which arrangements for Holy Week were made, and many places planned to have a mixture of "in-person" services (with three singers or fewer) and "behind closed doors" services (with more than three singers). However, the "rule of three" for "in-person" services was revoked on Friday 27th March, two days before Palm Sunday, which meant that, within reason, it might be possible to book a few more singers for services where there was going to be a congregation, or to open up some of the "behind closed doors" services to the public. Although this meant that in the event there was more flexibility during Holy Week than it had been possible to factor into the planning, there was a great deal of use of different combinations of small numbers of singers for different services. In many foundations there has not yet been a resumption of services with both adults and choristers singing at the same time (which was curtailed after Christmas), and this inevitably meant that, unfortunately, this year choristers could not take anything like their usual prominent role in the musical programme for the Holy Week and Easter services.

But the most important point is that numerical restrictions are still very much in place, everywhere, for funerals, weddings and other such "milestone" services. Even if there is now no longer an explicitly defined restriction on the number of singers for most "normal" services which are open to the public (all other conditions being satisfied), for funerals there is still a maximum of thirty members of the congregation, and there are to be no more musicians than absolutely necessary. I have sung for a couple of Cathedral funerals since January and all have used either three singers or just one solo cantor; this continued to be the case after evensongs had resumed ("behind closed doors") with all six lay clerks or with the boy or girl choristers. It is not that St George's Chapel was following a more strict interpretation of the rules by using only four singers; this would almost certainly have been the case elsewhere as well.

I have seen a couple of people express "regret" that the St George's Chapel choristers were not involved, and one particular comment (which, I admit, enraged me considerably) opined that the soprano "should have been a boy". I'm certain that under normal circumstances the choristers, and indeed the whole choir, would have been singing, but with the very strict limit on numbers it was absolutely the right thing to do to have a quartet. And it wasn't as if this was some random external soprano brought in for the occasion: she happens to be the wife of one of the other lay clerks there, and they all live within Windsor Castle and are fully part of the Windsor Castle community. This was emphatically the correct decision. Moreover, I'm told the choristers there haven't yet been able to resume their regular pattern of sung services, so it wouldn't have been a straightforward option. The fact that St George's is essentially a private chapel in a royal residence means that there could well be specific reasons for being particularly keen during a pandemic to minimise as much as possible any risk "from outside". It's absolutely no disrespect whatsoever to the choristers to say that I'm confident that the Duke, and indeed HMQ, would have been more than happy for the soprano line to be provided by a Windsor Castle resident and wife of one of the lay clerks, who also just happens to be one of the very best sopranos on the circuit. I daresay she could have been permitted to wear a cassock and surplice like the other three, though...

[Quilisma]

They're were wonderful, but I don't think it's ever been the case that members of liturgical choirs are credited for services, only when that choir does recordings and concerts would they be named.

Quite so. This is an odd case insofar as all of them are also very highly regarded freelancers, and so are individually recognised as well as being St George's lay clerks (or wife-of-lay-clerk) and residents of Windsor Castle.

[Lordgeous]

While on this musical theme could i alsso commend the superb massed military bands contribution (apart from Jerusaleem being rather brisk in tempo). A wonderful sound I thought.

[Pulcinella]

The four singers are named in this article in today's Sunday Times:

https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/austere-yet-eloquent-his-music-choices-reflected-his-ancestry-sdqjbx6f2?shareToken=d26b9688a7e3875da241df799145a021

[Magister Chori]

I am absolutely conscoius about the reasons behind the choice, but a jubilant psalm in the context of a funeral service it is quite strange thing...

Anyway, what a pity that - due to present circumstances - we could not have the full ensemble: at the two last royal weddings the choir did a truly splendid job, and nowadays they very rarely - if ever - broadcast at BBC CE.

[oddoneout]

I was working during the day so watched the evening repeat of the service and found it very moving, and so well done. As has happened with other things during this time of Covid sometimes matters turn out better for the restrictions, and in my opinion this was one such. Not having the full state funeral works undoubtedly made for difficult decisions regarding attendees etc( but in essence that dilemma has been and continues to be faced by the population as a whole), but meant that HRH had the no-fuss service that he was said to have wanted.

[cat]

I was working during the day so watched the evening repeat of the service and found it very moving, and so well done. As has happened with other things during this time of Covid sometimes matters turn out better for the restrictions, and in my opinion this was one such. Not having the full state funeral works undoubtedly made for difficult decisions regarding attendees etc( but in essence that dilemma has been and continues to be faced by the population as a whole), but meant that HRH had the no-fuss service that he was said to have wanted.

I gather the funeral was much as originally planned, it was always to be a small affair at Windsor so the only real difference was the size of the congregation and choir.

[oddoneout]

I gather the funeral was much as originally planned, it was always to be a small affair at Windsor so the only real difference was the size of the congregation and choir.

A fairly major difference in size! 30 rather than hundreds of guests, a quartet rather than full choir, and very much reduced forces ceremonial. It would have hardly qualified as low key and no fuss under non-Covid plans, however much of a crowd-pleaser it might have been. This way the focus was on what the occasion actually was about and all the more poignant and moving as a result.

[Alison]

Not sure whether this is the right thing to say because one does not “review” a Funeral Service but listening on radio I did think the Archbishop of Canterbury read John 11. 21-27 in the most moving and affecting way.

[Wolsey]

[...] Moreover, I'm told the choristers there haven't yet been able to resume their regular pattern of sung services, so it wouldn't have been a straightforward option. [...]

Not only that, the death of the Duke of Edinburgh and the funeral service eight days after it both took place during the Windsor choristers' Easter holiday.