Funeral Song Blog
Here you will find all the latest news, updated and stories about FuneralSongs.org.uk. We hope to feature examples and features from related websites, so if you have something relavent, that you think would be of interest then please don't hesitate to contact us using the following email address info@funeralsongs.org.uk.10/11/10 - Robbie Williams Pens Funeral Song
A number of survey's have suggested that 'Angels' by Robbie Williams, is the song most Britons would like played at their funeral, however, when asked which of his own work he would like to have played at his funeral, the popstar replied: "None". Instead, he has penned a requiem entitled 'Mass for the Dead'. A Requiem Mass is typically a classical piece, which has been composed to celebrate and honour the deceased. The 36-year-old entertainer joins a long list of composers who have created their own funeral songs. Other famous requiems include Agnus Dei, Benedictus, Dies Irae, In Paradisum, Libera Me, Lux Aeternum and Sanctus.11/10/10 - Featured Novel: The Good Cemetery Guide by Consuelo Roland.
Consuelo Roland's first novel follows the story of Anthony Loxton, a mortician by day and a louche guitarist by night. Set in modern day South Africa, it has won critical acclaim from the likes of the English Academy (Olive Schreiner Prize for Prose 2006) and the Sunday Times. Despite its slightly morbid title, the novel deals with the subject of death in an imaginative yet sensitive manner. I happily recommend the book, and Consuelo's website goodcemeteryguide.com, which offers an online guide to embracing death as part of life, through the lens of The Good Cemetery Guide story.29/11/10 - Indiana Woman's Dedication To Funeral Songs
Bessie Hatton, the daughter of a Presbyterian minister, has been playing the organ and piano at Gardner-Brockman Funeral Home for over 65 years. Unable to read music, instead the funeral songs are etched in her mind. Hatton began learning to play music from her mother at an early age, and almost 70 years later she has become a staple of services at the funeral home. She said, in a soft voice: "I love it so much... I love to play, to comfort people with my music."
Having played her first service at the age of 14, when her mother had to pull out due to sickness, today she knows hundreds of songs by heart, and amazingly has only missed one funeral in her 7 decades of service. Aside from her love for the music, giving comfort to the grieving with her music is the most important element of her job. However, in the age of CDs and MP3s demand for traditional church hymns is diminishing. "It was hard... [and] it hurt to see it happen. But I've accepted it." she said when more people began requesting CDs.
Some, she accepts, may find offering such a role difficult. Even after having sat in on so many memorials and funerals over such a long time, she maintains that she has loved it from the beginning, and will continue to do so until the last person requests the hymns and songs she knows so well.
