The song Amazing Grace (despite British origins of the lyrics) is very much an American thing.
The Lament played at Westminster ‘Sleep, dearie, sleep’ is quite a traditional thing to play in Britain.
A lament was also played after the service at Windsor.
I don’t know what part of Britain that relates to but “Amazing Grace” is far more popular. It is pretty much a certainty that, prior to the Queen’s funeral, “sleep, dearie, sleep” had much lower recognition. “Amazing Grace” is often listed in the favourite hymns in the UK.
Yeah, Amazing Grace is still a thing here. Personally I was hoping for ‘I vow to thee my country’ - nice patriotic number with lyrics that seem fitting for the service she gave.
I vow to thee, my country
All earthly things above
Entire and whole and perfect
The service of my love
Y’all seem to be missing the significance of the piper and this tune.
Queen Elizabeth II’s personal piper, who woke her up every morning with a skirl of the bagpipe, closed her state funeral with a rendition of the traditional piece ‘Sleep, Dearie, Sleep’.
One among her many quirks, the Queen was roused by the sound of bagpipes at all her homes across Britain. The piper used to play for 15 minutes beneath her window each morning, acting as her personal alarm clock.
But today, the music that signaled the start of the Queen’s morning symbolised the end of her funeral.
…
The piper-- her personal piper-- is escorting her to her eternal sleep. Tunes about patriotism, love of country, and God’s redemption of a lost sinner would not have been relevant.
Also, I Vow has quite a wide range for a lot of ordinary voices. The ultra-traditional choice of congregational hymns has stood the test of time: that’s why they’re so frequently used. And, of course, the order of service and choice of music was approved by the Queen herself years ago.
Yeah. And i love “amazing grace”, but honestly, I’d prefer it not be played for my funeral. I fell the implications would be, “she was pretty bad, but maybe she pulled it together before she died”.
She was half-Scottish after all.
From the article I cited above:
Pipe Major Paul Burns, is the 17th holder of the role, which was established in 1843 during the reign of Queen Victoria, reported The Independent.
Of course she was involved in all of the plans, including which music to be performed. I assume that “Sleep, dearie, sleep” meant more for her than Amazing Grace.
Indeed. Maybe more than any other part of it all, this farewell was for her.
I don’t think so. The significance of the tune for the Queen was mentioned at length on the TV coverage.
I was pushing back at the implication that “sleep, dearie, sleep” was somehow, in the UK, more common or more of a “thing” than “Amazing Grace”.
It absolutely isn’t and the main reason for it being used in this case was purely due to it being a personal choice of teh Queen.
Ugh, does Chump really have to be invited? Will he expect a seat in the front row?
Now that I think about it, invite him and stick him in the back. It is after all at the British Embassy, they can do what they want.
Maybe, maybe not. The service is being held in the National Cathedral. Are they likely to have a seating chart for an area that large?
Absolutely for an event like this. There would at least be assigned rows.
I see that Trump did not say anything stupid or embarrassing at the event, which was held on Sept. 21.
Because he did not attend.
For Christians, as the queen evidently considered herself to be, the sleep of death is temporary. That’s the whole point of the resurrection.
It makes sense to use that song or something similar. I agree the lyrics for Amazing Grace don’t fit. And the tune would have started a crying fest that goes against the traditional stiff upper lip persona of the ceremony.
Amazing Grace isn’t a traditional bagpipe tune. It only started to be played on the pipes starting the mid-70s, when the pipe band for the Royal Scots Greys adapted it to the pipes.
I don’t think that it has the same emotional impact for British people as it does for Americans who are culturally Christian.
My [very Scots] piping instructor refers to it as “The Crematorium Waltz”.