I'm frightened of this discussion turning into an attack on Andrew and his church - that is the last thing I want. There are lots of different churches and you simply find one that best meets your needs and matches your beliefs and hopes. But reference to Andrew's church has raised another issue - not what a piece means in its original context, but what it means now to a particular group of people at a particular time.
One of my very dear pupils had the Mendelssohn Wedding March at what was, for her family a very important day. She left the church to the strains of the wedding march belted out on the huge church organ. Sadly , this was not her wedding, but her funeral. Andrew may have a point about the orginal setting of this piece, but this was no theatre. Betsy was a dancer and the Mendelssohn was one of the last pieces to which she had danced in the week before her death in a motor accident. Likewise every other piece which was played at her funeral. We had "Come back to Serrento" and Scott Joplin's "The Entertainer", (which, incidentally, more people know from its use as film music than from its original source) My point is that the original setting of the piece was irrelevant, what was important was what the piece meant to the family and friends and those involved on that particular day. I would suggest that this is the case for a wedding or for any other personal service. To compound this, the vast majority of people have not the faintest idea of where the two most popular wedding marches come from - they know them only as wedding marches. I should also add, that, as with everything, a degree of common sense should prevail - if your chosen hymn is a punk anthem full of foul language and blasphemy, then maybe you should also choose your church carefully! :-) All the best, Lawrence -- Lawrenceyates.co.uk _______________________________________________ post: [email protected] unsubscribe or set options at https://pegasus.memphis.edu/cgi-bin/mailman/options/horn/archive%40jab.org
