Threnody: a progress report

Posted by Tim Clark

Threnody is a group of people mostly drawn from the ranks of Bangor Community Choir. We are ready to sing at funerals in places that don’t normally have choral singing, particularly at crematoria. Charles has already been kind enough to feature us here, and I felt it might be time for an update. 

We have settled into a pattern of monthly practices, in a local village hall, with add-ons when we feel like it in a friendly front room, and last-minute work-ups when we need to prepare for a funeral. We have sung at seven funerals so far: two in one crem, two at another, one at a village hall prior to a woodland burial, and one – well, that was Threnody’s first tour abroad. More on that below. 

That’s about one in five of the funerals I’ve helped with (I’m a celebrant) since we got going. When I’m meeting a family, it’s sometimes easy to tell whether or not Threnody might be wanted. It’s often been observed that people want something familiar at such a time, so sometimes the response is “oh no, that sounds a bit unusual, he wouldn’t have wanted that.” I don’t want to coax them, but I don’t want them to miss the opportunity to have something that might make a lot of difference to the ceremony. Tricky balance. 

Sometimes we are asked to help because the family want a hymn or two, and they are worried that it will sound thin with a small congregation; then they may be happy to hear that we can also sing, unaccompanied by organ and congregation, at particular moments. Entry, committal, departure are obvious points. 

One lady, who was quite unsure about the idea to start with, was much moved by “Ar Hyd y Nos” at entry, and “Dona Nobis Pacem” at committal. We also joined the congregation to sing in unison along with the organ for a couple of hymns we didn’t have ready in parts. But I hope it doesn’t sound arrogant to say that we are not there just to swell the numbers along with the organ. The effect of a capella singing seems to be quite different – lighter, more immediate, I think more engaging. 

Sometimes, of course, a family is delighted and surprised that I can offer four-part, unaccompanied singing. We have a repertoire of about 20 songs and hymns. It’s not possible, alas, for us to learn a new song at three days’ notice, but the choice is reasonably wide and includes some well-known songs. 

Favourites include “Ar Hyd y Nos/All Through the Night,” “Morning Has Broken,” “Calon Lan,” “Guide Me O Thou Great Redeemer,” “Amazing Grace,” as well as less obvious but effective choices such as “Eriskay Love Lament,” “Dona Nobis Pacem” as a round, “Sith Shaimh Leat” which is Gaelic for something close to “rest in peace.” All of these last three have worked very well in crematoria. We’re pleased with the repertoire we’ve worked up, and we’ll probably only add to it slowly, to keep us fresh. 

Interestingly, two families have said “we want hymns but we don’t want an organ.” So we sing, in harmony, the first phrase of the hymn just as an organist would play it, slowing down at the end, back to the start and then the congregation comes in. Provided I explain beforehand that’s what we’ll be doing, it works well. Hearing a Welsh/English congregation of fifty roaring through “Guide Me” with us is gooseflesh time! 

The members of Threnody love singing and are very committed to the work; for those who have perhaps been to very few funerals before, it can be quite a tough call. At a village hall, some of the sopranos were singing just a few feet from people in tears, and of course the songs themselves open up the emotions – that’s their job. 

We’ve overcome one crisis, when Colin and Anne Douglas left us to move to Scotland. They are both trained musicians, both sing like angels, and Colin did most of our arrangements. He also conducted us in our first five funerals. Franki has taken over the job twice now, very effectively, and we have at least three other members practising the role. We miss Colin and Anne very much – but you never know what talents a group of people have until you ask, do you? 

Administering Threnody can be tricky. Some of us work part-time or flexibly, some are retired, and all have to be contacted quickly. I don’t want to suggest Threnody to a family and then find out we haven’t got enough members available. But when we’re at work, enriching a crematorium funeral, it’s worth every anxious text and email. 

It must be said that the village hall funeral was the choir’s favourite – intimate, informal, much less time pressure on the whole thing.

And the foreign tour? 

An anxious lady phoned me from Shrewsbury. She knew it was a long shot but she wanted choral singing in Welsh at the funeral, and no-one was available locally. She said she would book transport for us and contribute to our favourite charity. I was very disappointed because I wasn’t available, and any case a local celebrant had been booked. I asked the choir how they felt. They were a bit startled, but they rose to the occasion, and they swept down from Bangor to Shrewsbury in a bus, sang for the lady, and when they got back in the bus, the good lady had put a hamper of sandwiches in there for them. I’m told they sung all the way home. The good lady was delighted with them.

I call that Bangor 1, Shrewsbury 0…