Need advice on music for memorial service

[Sonshine]

My dh and his siblings have decided on two songs for the memorial service with a female soloist - In the Garden and All is Well. The accompanist wants to play them on the organ. We much prefer the piano and the soloist prefers the piano as well. The pianist/organist said that those songs are better on the organ. That may be true for congregational singing. Is there a problem with the songs being sung to an accompanist playing the piano?

[elfgivas]

no.... its not a problem. it may be that the organist only gets paid if they play. even in reallllly large churches, the pianos are positioned so they can be heard, or mic'ed.

 

mostly, its best to do what would be most meaningful for the family.

 

:grouphug:

ann

[Sonshine]

Thank you -we know next to nothing about music. I just called and left a message for the piano to be played. The same lady plays both, I think she just has a preference for the organ.

[FaithManor]

This is code for "I prefer to play the organ than the piano." Many organists play only chords in the base clef which is fine for organ but doesn't sound as full on the piano. So, they prefer to play the organ. Not all organists, just some. Usually, this means that theywere primarily organists that made a cross over to piano. I'm a professional pianist and I've worked with a lot of organists so I can tell you this will be fine but the organist might not improvise much.

 

Go with what you prefer. The musician should be accomodating.

 

Faith

[Sonshine]

Well, now that you mention it, I always see this lady playing the organ and not the piano. The soloist suggested her, so I went with her. We really want the emphasis to be on the vocal solo and not on the organ or piano, so maybe this will work out okay. I assume if she wasn't at least competent on the piano she would have not left the door open for the piano to be played. Our church spent a lot of money on a big fancy organ system a few years ago, and I guess some people really love it.