Bagpipe Hymn a Day

[OC Richard]

This is a great project. I have often wondered why at the various church services I have attended that feature pipes there is very little liturgical music being played. This included my wedding, where all the hymns were with a organ and the Scottish music on the pipes separately.

Yes that's a pity, when the pipes are a perfect vehicle for Hymn-tunes, if you are careful to pick tunes that fit on the pipes!

Most Hymn-tunes don't fit. Some are really impossible to render in any satisfactory way. Other only require minor tweaking to fit on the pipes.

So far (I'm at Day 34 now) I've been able to exclusively present Hymn-tunes that, as they stand, fit perfectly. Those are the gems! To not have to fudge the tune at all.

I remember a few years ago the Roman Catholic bishop in NYC banned music that was not hymns at funerals and there was a huge outcry from the pipe bands for both NYPD & FDNY. The compromise was for the bands to play outside before and after the services, which I felt was a shame.

Yes different denominations have their differing rules.

I've piped at LDS services. Prior to the first one I did, the Bishop mentioned that only Hymns found in the LDS Hymnal can be played. No problem, I said, I have an LDS Hymnal so I can check everything.

I've piped at hundreds of Catholic services over the years and the Catholic situation is that the Mass is a self-contained entity with a fixed structure. Part of it is that only Sacred music can be played during the Mass. As long as the pipes are playing Sacred music it doesn't violate anything, however there are a few Priests who don't like bagpipes no matter what music they're playing!

Before the Mass starts and after it's finished anything goes. Or I should say it's at the discretion of the Priest that's celebrating that particular Mass, some don't like having the pipes inside the church regardless, and only allow the pipes to play outside. (Sounds like the NYC Bishop was in that category.)

The other thing a piper runs into is dealing with the "wedding coordinator" or "funeral coordinator". Many of them take it upon themselves to create various rules and speak in the name of Clergy, saying "Father doesn't allow this or that". I've found that if I actually ask the Priest they'll almost always say "whatever the family's wishes are".

So, many has been the time that the coordinator has told me that Clergy doesn't allow bagpipes, but I ended up playing the pipes anyway, with Clergy's approval.