The Organ Funeral Album

This nondenominational sampler presents well-known organ pieces for use in funeral services. It is aimed primarily at semiprofessional organists who have to play on the usually modest instruments found in cemetery chapels. The volume contains organ pieces both with and without chorale cantus firmus. It has been compiled by two professional church musicians, one Catholic and the other Lutheran, thereby reflecting present day musical practice at funerals. The volume includes many pieces often requested at funerals, such as the “Pie Jesu” from Fauré’s Requiem, Mozart’s “Ave verum”, and Brahms’s “In Peace and Joy I Now Depart”. The pieces are presented in simplified form, without the use of the pedals. However, their compositional quality remains untouched and the stylistic breadth extends to church songs with popular music styles, thereby offering organists a very wide selection. Page turns within a given piece have been avoided wherever possible. In addition to a table of contents and thumbnail biographies, there is an explanatory preface.