My friend, Karl Moyer, makes excellent points which are further
underscored by the CBS "Farewell to a Princess" aired EST at 8:00 p.m.
tonight. The music put with clips of the funeral was not that actually
used at the particular moment. Omitted especially were the Tavener verses
which were used for the procession of the body out of the abbey. Instead,
 Elton John's song was played, as if that had been used at that moment.
 For any who did not happen to see the actual ceremony, a false impression was
 created. Similarly, the "Danny Boy" melody, sung by the boys of the choir,
 was played behind other clips of the processions and service, not at all
where it actually was used.
 
The point? This was the only music which CBS editors could relate to, or,
more the point, which they thought suited their version of who Diana was.
The only other piece of music heard on this aftermath program was the
Sebastian Temple setting of the Prayer of St. Francis (written in the
1980's I believe.)
 
Our society simply cannot accept the church on its terms. It must
redesign and re-make it according to the values which society holds. The
music is only symbolic of where things are. Thus, the church no longer
has control over what happens or, perhaps, even why. These unfortunate
shifts in our society were merely reflected in the funeral service of
Diana, IMHO. Mind you, Elton John sang very well, the excerpt from the
Verdi Requiem was well done, the boys did a great job with Danny Boy. But
- and this is the question Karl is alluding to - what does any of this
have to do with the church, its sacraments, or its mission in this world?
The church (in the broadest sense) was conspicuously absent today.
Clergy parading about in copes, solemn vergers excorting folks here and
there, a crucifer in impressive dalmatic - none of these ceremonial
elements cover that fact that the service was very much something
designed for the viewers, but, some would say, hardly a rite of Christian
burial. Others will disagree, of course.
 
Tom Spacht