Last week, the weather forecast for Thursday, 28 February, was for snow. Oh, no! I was booked to play three pieces at the funeral service of Mark Richard Heglund (65) at Evergreen-Washelli Funeral Home and Cemetery in north Seattle. One piece would be inside the chapel, and the other two would be outdoors. Thankfully, it turned out to be a sunny-bright day with a clear, deep-blue sky and a cool, calm 45 degrees. Perfect! 
The program called for a trio to present “Pie Jesu” by Andrew Lloyd Webber—Laurie Geyer (soprano soloist), accompanied by Laurie McFarland (pianist) and me on my Getzen trumpet (see my blog post of 14 December 2015). Laurie sang in Latin, and the title, Pie Jesu (Pious Jesus) is usually translated, “O Sweet Jesus.” Here, He is asked for forgiveness, mercy, peace and rest.
Mark’s surviving sister, Helene (Heglund) Reed, chose the music. I was referred to her by the very professional funeral director, Ryan Rasmussen. She gave a moving eulogy for her older brother and presented a lovely video about him and their family. He was born on 15 May 1953 and died on 11 February 2019, after suffering during his last years from cancer and pneumonia. He was a successful commercial real estate agent, investor, developer, and landlord. He loved basketball, Seattle Supersonics, Golden State Warriors, demolition, Chinook’s Restaurant, University Presbyterian Church, family, friends, people, jokes, road trips, art history, antiques, trumpet, Herb Alpert, and Jesus. Mark was a gifted musician, playing drums and trumpet in the school band. In Boy Scouts, he loved “Reveille” and “Taps” and earned the “esteemed Eagle Scout rank.” A good man who lived a good life. While I’m no Herb Alpert, I am grateful to have been chosen to play Mark’s favorite instrument at his memorial service.
When the service ended and the pallbearers carried the casket to the coach waiting outside the chapel, I played “Amazing Grace.” At the grave site, I played the bugle call, “Funeral March,” as the pallbearers carried the casket to the grave. There, Laurie (Mark’s cousin), sang “The Lord’s Prayer.” At the close of the service, I played “Il Silenzio” (The Silence), a song written in 1965 by Italian trumpeter, Nini Rosso, which became a worldwide hit and is now a standard.
Finally, as the casket was lowered into the grave, I played “O Come, O Come, Emmanuel.” One of the verses has been translated from the Latin thus:
O come, O Branch of Jesse’s tree,
free them from Satan’s tyranny
that trust thy mighty power to save,
and give them victory o’er the grave.
Rejoice! Rejoice! Emmanuel
shall come to you, O Israel.
Here are links to some worldwide favorite renditions of “Pie Jesu” and “Il Silenzio”:
Pie Jesu: https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=4&v=K6RSB39DMfM
Il Silenzio: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CmK-uaYFBJc
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My first weekly trumpet lesson with my 44th trumpet student was on 4 December. Two weeks later, he dropped. But no worries—all is not lost. He’s also taking piano lessons (and has for the past two years), but taking lessons on both instruments is just more than he and his family want to handle at his young age (10). Besides, his sister is taking piano and guitar, too, so there’s a lot of music being played in their home.
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from in between the two Skyline buildings are spectacular. The south building is Skyline Terraces, for assisted living, and the north building is Skyline Towers, for independent living (please see my blog posts of 10 Nov. 2016 and 19 Nov. 2017). At the conclusion of the ceremony, I sounded “Taps” on my Getzen bugle.
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sounded “Echo Taps” with me, first on 2016 Memorial Day and again on 2017 Veterans Day. Now, as a freshman, he is the lead trumpeter in the Symphonic Band and Jazz Band at the new North Creek High School in Bothell. (Please see my posts of 22 July 2016 and 17 December 2017 in the Archives column to the left.)![Boy_Playing_Cornet_Music_Clipart_Pictures[1]](https://glennstrumpetnotes.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/11/boy_playing_cornet_music_clipart_pictures1.png?w=150&h=128)
Hill Elementary School in Bellevue last year and is now a sixth grader at St. Monica Catholic School on Mercer Island, which has no band. He’s never had private lessons before, and now he’s my 39th trumpet student. Our first lesson was on 2 November. No one else in his family plays an instrument.
Glenn's Trumpet Notes 