Almost ten years ago, when my daughter (though only ten
years old then) already set her path as a pianist, I told her what I wanted her
to play at my funeral. It was not a morbid conversation, but rather my way of
pointing an exquisite piece of music to her attention.
You can hear it on this link, played with beautiful restraint
by Dinu Lipatti—
Fast forward ten years, and DD, back home between semesters,
had a recital scheduled in Berkeley for the last day of her break. She had programmed
this chorale, J S Bach chorale prelude bwv 639, to be
included in the concert.
She polished it on our piano, and for ten days, it
seemed that every time I walked into the room, my funeral music was playing.
On
Saturday January 7th 2017— she played it for the audience, and it
was magnificent.
I figured that now I don’t have to go to, or even be at, my
funeral. I can skip it, because I got to hear it already.
