Talk:James O'Donnell (organist)

A fact from James O'Donnell (organist) appeared on Wikipedia's Main Page in the Did you know column on 19 September 2022 (check views). The text of the entry was as follows: Did you know... that Westminster Abbey's director of music James O'Donnell, who is responsible for the singing at the state funeral of Queen Elizabeth II, is scheduled to become a professor at Yale University in 2023? A record of the entry may be seen at Wikipedia:Recent additions/2022/September. The nomination discussion and review may be seen at Template:Did you know nominations/James O'Donnell (organist).

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@Gerda Arendt: This section has real problems, indicated in red below. I have fixed the comment you accidentally left unclosed.

O'Donnell was appointed assistant master of music at Westminster Cathedral in 1982, succeeding as master of music in 1988. During his tenure, the profile and international reputation of the missing words and profile of the Cathedral Choir increased. Their (if this is the conductor and choir, then they have not yet been referred to as that, so "Their" doesn't make sense) 1998 recording of masses by Frank Martin and Ildebrando Pizzetti received both the Record of the Year award from Gramophone and a Royal Philharmonic Society Music Award in 1999, which was unprecedented for a cathedral choir. Bazza (talk) 15:21, 16 September 2022 (UTC)[reply]

Fixed by Gerda Arendt; much better thanks. Bazza (talk) 15:36, 16 September 2022 (UTC)[reply]

(ec, not that I ignore you:) I tried it differently, please check. I still believe that after having spoken about a choral conductor and a choir, "their" should mean those, - what else? Perhaps you know a better wording? There's more detail in the recordings section, but the "unprecedented" awards should appear in the history already, I think. Sorry about the wrong sentence construction, my bad. --Gerda Arendt (talk) 15:39, 16 September 2022 (UTC)[reply]

@Gerda Arendt: yesterday you merged the "Early life and education" and "Career" sections into a "Life and career" section. While perhaps that's the norm in other language versions of Wikipedia, I don't think that's normal on the English Wikipedia, and seems incorrect: first, the article is a biography - the whole thing is about their life, so it seems strange to have a section for 'life' (unless there was one for 'death'). Second, their education comes before their career, so it isn't part of their career. Any objection if I change it back? (Other editors, feel free to weigh in) Curb Safe Charmer (talk) 16:26, 16 September 2022 (UTC)[reply]

Do as you please. --Gerda Arendt (talk) 16:43, 16 September 2022 (UTC)[reply]

This service (order) is mentioned in sources (sometimes with the wrong year). It was not the funeral service which was held in the chapel with COVID-19 restrictions. Should we mention it? The choir performed a piece by William Byrd and Britten's Te Deum in C. Arrangements by O'Connell were sung at the funeral service, - should we mention that? -- Gerda Arendt (talk) 06:41, 18 September 2022 (UTC)[reply]

Yes, it was certainly a non-routine occasion of national prominence. It is mentioned in the biography released to the press on his appointment to Yale ([1]) alongside the funeral of The Queen Mother and the wedding of Prince William and Catherine Middleton. I'm note sure about mentioning his arrangements of music in the Duke's service unless there are secondary sources to that effect, as is the case with the recent psalm 139.----Pontificalibus 07:45, 18 September 2022 (UTC)[reply]

Some new articles are being published as we approach the Queen's funeral.:

• Preparing a Funeral Fit for a Queen
• Who is James O'Donnell
• Who is the Westminster Abbey Choirmaster James O'Donnell

Thank you, - add if you feel it adds to his article. The image in the last one is good but I believe we have it already in a different source. We will have to change the tense tomorrow, and will at some point have the order of the service instead of speculation. --Gerda Arendt (talk) 20:15, 18 September 2022 (UTC)[reply]