The song of farewell could be the recessional. In any case, it is sung after the incensation and sprinkling, during which another hymn or chant is sung. In the OF, it is the Subvenite, followed by the In paradisum and if your pastor or DM insists, then another hymn (way too much music, IMHO). The In paradisum was traditionally sung as the subdeacon led the procession with the body after the final absolution, and it works best, I think, to do the same in the OF.

If you are unable to do Latin, OCP has the English version of both the Subvenite and the In paradisum, the latter to the chant melody. So really, anyone can do these!

Bridget: I noticed a few typos in the table of contents. I would also add in the future a note on the Alleluia. There is a full Gregorian alleluia with the verse “Requiem aeternam,” and it could be sung by the cantor to a simple melody or Psalm tone if it is not possible to sing the full chant. The cantor and congregation could then sing a simpler Alleluia. For a recent funeral, we took the Alleluia of the XIX Sunday after Pentecost (it is really simple and the cantor didn't have a ’74 Graduale anyways) and sang the Latin verse to a Psalm tone. Of course the Tract replaces this in Lent. What I noticed at Communion is that the chant is so beautiful and simple, if you sing it first, you still have a little room, and there isn’t competition between it and a hymn.

And if one does the chants, even with the anomaly of the Alleluia and white vestments, one finds the balance between Christian hope and trust and belief in judgment.

Here is a suggestion for those who may want some new organ repertory for funerals or requiems. Look up Ronald Arnatt's In paradisum.. I'm doing this on a recital next year. It features the tune in a variety of octaves and colours, and in canon at the sixth. It is very reverent and irenic.

This is the second of his pieces I will have done on recital. The last one was his Mulieres sedentes, the antiphon to Benedictus at matins of Holy Saturday.

He is eighty-five. Though British, he has spent most of his life in the US, is a past president of the AGO, and has served at some of the country's most prominent churches and colleges.

Preparing my 2nd funeral mass as music director

I recommend visiting the church sacristy and grabbing the hardbound book
Order Of Christian Funerals

First read the rubrics,
then, knowing the mind of the Church,
you look for ways to satisfy it.

I bought myself a copy of the order of Christian Funerals. Very handy to have!

It would be appropriate to sing Libera Me Domine when the casket is incensed and In Paradisum at the end as the casket is processed out of the church.

I'm not sure what your circumstances are, but at our parish (EF), we sing Sub Venite as the casket is brought in, the Gregorian Kyriale and propers for the Requiem Mass, Libera Me, and In Paradisum. If we have enough voices, we sometimes sing Victoria's Requiem (6 part) at funerals rather than the chant ordinaries.

The Offertory chant is pretty long, but when there is time (if the Mass is Solemn, for example) we sometimes have time to add a motet, such as Ave Maria. For us Communion hymns depend on the number of people attending. Sometimes there is only time for one hymn; at other funerals we have time for several motets.

Again, I don't know your circumstances, but we often sing Byrd's Ave Verum at Communion during funerals.

Hope this is helpful.

I thought the Libera me was an option in the 1974 GR.

A version of Libera me is on p. 696 of the GR74, as an option for the commendation at the church after Mass; the text begins: "Libera me, Domine, de viis inferni, qui portas aereas confregisti et visitasti infernum...."