Music has always played an important role in Funeral services. Browse our sheet music and scores, and let Stretta help you find the right music today.
Since the 13th century, clergymen have gathered in calendar brotherhoods on the calends, the first days of each month, to remember their deceased brothers. As at the funerals themselves, there was extensive singing. Later, choirs emerged from this ritual, to perform motets at funerals, in church or at the grave.
In addition to settings of Requiems, the Dutch composers of the 15th and 16th centuries wrote funeral motets to commemorate princes and rulers, which continued to spread across Europe in the 17th and 18th centuries, with settings such as Handel’s Funeral Music for Queen Caroline, Musical Exequies by Heinrich Schütz and Purcells’s Funeral Music for Queen Mary. This began to expand into the secular world with works like Monteverdi’s Lamento d‘Arianna.
In France, the Sarabande was the most popular lament before the funeral march developed in the late 18th century. In the last century, new works such as dirges and epitaphs have entered the repertoire as expressions of mourning and grief.
Nowadays, pop or rock songs are often played at funerals. Here is a list of popular modern songs for funeral ceremonies:
For Strings op. 11
for: String orchestra
Score
Item no.: 395390
Funeral motet
for: Mixed choir (SATB), orchestra, basso continuo
Score
Item no.: 280492
16-part Mixed Choir
for: Mixed choir a cappella
Score
Item no.: 380350
Keyboard Ensemble Series
for: 2 pianos
2 music scores
Item no.: 349929
for solo cello
for: Cello
Music score
Item no.: 752734
for: Oboe, piano
Piano score, solo part
Item no.: 189778
for: 4 soloists (SATB), mixed choir (SATB), orchestra, basso continuo
Piano reduction
Item no.: 478995
"Trauermarsch"
Bärenreiter Urtext
for: Piano
Music score (Urtext edition)
Item no.: 673610
from 'Scenes of Childhood'
for: Flute, piano
Music score
Item no.: 752831
su due Spunti Tematici e su un Basso Numerato di Tomaso Albinoni
for: Organ, strings
Score
Item no.: 388538
aus: Geistliche Chormusik
mit singbarer englischer Übersetzung
for: Mixed choir (SSATTB); 6 melodic instruments (colla parte), double bass, organ ad lib.
Score
Item no.: 231848
Dover Full Scores
Book
Item no.: 140160
from: Funeral Music for Queen Mary
for: Mixed choir (SATB), basso continuo
Score
Item no.: 4184
Klassik
for: Trumpet in C and Organ
Book
Item no.: 484058
for: Mixed choir a cappella
Score, Set of parts
Item no.: 274129
for: 1–2 melodic instruments (C), piano [organ]
Piano score, parts
Item no.: 378300
50 Best-loved Pieces for Organ
(manualiter)
for: Organ (manuals)
Music score
Item no.: 632901
Bb Clarinet Solo with Piano - Grade 3.5
for: Clarinet, piano
Book
Item no.: 183632
aus der Bühnenmusik zu Kuolema
for: Piano
Item no.: 284280
per chitarra
Scritto per le tombeau de Debussy
for: Guitar
Music score
Item no.: 388531
for: 2 recorders (AT)
Ensemble score
Item no.: 157105
Kleine Kantate
for: für Tenor, Bariton, Männerchor (oder 3 Männerstimmen) und Orchester
Study score
Item no.: 113340
Trauermotette nach den Klageliedern Jeremiae
für vier- bis siebenstimmigen gemischten Chor a cappella
for: Mixed choir (4–7 parts) a cappella
Choir score
Item no.: 119460
from: Funeral Music for Queen Mary
for: Mixed choir (SATB), basso continuo
Score
Item no.: 4554
Easy Arrangement for Piano
for: Piano
Single edition
Item no.: 740262
1835-1892
Anton Bruckner Gesamtausgabe
for: Mixed choir a cappella
Conductor score
Item no.: 301588
Original works and arrangements for church service and concert
for: Melody instrument (C/B-flat/E-flat/F), organ
Organ score, 4 solo parts (C/B-flat/E-flat/F) (anthology)
Item no.: 608128
arrangiert für Klaviertrio
for: Violin, cello, piano (piano trio)
Score, Parts
Item no.: 477533
Ergreifende Trauermusik
for: Flexible wind ensemble (4 voices)
Set of parts
Item no.: 960612
for: Viola
Music score
Item no.: 750380
Fünf neue Choralsonaten aus der Feder des Kirchenmusikers Felix Bräuer
Orgelmusik für viele Gelegenheiten (Pfingsten, Marienmonate, Trauerfeiern u.v.m.)
for: Organ
Music score
Item no.: 660466
for Guitar solo
for: Guitar
Single edition
Item no.: 750804
für Viola und Orgel
for: Viola, organ
Item no.: 624462
Lascia ch'io pianga; Ombra mai fù
The Recorder Orchestra
for: Recorder ensemble
Score, Parts
Item no.: 632909
Shawnee Press
for: Women's choir (SSAA), piano [organ]
Score
Item no.: 323235
ALB
One of the most moving of all the musical settings of the Passion of Christ.
for: Soloists, mixed choir (SATB), orchestra, organ
Score
Item no.: 244524
aus der Bühnenmusik zu Kuolema
for: 2 guitars
Item no.: 181722
Biblioteca Orgánica vol. 14
for: Organ manuals [harmonium]
Music score
Item no.: 366878
Transkription
for: Trumpet, piano
Piano score, solo part
Item no.: 388601
arranged for two trumpets in B-flat and piano
for: 2 trumpets (B-flat), piano
Piano score, parts
Item no.: 488744
Urtext
Die erste kritische Edition von Verdis Requiem mit komplett käuflichem Aufführungsmaterial.
for: Soloists, mixed choir, orchestra
Study score
Item no.: 670140
includes, besides the original version, a version with a smaller orchestra
for: 4 soloists (SATB), mixed choir (SATB), orchestra, organ
Score
Item no.: 667224
Melodie der Welt (MDW)
for: Voice, piano [guitar/keyboard]
Single edition PVG (Piano/Vocal/Guitar)
Item no.: 635547
for: Oboe, piano
Piano score, solo part
Item no.: 246024
for: Mixed choir (SATB) a cappella
Score
Item no.: 176998
Variations on a Ground Bass
St. Martin's Organ Series 15
for: Organ
Music score
Item no.: 214151
aus "Il sesto libro de madrigali" (1615)
for: 5 recorders (AATTB)
Score, parts (pdf download)
Item no.: 1072
Edition Schott
for: Tenor-Blockflöte und Cembalo (Klavier)
Music score
Item no.: 734900