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: 4 soloists (SATB), mixed choir (SATB), orchestra, organ
Choir score
Item no.: 627482
for: Piano
Item no.: 355955
for: Organ
Item no.: 162017
for: SOLI (ATB) gemischter Chor 2 Oboen Fagott, Streicher, Basso continuo
Score
Item no.: 473627
Three male choruses on folk poems
for: Male choir (TTBB) a cappella
Choir score
Item no.: 113416
String Quartet No. 3
for: 2 violins, viola, cello (string quartet)
Set of parts
Item no.: 340239
for: Clarinet, piano
Piano score, solo part
Item no.: 154515
für Streichquartett
String Attack
for: 2 violins, viola, cello (string quartet)
Score, Parts
Item no.: 292396
for: 2 guitars
Ensemble score
Item no.: 151247
for: Streichquartett, Kontrabass ad libitum
Score, part
Item no.: 577749
for: Cello, piano
Piano score, solo part
Item no.: 473690
E major
for: Flute, guitar
Score (with TABs), solo part
Item no.: 152327
for: Tenor-Saxophon (Sopran-Saxophon) und Klavier
Score, Parts
Item no.: 134419
for: 2 Alt-Saxophone (Sopran-Saxophon), Tenor-Saxophon und Bariton-Saxophon
Score, Parts
Item no.: 605398
for: Organ
Item no.: 288640
for: BLECH ENSEMBLE SCHLAGZ
Score, Parts
Item no.: 551246
for: Concert band
Score
Item no.: 806510
for: Gesang, Gemischter Chor, Orchester
Score (Urtext edition)
Item no.: 116493
for: Flute, piano
Piano score, solo part
Item no.: 388642
for: SOLI (T) MCH (+ BLECH)
Score
Item no.: 602614
Funeral motet
for: Mixed choir (SATB), orchestra, basso continuo
Study score
Item no.: 587104
for: Flute [oboe/violin], piano
Piano score, solo part, audio file
Item no.: 2145
for: Cello, piano
Piano score, solo part
Item no.: 198035
for: Bass trombone, string orchestra
Score, Parts
Item no.: 591250
for: Brass band
Sheet music
Item no.: 594606
for: Mixed choir (SATB), orchestra
Score
Item no.: 237915
for: 4 soloists (SATB), mixed choir (SATB), orchestra
Piano reduction
Item no.: 237395
for: Mixed choir (SSAATTBB) a cappella
Score
Item no.: 331223
for: Mixed choir (SATB), orchestra
Score
Item no.: 234888
for: SOLI gemischter Chor Bläser, Streicher, Basso continuo
Score
Item no.: 234828
for: Gemischter Chor (SATB), 1-2 Trompeten, 3-2 Posaunen, Orgel, [Pauken]
Score
Item no.: 371392
for: Mixed choir (SATB), string orchestra [organ]
Choir score
Item no.: 310850
for: Piano
Piano reduction
Item no.: 388915
for: Piano
Single edition
Item no.: 462685
for: Concert band
Score, Parts
Item no.: 1689996
for: Small wind band
Piano part for conductor, Parts
Item no.: 691901
Musica Sacra
for: Gemischter Chor 4 TRP, Pauken, Orgel
Score, Parts
Item no.: 473401
for: Organ
Music score (hardcover)
Item no.: 142183
Trauermusik
20 Stücke
for: 4 brass instruments
Score, Parts
Item no.: 1017676
for: Alto saxophone, piano
Piano score, solo part
Item no.: 198987
Mélodies célèbres transcrites
for: Trumpet [clarinet] (C/B-flat), piano
Piano score, solo part
Item no.: 469386
for: Voice (medium), organ
Item no.: 361309
for: Harmonium [organ manuals]
Item no.: 311293
from "Saving Private Ryan"
for: Brass band
Score, Parts
Item no.: 1562105
zus. mit Seidenspinner, Trauermarsch
for: Small wind band
Conductors part (B-flat), set of parts
Item no.: 344222
BWV 244
Urtext Stuttgarter Bach Ausgaben
Soprano in ripieno, Cantus-Firmus-Choralchor
for: Solo voices, mixed choir (SSAATTBB), orchestra
Choir part Soprano
Item no.: 1664712