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:
Brass Band
for: Brass band
Sheet music
Item no.: 595382
20 neue Lieder zu Trauerfeiern
for: Voice
Songbook
Item no.: 1657498
for: 2 clarinets (B-flat)
Parts (2)
Item no.: 1563220
Psalm 39 für Orgel
for: Organ
Music score
Item no.: 654986
Über die Nicht- und Flüchtigkeit des menschlichen Lebens – Kantate zum 24. Sonntag nach Trinitatis
Urtext Telemann-Archiv – Stuttgarter Ausgaben
Satz mit vier Blockflötenstimmen
for: 3 soloists (SAB), mixed choir (SATB), orchestra, basso continuo
Harmony parts (complete winds)
Item no.: 234621
für Horn und Orgel
for: Horn (F), organ
Sheet music
Item no.: 596483
for: Mixed choir, basso continuo
Choir score
Item no.: 464356
Klassik
for: String orchestra
Score, Parts
Item no.: 323295
Verse aus Psalm 30
for: Voice, organ [Solo voice, mixed choir (SATB)]
Item no.: 272317
Kantate Nr. 53 – Trauermusik
früher J.S. Bach zugeschrieben (BWV 53)
for: Voice (alto), strings, basso continuo
Study score
Item no.: 392245
for: Organ
Music score
Item no.: 370579
Cantata for funeral service / Purification of Mary.
Reconstruction Klaus Hofmann
Urtext Stuttgarter Bach-Ausgaben
for: 2 soloists (TB), mixed choir (SATB), orchestra, basso continuo
Set of parts
Item no.: 662160
for: Piano
Music score
Item no.: 206569
for: Trumpet (C/B-flat/E-flat), piano
Item no.: 431272
for: Organ
Music score
Item no.: 601543
for: Flute, piano
Single edition
Item no.: 124782
for: Guitar
Item no.: 277944
Edition Schott
for: Violin, piano
Music score
Item no.: 750498
for: Cello, organ
Organ score, solo part
Item no.: 624457
for: Mixed choir (SATB), basso continuo; 3 solo voices (SAT) ad lib.
Score
Item no.: 422907
for: 5 Gesang (SSATB) und Basso continuo
Score
Item no.: 446334
for: Mixed choir (SATB) a cappella
Score
Item no.: 235642
for: 4 soloists (SATB), mixed choir (SATB), orchestra
Score
Item no.: 230665
for: 2 pianos
Score
Item no.: 695687
for: Accordion orchestra
Score
Item no.: 557026
for: Mixed choir a cappella
Score
Item no.: 644637
for: gemischter Chor (SAATTBB)
Choir score
Item no.: 204860
for: Alt solo, Gemischter Chor: SSATB, Basso continuo
Score
Item no.: 1665075
for: Voice, piano
Item no.: 143092
for: BL SEXTETT
Score
Item no.: 103097
for: Mixed choir (SATB), organ
Score
Item no.: 154554
for: Violin, piano
Piano score, solo part
Item no.: 376851
for: 4 soloists (SATB), mixed choir (SATB), orchestra, organ
Piano reduction
Item no.: 632386
for: 2 trumpets (B-flat), horn (F), trombone, tuba
Score, Parts
Item no.: 400880
for: Voice, piano
Music score
Item no.: 257954
for: Clarinet, 2 violins, viola, cello
Set of parts
Item no.: 189233
for: 3 trumpets, 3 trombones, tuba
Score, Parts
Item no.: 820399
for: Salon orchestra
Set of parts
Item no.: 150584
for: Symphonic orchestra
Score
Item no.: 151215
for: 4 guitars (quartet)
Score, Parts
Item no.: 301182
for: Chor, Orchester, Orgel
Gesamtausgabe, Partitur, Urtextausgabe
Item no.: 645621
Score (Urtext edition)
Item no.: 116494
for: Soloists, mixed choir, orchestra
Piano reduction (Urtext edition)
Item no.: 348439
for: Alt solo, Gemischter Chor: SSATB, Basso continuo
Score
Item no.: 115879
for: Trumpet (C/D), organ
Organ score, solo part
Item no.: 460700
for: Mixed choir (SATB), organ
Choir score
Item no.: 317224
for: Organ
Music score
Item no.: 552566
for: Bassoon, piano
Piano score, solo part
Item no.: 257253