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: Piano
Music score
Item no.: 206569
for: Guitar
Item no.: 277944
for: Flute, piano
Single edition
Item no.: 124782
for: BL SEXTETT
Score
Item no.: 103097
for: 4 guitars (quartet)
Score, Parts
Item no.: 301182
for: 5 Gesang (SSATB) und Basso continuo
Score
Item no.: 446334
for: 2 pianos
Score
Item no.: 695687
for: Cello, organ
Organ score, solo part
Item no.: 624457
for: Bläsernonett und Kontrabass
Score, Parts
Item no.: 429315
for: Organ
Music score
Item no.: 370579
for: Violin, piano
Piano score, solo part
Item no.: 376851
for: 2 trumpets (B-flat), horn (F), trombone, tuba
Score, Parts
Item no.: 400880
for: Symphonic orchestra
Study score
Item no.: 667086
for: Voice, piano
Item no.: 143092
for: Symphonic orchestra
Harmony parts (complete winds)
Item no.: 658676
for: Clarinet, piano
Score, part
Item no.: 257252
for: Bassoon, piano
Piano score, solo part
Item no.: 257253
for: 4 soloists (SATB), mixed choir (SATB), orchestra, organ
Piano reduction
Item no.: 632386
for: Flute, piano
Piano reduction, solo part
Item no.: 171648
for: 4 soloists (SATB), mixed choir (SATB), orchestra, basso continuo
Choir score (Urtext edition)
Item no.: 483298
for: Voice
Songbook
Item no.: 1657498
for: gemischter Chor (SAATTBB)
Choir score
Item no.: 204860
Book (softcover)
Item no.: 649492
for: Posaune und Orgel
Score, solo part
Item no.: 278296
for: Guitar
Music score
Item no.: 370417
for: Soloists, mixed choir (SSATTB), basso continuo
Score (Urtext edition)
Item no.: 114658
for: Horn (F), organ
Sheet music
Item no.: 596483
for: Brass band
Sheet music
Item no.: 595382
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: 3 soloists (SAB), mixed choir (SATB), orchestra, basso continuo
Harmony parts (complete winds)
Item no.: 234621
for: Mixed choir (SATB/SAB) a cappella
Music score
Item no.: 741135
for: Mixed choir (SATB) a cappella
Score
Item no.: 235642
for: Mixed choir a cappella
Score
Item no.: 644637
for: Mixed choir (SATB), basso continuo; 3 solo voices (SAT) ad lib.
Score
Item no.: 422907
for: 2 favorit choirs (SATB, SATB), basso continuo; 8 instruments (colla parte) ad lib.
Score
Item no.: 231793
for: Women's choir (SSA) a cappella
Choir book
Item no.: 279300
for: Mixed choir (SATB), organ
Score
Item no.: 154554
for: 5 soloists (SATB), mixed choir (SSATB), organ
Organ score
Item no.: 655822
for: Mixed choir (SATB), piano
Piano reduction
Item no.: 484726
Abschiedsklang - Mein letzter Gruß
Flexible Besetzung
for: Flexible wind ensemble (5 voices)
Score, Set of parts
Item no.: 1678381
pour orgue
for: Organ
Music score
Item no.: 659958
voor gemengd koor a cappella
for: Mixed choir a cappella
Choir score
Item no.: 489257
for: Guitar
Music score
Item no.: 429243
for: 5 trumpets
Score, Parts
Item no.: 216715
for: Cello, piano
Piano score, solo part
Item no.: 1658195
Choir part Soprano
Item no.: 266026
for: 2 flutes (duet)
Parts (2)
Item no.: 1563702
for: Harmonium [organ manuals]
Item no.: 147693