# Funeral / Memorial Pieces?



## Christoff (9 mo ago)

Hello,

I am an intermediate-level flutist who wants to record a funeral album in memory of a dear friend who was assassinated last year. I am currently compiling and scrutinizing various pieces for this project. Below is a tentative and incomplete list. I wanted to consult this forum to see if anybody has any experience with playing at funerals and/or if anybody is willing to suggest pieces appropriate for the setting. I will record the pieces either as a flute solo, or a flute duet, or with piano accompaniment (depending on whichever works best).

Current List:

1. Mozart, Requiem: Dies Irae
2. Carl Orff, Carmina Burana: Fortuna planga vulnera
3. Faure, Requiem: In Paradisum
4. Gluck, Dance of the Blessed Spirits
5. Albinoni, Adagio in G Minor

All comments welcome.


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## 59540 (May 16, 2021)

Bach: BWV 125 or BWV 106; this might also work with the flute playing the cantus firmus:


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## mbhaub (Dec 2, 2016)

Nice project. I did something like this a year ago for a friend who died of Covid complications. Played "Pie Jesu" from Andrew Lloyd Webber's Requiem. Bassoon solo with piano accompaniment was very moving. Lot's of tears out there. Even without the words. Here's the piano solo so you can hear the tune.


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## Christoff (9 mo ago)

dissident said:


> Bach: BWV 125 or BWV 106; this might also work with the flute playing the cantus firmus:


Thank you for suggesting the three pieces -- I am currently scrolling through their sheet music. I thought about including Bach's Flute Sonata in B Minor (Andante) but I am not sure if BVW 1030 is thematically appropriate for funeral music. Another possibility is Bach BWV 147, i.e. Jesu Joy of Man's Desiring.



mbhaub said:


> Nice project. I did something like this a year ago for a friend who died of Covid complications. Played "Pie Jesu" from Andrew Lloyd Webber's Requiem. Bassoon solo with piano accompaniment was very moving. Lot's of tears out there. Even without the words. Here's the piano solo so you can hear the tune.


I love Webber's Requiem -- being familiar with Sarah Brightman's work. Thank you for sharing this with me.


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## joen_cph (Jan 17, 2010)

Joji Yuasa: Reigaku, In Memorian Isang Yun - an interesting & atmospheric piece.






Masamitsu Takahashi: Lamento for solo flute - beautiful.






Egil Hovland, Lamento for Flute - also beautiful.


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## Prodromides (Mar 18, 2012)

Alex North's theme for Willy Loman from *Death of a Salesman*


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## NoCoPilot (Nov 9, 2020)

For flute? How about "Syrinx" by Debussy?

I always think Barber's "Adagio for Strings" is the most appropriate funeral music, but it might be hard to adapt to flute.


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## NoCoPilot (Nov 9, 2020)

"On Hearing The First Cuckoo of Spring" adapted for flute? So much of a funeral should be devoted to celebrating life, not giving over to the grief of loss.


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## Alfacharger (Dec 6, 2013)

A piece I associate with memory is from the score to "To Kill a Mockingbird" by the left coast Bernstein, Elmer. Has a nice flute solo to boot.


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## haziz (Sep 15, 2017)

NoCoPilot said:


> "On Hearing The First Cuckoo of Spring" adapted for flute? So much of a funeral should be devoted to celebrating life, not giving over to the grief of loss.


A fine choice. For those of us that have happily abandoned religion, it is good to have options that do not resort to belief systems or references to the supernatural, and that do celebrate life.

Any other suggestions that are secular?


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## Barbebleu (May 17, 2015)

Mahler - Ich bin der Welt abhanden gekommen
Strauss - September
Dylan - Ninety Miles an Hour Down a Dead End Street


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## 59540 (May 16, 2021)

...........deleted.............


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## MarkW (Feb 16, 2015)

Find a violinist and play the obligatto from the Benedictus of Missa Solemnis at the gravesite.


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## NoCoPilot (Nov 9, 2020)

haziz said:


> Any other suggestions that are secular?


"The Lark Ascending"?


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## NoCoPilot (Nov 9, 2020)




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## larold (Jul 20, 2017)

Just about any first movement of a Mahler symphony ...

Purcell *Funeral Music for Queen Mary*, written for the royal's departure






_With text:_


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## clachat (11 mo ago)

Theme from Carrie - Pino Donaggio

flute part from 1.30


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## Forster (Apr 22, 2021)

"Beethoven's" Funeral March?

https://www.classicfm.com/composers/beethoven/walch-funeral-march-royal-family-remembrance-sunday/


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## Rogerx (Apr 27, 2018)

Sibelius: Valse Triste, Op. 44 No. 1


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## RussianFlute (Jul 26, 2021)

Svetlanov's Poem for Violin and Orchestra. If you trim out some parts that are out of the range of the flute, it works fairly well. It was written in memory of David Oistrakh's passing.


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## Enthusiast (Mar 5, 2016)

Christoff said:


> Hello,
> 
> I am an intermediate-level flutist who wants to record a funeral album in memory of a dear friend who was assassinated last year. I am currently compiling and scrutinizing various pieces for this project. Below is a tentative and incomplete list. I wanted to consult this forum to see if anybody has any experience with playing at funerals and/or if anybody is willing to suggest pieces appropriate for the setting. I will record the pieces either as a flute solo, or a flute duet, or with piano accompaniment (depending on whichever works best).
> 
> ...


Condolences.

Your list is quite gutsy, perhaps even angry. So I have something quieter. This is as simple as can be but I have always found it very effective: Part's Cantus in Memory of Benjamin Britten.


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## NoCoPilot (Nov 9, 2020)

clachat said:


> Theme from Carrie - Pino Donaggio


Yikes. Hope that nobody recognizes it, or asks what it is.


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## Christoff (9 mo ago)

Hello,

Thank y'all for the wonderful suggestions. I am familiarizing myself with the suggested pieces to see if they'd fit. I am looking for pieces that would work best for the following combinations: flute solos, flute duets, flute(s) & keyboard. I might be able to find an organist. While I am a secular person myself, I think I prefer religious music for funereal/memorial purposes.



Enthusiast said:


> Condolences.
> 
> Your list is quite gutsy, perhaps even angry. So I have something quieter. This is as simple as can be but I have always found it very effective: Part's Cantus in Memory of Benjamin Britten.


I love tubular bells *and* sonorous chords, so this piece appeals to me. However, I don't see how I could transcribe it for flute and keyboard without sacrificing its charm.


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## Prodromides (Mar 18, 2012)

Christoff said:


> While I am a secular person myself, I think I prefer religious music for funereal/memorial purposes.


Charles Koechlin - Stèle Funéraire pour 3 flûtes à tour de rôle, Op 224 (1950)


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## Prodromides (Mar 18, 2012)

André Jolivet: Incantation "Pour que l'image devienne symbole"


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## Bruckner Anton (Mar 10, 2016)

Years ago, I went to a memorial concert at a (quite famous) music school in the US in memory of a couple of distinguished professors. They performed Brahms clarinet quintet live and played a recording of Shostakovich piano trio by the professors who passed away.


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## Rogerx (Apr 27, 2018)

*Kol Nidrei, op. 47*
Compositie van Max Bruch


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## KevinW (Nov 21, 2021)

Mahler 1 third movement, if you don’t want the atmosphere to be completely sad.


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## Ludwig Schon (10 mo ago)

Gerard Souzay singing Franz Schubert’s Der Doppelganger, but then that’s just what I would want for me in my final moments on this mortal coil…


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## Krummhorn (Feb 18, 2007)

As a professional organist for over 61 years my standard repertoire are just improvisations from a list of favorite hymns. 
Imho this is a service, not a concert. Besides the gathering crowd is always too noisy to notice what I'm playing anyway, so I keep it quite simple ... same pay. Of late the immediate family (including the spouse of the deceased) are always 25 minutes late!! Arghhh.

For my funeral it's going to be other organists who will play and the final song will be "Piano Man" by Billy Joel. I want people to leave from that service with smiles and happiness.


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## DaveM (Jun 29, 2015)

Very moving. Adapted from Holst The Planets:


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