Funeral Music

Score for Purcell's Funeral March

Choosing the music for a funeral, whether your own or someone else’s, can be daunting, but I’m here to help.

The tradition at most crematoriums is to have three pieces of music, but this isn’t set in stone. You can have as many or as few as you like: the entire ceremony could just be music or you could have no music at all. The traditional approach though is a piece played as everyone comes in, then a reflective piece during the ceremony, often accompanied by a slide show these days, which gives an opportunity for everyone to reflect on the life of the deceased. Then there’s a piece at the end, which is often something upbeat, a reminder that life goes on as everyone leaves the chapel. None of this has to be done like this, but it can help to have a guide of what is usual.

I get asked a lot if something is appropriate or not, and if you are having a religious ceremony, this is something you might want to run past a priest/vicar/religious leader! If you are going non-religious though, the short answer is anything goes. I’ve ended ceremonies with Spirit in the Sky and Always look on the Bright side of life, and I’ve heard of people using things like Firestarter at cremations, with the intention of making people laugh! At my dad’s funeral, we chose Baba o’reilly by The Who, because he always said it had the greatest intro in rock, so we didn’t let anyone leave until that bit was over.

It can also depend on what system a crematorium uses (and what the set up is for ceremonies elsewhere). Many use something called the Wesley System, which has a lot of choice, and you can check here if the pieces you want are there: https://www.wesleymedia.co.uk/

If you have your heart set on something which isn’t on Wesley or similar systems, don’t worry. Funeral Directors can usually sort things out for you, but you may have to send them the specific music required.

Music can be played at burials too—as long as the celebrant doesn’t forget that their phone is linked to the speaker via Bluetooth and accidently wanders too far out of range at the end (not something that’s ever happened to me, honest!).

Live music is another option, at burials or cremations, and can make a very meaningful and memorable ceremony, and is often used where the deceased was musical themselves. There are singers and other musicians who specialise in funeral work, and choirs are often glad to sing at the funeral of one of their members to pay tribute in a really special way.

There’s really no right or wrong when it comes to music choices for a funeral, and well chosen tracks can evoke the person’s memory in a way that mere words can’t, so don’t feel that you have to stick to well worn choices. You really can do it your way!