Funeral march

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A funeral march or dead march is a march, usually in a minor key, in a slow "simple duple" metre, imitating the solemn pace of a funeral procession. Some such marches are often considered appropriate for use during funerals and other sombre occasions.

[edit] Examples in western classical music

The funeral march for piano written by Frédéric Chopin in 1837, which became the 3rd movement of his Piano Sonata No. 2 in B flat minor, op. 35 and the theme for his Marche funèbre in C minor, Op. 72 No. 2. (This is probably the most well known and famous funeral march with many appearances in popular culture, such as cartoons and/or computer games). [1]

The Dead March from Saul by George Frideric Handel
The second movement of Ludwig van Beethoven's Symphony No. 3 (Eroica)
The third movement of Beethoven's Piano Sonata No. 12 (Beethoven) (written in the key of A-flat minor with a middle section in the major).
The "Funeral March" from the incidental music for A Midsummer Night's Dream by Felix Mendelssohn
The Funeral March for the Final Scene of Hamlet by Hector Berlioz
The Marche funèbre second movement of Charles-Valentin Alkan's Symphony for solo piano, Op. 39 No. 5
Siegfried's Funeral March from Götterdämmerung by Richard Wagner
The fourth movement of Alexander Scriabin's Piano Sonata No. 1
The Trauermarsch opening movement of Mahler's Symphony No. 5.
The song "Der Tamboursg'sell" from Des Knaben Wunderhorn, by Gustav Mahler
The ninth variation from Benjamin Britten's Variations on a Theme of Frank Bridge, Op. 10
The third movement of Mahler's first symphony, based on the children's song Frère Jacques.
The 2nd movement of Brahms' Deutsches Requiem has the characteristics of a Funeral March but is in a slow triple metre.
The "Funeral March": Adagio Molto from Shostakovich's String Quartet No. 15