Variations on Funeral Marches

In classical music, funeral marches are typically written in minor keys, with a simple signature to imitate the slow, solemn pace of a funeral procession.  Other types of funeral music include dirges, elegies, laments, and requiems.

Dirges are also appropriate music for funerals, as they are mournful songs composed in memorial to a dead person.    Dirges express grief without maintaining the rhythm of funeral marches.

An elegy is often described as a poem of mourning.  In music, an elegy, sometimes spelled elegie, is a piece that conveys a sad and somber tone.  Elegies do not have to be written on a specific death, and may reflect a general melancholy instead.

A lament or lamentation is a song, poem, or piece of music expressing grief, regret, or mourning, often performed by women.  The Scottish bagpipe is often associated with purely instrumental laments.

A requiem is the term used for any composition that sets to music religious texts that would be appropriate for a funeral.  Originally, requiems were written for the Catholic funeral mass.