Music

Home
Advice
Choices
Music
FAQ
About me
What people have said...
Tribute
Tribute
Plan Ahead

What music do people choose for funerals? 

In recent years, there has been an enormous change in the type of music chosen for funerals.  More and more people are choosing secular music, even when the service is conducted by a religious minister.  Below, I have listed some of the tracks that have been played at funerals I have conducted, as an illustration of the wide variety of music chosen.  Some places (like Easthampstead Park Crematorium) have the Wesley Music system installed.  This means that you don't have to provide the CDs.  You can have any piece of music that is commercially available.  I recommend that you read the lyrics of your chosen tracks to check that they are appropriate.  Also, please be aware that for many pieces of music, especially classical, there will be several versions.  There are hundreds of versions of Ave Maria!

You may also want to ask your funeral director about having someone play the bagpipes (Ron Paterson from Wokingham is excellent) or having a choir or small group of singers.

Wesley Music

Lyrics

TV, Radio and Film Themes

BBC Match of the Day
BBC Test Cricket
Bring Me Sunshine, Morecambe and Wise 
Cavatina (The Deerhunter) various artists
Desert Island Discs (By The Sleepy Lagoon)
Gardener’s World
The Great Escape 
Lara's Theme (Dr Zhivago)
Last of the Summer Wine
Morse
My Heart Will Go On, Celine Dion (Titanic)
Somewhere In Time, John Barry
There You'll Be, Faith Hill (Pearl Harbour)
Those Magnificent Men In Their Flying Machines

Novelty/Football Songs

Always Look on the Bright Side of Life, Eric Idle
Gone Fishin' Bing Crosby and Louis Armstrong
Grandad, Clive Dunn
I'm Forever Blowing Bubbles
The Lion Sleeps Tonight, The Tokens
You'll Never Walk Alone, Gerry & The Pacemakers

Female Vocalists

Close to You, The Carpenters
Fields of Gold, Eva Cassidy
Hero, Mariah Carey
I Know You By Heart, Eva Cassidy
I'll Stand By You, Chrissie Hynde (The Pretenders)
I Will Always Love You, Whitney Houston
Make You Feel My Love, Adele
Nothing Compares 2 U, Sinead O'Connor
Run, Leona Lewis
Que Sera Sera, Doris Day
Somewhere Over the Rainbow, various artists
Take My Hand, Dido
The Rose, Bette Midler
The Way We Were, Barbra Streisand
This Woman's Work, Kate Bush
We'll Meet Again, Vera Lynn
Your Song, Ellie Goulding

Male Vocalists

Angels, Robbie Williams
Bat Out of Hell, Meat Loaf
Bridge Over Troubled Water, Simon & Garfunkel
Everything I Do (I Do It For You) Bryan Adams
Everything I Own, David Gates
Fields of Gold, Sting
Find Me, David Gates
Gangsta's Paradise, Coolio
If You Go Away, Jack Jones
My Way, Frank Sinatra
Smile, Nat King Cole
Softly as I Leave You, Matt Monroe
Tears in Heaven, Eric Clapton
The Wonder of You, various artists
To Where You Are, Josh Groban
Unchained Melody, The Righteous Brothers
Unforgettable, Nat King Cole
We Have All the Time in the World, Louis Armstrong
What A Wonderful World, Louis Armstrong
You're The Greatest, R Kelly

Bands

All You Need is Love, The Beatles
Bohemian Rhapsody, Queen
Everybody Hurts, REM
Flying Without Wings, Westlife
I Have A Dream, Abba/Westlife
I'm Free, The Who
In My Life, The Beatles
Let It Be, The Beatles
My Hero, The Foo Fighters
Stairway to Heaven, Led Zeppelin
Thank You for the Music, Abba
The Show Must Go On, Queen
These are the Days of our Lives, Queen
Who Wants to Live Forever, Queen
Wish You Were Here, Pink Floyd

Classical

Adagio for Strings, Barber
Adagio, Albinoni 
Blue Danube, Johann Strauss
Canon in D, Pachelbel
Clair de Lune, Debussy
Fantasia para un Gentilhombre, Second Movement Rodrigo 
Four Seasons (Largo from Winter) Vivaldi
Meditation, Thais, Massenet
Le Onde, Einaudi
Le Reve, Saint-Preux
Morning, Grieg from Peer Gynt
Nimrod, Elgar
Spiegel im Spiegel, Arvo Part
The Lark Ascending, Ralph Vaughan Williams
Waltz of the Flowers, Tchaikovsky from the Nutcracker Suite

Opera/Choir

Ave Maria
Ave Verum Corpus, Mozart
Dido's Lament, Purcell
In Paradisum, Faure
Land of My Fathers
Nessun Dorma, Puccini from Turandot
O Fortuna from Carl Orff’s Carmina Burana 
One Fine Day, Puccini from Madame Butterly
Pie Jesu written by Faure from his Requiem
Pie Jesu written by Andrew Lloyd Webber from his Requiem
Zadok the Priest

Instrumental

Albatross, Fleetwood Mac
Cavatina, John Williams
Moonlight Serenade, Glenn Miller
Romance, John Williams
String of Pearls, Glenn Miller 

Modern Classics

Ave Maria, Beyonce
Do Not Stand (at my grave and weep) Libera or Katherine Jenkins 
Time to Say Goodbye, Andrea Boccelli & Sarah Brightman and others
You Raise Me Up, Westlife

Hymns

Abide With Me by Michael English
Amazing Grace by Judy Collins
The Lord Is My Shepherd (Vicar of Dibley) Christchurch Cathedral Choir Oxford

Celtic

Ashokan Farewell, Ungar & Mason
Auld Lang Syne
Danny Boy by the Celtic Tenors
Flower of Scotland
Highland Cathedral, Royal Scots Dragoon Guards
I Will Find You, Clannad
There'll Be A Welcome In The Hillside, Fron Male Voice Choir
The Skye Boat Song
Watermark, Enya