Funeral march

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

Examples in western classical music

• The second movement of Ludwig van Beethoven's Symphony No. 3 (Eroica)
• 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
• 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
• The Trauermarsch opening movement of Mahler's Symphony No. 5.
• The eighth variation from Benjamin Britten's Variations on a Theme of Frank Bridge, Op. 10

The 2nd movement of Brahms' Deutsches Requiem has been called a "Funeral March in triple metre".