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Music has tremendous power to touch human hearts and minds, and therefore, it is a very useful tool in our ministry of comforting people in their sorrow. That means that it is important for us to find ways to include music in our funeral services. There are several ways to do this. We can work with funeral directors to include music during prelude and postlude times at the funeral home. Where funeral homes do not have pianos or organs (or people who can play them), we can secure musicians and soloists to play or sing at funeral services. We can prepare lists of useful music, and even develop a collection of resources that can be used at funerals. This resource collection might include appropriate sheet music, hymns, and accompaniment tapes and CDs. Let's talk about each of these things in turn.

Prelude And Postlude Music

For this music there are a number of options. If you have an organist or other instrumentalist, you might simply have some of the deceased's favorite music played before and after the service. The familiarity of such music often provides the hearers with a deep connection to their lost loved one. Included in this category would be favorite hymns which could also be sung during the funeral service itself. The hymns need not necessarily be especially funereal; they simply need to remind people of the loved one. (A list of particularly good funeral hymns can be found in this chapter.)

There is also a large amount of classical music that is appropriate for before and after services. A short list of helpful pieces of this type of music is also provided here.

Adagio from Pathetique Sonata by Beethoven
Canon in D by Pachelbel
Dead March from Saul by Handel
Funeral March by Chopin
How Lovely Are Thy Dwellings by Brahms
Jesu, Joy of Man's Desiring by Bach
Moonlight Sonata, 1st movement by Beethoven
Prelude No. 1 from Book 1 of the 48 by Bach
Preludes No. 6 and No. 7 by Chopin
Prelude No. 15 "The Raindrop" by Chopin
Song of the Reapers, No. 12 by Schuman
Song Without Words, Opus 85 No. 2, "The Adieu" by Mendelssohn
Song Without Words, Opus 102 No. 6, "Faith" by Mendelssohn
Symphony No. 7 in A, 2nd movement by Beethoven
Tallis Canon by Tallis

Most of the above music can be in both CD form and sheet music for organ or piano. Talk to your local religious bookstore operator for help in acquiring them. Also talk to your local funeral directors to find out what they already own.