Funeral Music between Heaven and Earth

A Comparison of Music Characteristics of Funeral Music from Croatia, the Netherlands, and the United Kingdom

“…The increasing personalization of funerals and, thus, funeral music may lead to an increasingly diverse and idiosyncratic repertoire. Yet, some music is still chosen more often than others (Bruin-Mollenhorst, 2019). The current findings on how audio characteristics correspond to specific emotions and uses may explain part of this attraction.…”

“…Yet, as previously outlined, much of the current funeral music in both the United Kingdom and the Netherlands is popular music (Bruin-Mollenhorst, 2019;Caswell, 2012;Garrido & Davidson, 2016a;Parsons, 2012). However, classical and religious music are still popular funeral choices in the highly secularized Netherlands (Bruin-Mollenhorst, 2019). Australian survey data further suggests that people are inclined to choose positive-sounding music for their own funerals.…”

“…Traditionally, virtually all funeral hymns were in a minor mode, thus sounding sad (Gammon, 1988). Yet, as previously outlined, much of the current funeral music in both the United Kingdom and the Netherlands is popular music (Bruin-Mollenhorst, 2019;Caswell, 2012;Garrido & Davidson, 2016a;Parsons, 2012). However, classical and religious music are still popular funeral choices in the highly secularized Netherlands (Bruin-Mollenhorst, 2019).…”

“…Despite more personal choices regarding music being made, some pieces of music remain popular as funeral music in general. This is probably the result of culture and tradition, the aforementioned personal factors, or aspects of the music and lyrics that make it particularly suitable for this purpose (Bruin-Mollenhorst, 2019).…”

“…Secondly, since these types of music are still commonly used during funeral rituals, selections of funeral music included classical, religious, and folk music, as listed on the websites we consulted, to form a more valid representation of the funeral music repertoire. These types of music are less likely to appear in the top charts of popular music (even though they may be widely known, see Bruin- Mollenhorst, 2019), which may account for some differences in, for example, instrumentalness.…”