Music and cremation rituals in The Netherlands: A fine-grained analysis of a crematorium’s playlist

Abstract

Although music is an important part of cremation rituals, there is hardly any research regarding music and cremations. This lack of research has inspired the authors to conduct a long-term research project, focusing on musical and linguistic aspects of music played during cremations. This article presents the analysis of a playlist consisting of twenty-five sets of music, each consisting of three tracks, used in a crematorium in the south of The Netherlands from 1986 onward. The main objective is to identify the differences and similarities of the twenty-five sets of musical tracks regarding content and musical properties. Consequently, we aim to provide insight in the history of (music played during) cremation rituals in The Netherlands. To analyze the musical properties of the sets, the authors use both a qualitative approach (close reading and musical analysis) and a computational analysis approach. The article demonstrates that a combination of a close reading and musical analysis and a computational analysis is necessary to explain the differences in properties of the sets. The presented multi-method approach may allow for comparisons against musical preferences in the context of current cremations, which makes it possible to trace the development of music and cremation rituals.

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

“…The introduction of cremations at the end of the 19 th and early 20 th centuries in the United Kingdom and the Netherlands, respectively, substantially affected the choice and use of funeral music (Bruin- Mollenhorst & Hoondert, 2018;Parsons, 2012). Nowadays, cremations are the most common type of funeral in these countries (Bruin-Mollenhorst & Hoondert, 2018;Parsons, 2012;Van der Smissen et al, 2019). Within the British and Dutch crematorium setting, recorded music became the standard due to its low costs, and the increased secularization gave way to a more diverse and popular repertoire, while classical and religious music remained the norm until well into the 1970s (Bruin- Mollenhorst & Hoondert, 2018;Parsons, 2012).…”

“…Initially, the choice of music was also limited due to technological restrictions. Crematoriums in the Netherlands, for example, offered standard sets of typically three songs on tape that might be played during short, formal services (Bruin- Mollenhorst & Hoondert, 2018;Van der Smissen et al, 2019). With the development of smaller and more user-friendly sound systems and, more recently, easier (digital) access, the choice of music during a funeral has become almost limitless (see Bruin-Mollenhorst & Hoondert, 2018, also for some additional changes that affected limitations in selection).…”