Music at a funeral service is often one of the first things to be discussed, as music has a great effect on people’s emotions.

Choosing music for a funeral can seem a daunting task, as you can have almost any type of music you wish at a funeral. Don’t feel pressured by this thought. Take time to consider if the deceased had favourite songs, hymns or instrumental music they loved. These pieces of music would add a greater meaning to the service, rather than just the first thing that come to mind.

So far this year we've sung over 100 individual songs and hymns for funerals, burials and memorials services.

​As you would expect, this total includes some of the most popular items, including:

Unchained Melody was originally written for ‘Unchained’, a 1954 movie about life in prison. In the movie an inmate sings about time passing so slowly when you’re locked up wanting to be with the girl you love.  

This song has surprised us by being a popular request for funerals. Not usual for opera.
Lascia ch'io pianga (Let me weep)

One of the skills you learn at music college as a student of singing is to suit your voice to the music, and that includes volume. Singing a song with piano is obviously different to singing an aria with orchestra, for example. However, it;'s only experience that teaches you the art of self-regulating and adjusting your voice to different spaces as well. And it's not always about the size of the space either.

Throughout the years we've been singing for funerals, no pattern for bookings has emerged. However, over the last months, one has emerged - bookings for the middle Friday of the month.

This is a new favourite of ours, a great funeral poem set to wonderful music. We knew of the poem, but the musical setting only came to our notice last year.

Over the last four years, we've started to notice the trends in music played at funerals, with Adele exiting stage left to be replaced by Lilly Allen and others, but some classic pop versions last way beyond their moment in the charts.