Who composed the Funeral March?

Question

I've known this piece all my life, but who actually composed it and is "Funeral March" really its name?

It's number 15 "Funeral March" in the samples here:
http://www.amazon.com/Drews-Famous-Halloween-Special-F/dp/B0002VEO04/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&s=music&qid=1239486291&sr=1-3

Answer 1

That one is Chopin, it's supposed to be for piano. It's from his Piano Sonata No. 2 in B-flat minor. There are many other funeral marches, but that might be the most famous

Answer 2

There are few versions of the funeral March, I think it is widely attributed to Chopin [4th Title down], however I have listed some other composers and the Titles of their own versions. Hope this Helps. The Dead March from Saul by George Frideric Handel The second movement of Ludwig van Beethoven's Symphony No. 3 (Eroica) The third movement of Beethoven's Piano Sonata No. 12 in A-flat, Op. 26 (written in the key of A-flat minor with a middle section in the major). 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 . (This is probably the piece most often associated with funeral marches in popular culture, such as cartoons and/or computer games). [1] 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 Siegfried's Funeral March from Götterdämmerung by Richard Wagner The Trauermarsch opening movement of Mahler's Symphony No. 5. The ninth variation from Benjamin Britten's Variations on a Theme of Frank Bridge, Op. 10 The third movement of Mahler's first symphony, based on the children's song Frère Jacques.

Answer 3

It's been adapted by dozens of composers, and its debated who originally composed it. See all the composers here:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Funeral_march



* Marche funèbre 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 and the theme for his Marche funèbre in C minor, Op. 72 No. 2.

* Franz Liszt's Marche funèbre, En mémoire de Maximilian I, Empereur du Mexique ("Funeral march, In memory of Maximilian I, Emperor of Mexico") from Années de Pèlerinage

* The Dead March from Saul by George Frideric Handel

* The Funeral March in Memory of Rikard Nordraak by Edvard Grieg

* The second movement of Ludwig van Beethoven's Symphony No. 3 (Eroica)

* The third movement of Beethoven's Piano Sonata No. 12 (written in the key of A-flat minor with a middle section in A-flat major).

* A funeral march, formerly attributed to Beethoven (WoO Anhang 13), believed to be by Johann Heinrich Walch, played at the Remembrance Day Cenotaph Service

* The "Funeral March" from the incidental music for A Midsummer Night's Dream by Felix Mendelssohn

* 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

* Siegfried's Funeral March from Götterdämmerung by Richard Wagner

* The fourth movement of Alexander Scriabin's Piano Sonata No. 1

* The Trauermarsch opening movement of Mahler's Symphony No. 5.

* The song "Der Tamboursg'sell" from Des Knaben Wunderhorn, by Gustav Mahler

* The ninth variation from Benjamin Britten's Variations on a Theme of Frank Bridge, Op. 10

* The third movement of Mahler's first symphony, based on the children's song Frère Jacques.

* The 2nd movement of Brahms' Deutsches Requiem has the characteristics of a Funeral March but is in a slow triple metre.

* The "Funeral March": Adagio Molto from Shostakovich's String Quartet No. 15

* The Trauermarsch written by Anton Diabelli in memory of Michael Haydn for solo classical guitar.

* The "Funeral Music" for Akhnaten's father in Act I of the opera Akhnaten, by Philip Glass.

* The funeral march for Lìu in the opera Turandot, by Giacomo Puccini

* A funeral march for Napoleon Bonaparte, in Háry János, by Zoltán Kodály (after Napoleon has been defeated by the hero Háry János)

* The funeral march from Fibich's opera "The Bride of Messina"

* The funeral march during Tybalt's death in Prokofiev's opera Romeo and Juliet

* The funeral march in Ferdinand David's Concertino for Trombone and Orchestra