What piece of music do you want played at your funeral?

[orbital]

Jewish funerals don't have music.  Mourners are not allowed ot listen to music for 30 days except as part of a religious service.

Depends on the synagogue I think. There was music (and organ music with choir at that.. taped) at my father's funeral.

[PSmith08]

This is really for my amusement, though I'll be beyond caring at that point. There's nothing like expressing one's sense of humor from...[cue Vincent Price voice] beyond the grave!

"You Have Killed Me," Morrissey, Ringleader of the Tormentors.

"I'm No Angel," Gregg Allman, various releases

"Tuba mirum," Giuseppe Verdi, Requiem (Solti '68)

"Heilig, heilig ist Gott der Allmächtige," Franz Schmidt, Das Buch mit sieben Siegeln (Welser-Möst '98)

[Kullervo]

This is really for my amusement, though I'll be beyond caring at that point. There's nothing like expressing one's sense of humor from...[cue Vincent Price voice] beyond the grave!

"You Have Killed Me," Morrissey, Ringleader of the Tormentors.

"I'm No Angel," Gregg Allman, various releases

"Tuba mirum," Giuseppe Verdi, Requiem (Solti '68)

"Heilig, heilig ist Gott der Allmächtige," Franz Schmidt, Das Buch mit sieben Siegeln (Welser-Möst '98)

"That'll Be the Day" Buddy Holly

[Guido]

Bach solo celo Suites... Not sure which - either movements from the first or second, and the Sarabande of the fifth.

Maybe some Part - Cantus, Fratres?

Maybe the old cliche Barber's Adagio. or some of the piano music...

Ives' Decoration Day in its violin/piano arrangement.

[George]

"You Have Killed Me," Morrissey, Ringleader of the Tormentors.

"There is a Place in Hell for Me and my Friends," Morrissey, Kill Uncle 

[MishaK]

I called it first: Bruckner's 7th symphony second movement.

in fact i told a friend about it already, when i die, i want the adagio to bruckner's 7th be played!

Just like Hitler?

[PSmith08]

"There is a Place in Hell for Me and my Friends," Morrissey, Kill Uncle 

That's a good one, too; it won't, however, make my guests feel as awful as "You Have Killed Me."

That's a big part of it. Now that I think about it, "I Don't Mind If You Forget Me," off Viva Hate might do it, too. As long as they feel bad.

[George]

That's a good one, too; it won't, however, make my guests feel as awful as "You Have Killed Me."

That's a big part of it. Now that I think about it, "I Don't Mind If You Forget Me," off Viva Hate might do it, too. As long as they feel bad.

[Wendell_E]

4'33"

[Solitary Wanderer]

I'm On Fire ~ Bruce Whatshisname

[Bunny]

Depends on the synagogue I think. There was music (and organ music with choir at that.. taped) at my father's funeral.

Funerals in the synagogue?  I think you mean the memorial chapel.  they never bring a dead body into the Shul. 

[Bunny]

Hey I didn't know that Beethoven's Missa Solemnis was actually used in Catholic services! Thanks for that information, Anne!

It's a mass, isn't it?  Why shouldn't it be used in a service?  It's not a requiem mass (Missa pro Defunctis/Missa defunctorum) though, so it might not have all the right parts for a funeral.  A Missa solemnis (High Mass) is just a musical setting for a "regular" Mass (Kyrie, Gloria, Credo, Sanctus, Agnus Dei).  The Requiem has more parts, omits some others to have this form: Introit, Kyrie Eleison, Gradual, Tract, Sequence (dies irae), Offertory, Sanctus, Agnus Dei, Communion; and sometimes also Libera Me, In Paradisum, Pie Jesu are added. 

I can't imagine that you couldn't at least use some parts of Beethoven's Missa Solemnis  as long as the other parts are also included.   You can always check with a priest about that.

[Valentino]

Something sort of sad and uplifting at the same time, like the second movement of K. 466 I think.
And Happy by the Stones of course.

[techniquest]

Lento by Howard Skempton must be one of the tunes to be played, as must Hairless Heart by Steve Hackett.

[Solitary Wanderer]

Thing is, if you don't make specific plans you could end up with...

All Things Bright and Beautiful

or

Bridge Over Troubled Water

[Rabin_Fan]

Mahler 4, 4th mvt makes sense as the soprano sings about the delights of heaven.

[PSmith08]

Thing is, if you don't make specific plans you could end up with...

All Things Bright and Beautiful

or

Bridge Over Troubled Water

Or, the dreaded "Wind Beneath My Wings."

Especially if the particularly maudlin relative gets their way.

[quintett op.57]

Kreutzer sonata I think
Or Haydn's piano sonata HOB.XVI:49

If I had to choose a requiem : Ein Deutsche Requiem

[Bogey]

During the service:

A live perfomance of Bach's Cello Suite No. 1 (Prelude)

When they're putting me in the ground or spreading my ashes, something on the bagpipes.

[Xenophanes]

Not that it's the greatest requiem but for me it most fits the emotional situation, moving from solemn sadness to hope. I think people need to face the reality of the death, move through it, and get beyond it. I think the Faure does that.