Funeral Types
Funeral Types
What type of funeral are you planning?
Whatever kind of funeral service you are planning, there is always a place for music and singing. We’ve taken the five most usual funeral formats we sing at, and given some ideas of how music and live singing slots into the proceedings.
There are few ‘rules’ for funeral music. So, feel free to imagine the ceremony music as you’d wish it, and do call us if you’d like it to include live singing.
From Church of England funerals to
Catholic masses, music and song plays a
key part in the service.
How to include music and song in both religious and secular funerals held at a crematorium or cemetery chapel.
Create your own ceremony
with the help of a celebrant and
include as much music as you wish.
Lay your loved one to rest in a
cemetery, woodland or natural setting,
with a simple ceremony or a really
great send-off – the choice is yours.
Celebrate the life of a loved one
with fond memories, great stories
and some of their favourite music.
We specialise in Catholic funerals. Our repertoire contains a large selection of religious solos, hymns traditional & modern, and we’re happy to learn new ones too!
Call us to discuss your requirements, or listen to our demo tracks at the Listen page
What songs can I have at a funeral?
There are no legal restrictions on what songs you can have. However, if it is a church or religious funeral, your minister should check that your choices are appropriate to the service.
How many songs can I have?
In theory, you can have as many as you like. Most church services allow 45 minutes to 1 hour for a service, so you can include different elements into the service to complement the religious content.
Crematorium services are usually 45mins, but may be limited to 30 minutes. This isn’t usually an issue, as you can include a lot of wonderful content into 30 minutes, including two or three songs.
Which are better – recorded pop songs or a live singer?
Actually, many people have both! A funeral service can contain your favourite pop songs, if your minister is happy with the choice, and the song’s lyrics won’t offend anyone. Having these songs sung in person by a singer, just for that service, adds that personal, unique feel that only live performance can.
Want a particular song but not sure if we sing it?
Actually, it’s more a case of, do you want us to sing it?
We‘re very versatile, but do bear in mind that we are classical singers. So we don’t really sound right singing modern pop diva anthems – Rihanna, Adele and Lady GaGa do it so much better than us!
Cross-over classics
Many families really enjoy hearing us sing the ‘cross-over’ classics, as they sound so good sung live. These are songs with an operatic feel that often have Italian words and a pop feel, such as “Time to say goodbye”, “Nella fantasia” or “Bring him home”, and sung by artists such as Katherine Jenkins, Il Divo or Russell Watson.
Want to talk through your funeral music ideas?
Ring us now on 01252 511 762 to discuss your choice of memorable funeral music, and to check our availability on the funeral date. Or email us.