The Musical Eulogy and Other Functions of Funeral Music

Abstract

This article examines the function of music during contemporary funerals in the Netherlands. Using a performance-based approach, this article shows that music adds to the ritual dimension of contemporary funerals, by relating the music to the funeral itself, the deceased person’s identity, and to emotions. Zooming in on the music that in contemporary personalized funerals is selected because it is—one way or another—related to the deceased, it will be shown that the lyrical content of this music is less important than social and emotional aspects. Theoretically, the concept of the musical eulogy is introduced as a hermeneutic tool to examine music in ritualized contexts.