Funeral March
Classical works
Definition
A slow, solemn march in minor key intended to accompany a funeral procession or commemorate the dead.
Historical Context
The piano funeral march is most famously represented by the third movement of Chopin's Sonata No. 2 in B♭ minor (Op. 35), so iconic that the movement is performed and known entirely independently of its parent work. Beethoven's Marcia funebre in the Piano Sonata Op. 26 is the earlier precedent.