Do you know of any good TRADITIONAL funeral hymns?

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Okay, so today in a regular Catholic funeral, you would mostly hear “Hear I Am, Lord” and “On Eagles Wings” sung pretty often to the point where it gets nauseating. What are some good traditional hymns you can think of?

Also, don’t say “Amazing Grace”
 
Dies Irae
Faure’s Requiem

the most commonly requested here, besides the traditional Spanish songs, are Precious Lord and Closer Walk with Thee
 
CatholicZ09 said:
Okay, so today in a regular Catholic funeral, you would mostly hear “Hear I Am, Lord” and “On Eagles Wings” sung pretty often to the point where it gets nauseating. What are some good traditional hymns you can think of?

Also, don’t say “Amazing Grace”
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Yeah, but is there really any other hymn that sounds as good on the bagpipes? 😉
 
The organist at my uncle’s funeral sang To Paradise, now may the angels take you…but in English. That was a nice change.

At my mother’s funeral, we had I Know That My Redeemer Lives, but my sister gave the list to the priest, and she rewrote it without the page numbers, so the soloist sang the one that says He lives, He lives, My everliving Godhead lives, or something like that. I meant the other one, but we’ll be singing the He lives one on Sunday at Mass. The choir director said it’s an old time traditional Catholic hymn, but this old time Catholic never heard it before the funeral and Sunday is the first time I’ll be singing it.

I sang tons of funerals and weddings when I was in grade school. I don’t think songs like Dies Irae or Lacrimosa are used any more because they focus on sorrow, instead of the joy of meeting God. But that’s just what I think. I loved singing Lacrimosa. It made me feel like I was an opera singer. Today, I associate it with ritual killings on TV shows and in movies.

I love Precious Lord, it’s one of my favorite songs, and it’s in the Breaking Bread Hymnal, but I’ve never heard it in a Catholic church.
 
I’m under 50, but grew up in a parish that still had 40 hours adoration and Corpus Christi processions in the '70s.

For funerals, there would be Easter hymns, with Panis Angelicus at Communion, and “Holy God We Praise Thy Name” for closing.

There is lots of music to choose from. The trick is finding a church with a sufficient organ and organist to do the job, and a good soloist or singers. IMHO, it is worth researching and paying for quality in the performers. Not cheap, but there are not enough flowers in the world to cover up bad music.

This is particularly true for Dies Irae, a traditional requiem, or a traditional dirge. In the wrong hands, the effect will sound like a very bad Halloween movie. An atmosphere of mourning is one thing, but you don’t want to engender a desire to slit one’s own wrists.
 
daeve said:
The organist at my uncle’s funeral sang To Paradise, now may the angels take you…but in English. That was a nice change.

At my mother’s funeral, we had I Know That My Redeemer Lives, but my sister gave the list to the priest, and she rewrote it without the page numbers, so the soloist sang the one that says He lives, He lives, My everliving Godhead lives, or something like that. I meant the other one, but we’ll be singing the He lives one on Sunday at Mass. The choir director said it’s an old time traditional Catholic hymn, but this old time Catholic never heard it before the funeral and Sunday is the first time I’ll be singing it.

I sang tons of funerals and weddings when I was in grade school. I don’t think songs like Dies Irae or Lacrimosa are used any more because they focus on sorrow, instead of the joy of meeting God. But that’s just what I think. I loved singing Lacrimosa. It made me feel like I was an opera singer. Today, I associate it with ritual killings on TV shows and in movies.

I love Precious Lord, it’s one of my favorite songs, and it’s in the Breaking Bread Hymnal, but I’ve never heard it in a Catholic church.
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You bring up a good point. Just as Fantasia and Buggs Bunny send-ups have given the wrong association to a lot of great concert hall music (“Kill da Wabbit”, anyone?), the relegation of traditional funeral hymns (the ones that focus on the sorrow and gravity of death) to horror shows that didn’t exist when the music was used for its original purpose will have ruined some very good music from being used effectively for its intended purpose any time soon.

Ignore this unfortunate fact, and the effect could turn out to be comic or pathetic, rather than full of pathos.
 
Newbie2 said:
Yeah, but is there really any other hymn that sounds as good on the bagpipes? 😉
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Ask the bagpiper. There is not a musician worth listening to who thinks his instrument anemable to only one tune. He will probably have been hoping and praying that someone would ask him to play something different–ANYTHING different!–for many years. I bet he would be ready with some alternative suggestions! 😃

Seriously, though, there are some airs for the bagpipes that would break your heart, they are so beautiful.
 
I’m a funeral cantor. Some of the favorite hymns are:

All the Easter hymns
Jerusalem My Happy Home
O God Our Help In Ages Past
For All the Saints
Crown Him With Many Crowns
The Living God My Shepherd Is or any other setting of Psalm 23

Often requested music not funeral themed:

Ave Maria
Panis Angelicus

Sadly, you can tell which families go to church and which don’t by their music choices. If they ask for the nasty contemporary junk, it usually means they actually go to Mass regularly. If they ask for classical selections, they’re going on what they’ve seen in the movies. Of course, these sweeping generalizations don’t really apply to everyone. In my parish, for example, we don’t do much contemporary stuff, so our regular Mass-goers don’t ask for it, but their extended families from other parishes do.

Betsy
 
At my father’s funeral, “Where the Roses Never Fade” was one of the songs they played.
 
How Great Thou Art and Morning has Broken were played at almost every funeral I’ve been to around here. I’ve also often heard Nearer My God to Thee.
 
This is what I have used:

I Heard the Voice of Jesus Say
Attende Domine
Salve Regina (Recessional)
We Have Been Told (the only David Haas song that passes muster)
Sing with All the Saints in Glory (recessional)
Alleluia, the Strife is O’er
Jerusalem, My Happy Home
Donde Hay Caridad y Amor
The King Shall Come When Morning Dawns (if the funeral is during Advent)
Allelluia, Sing to Jesus (for Communion, outside of Lent)
What Wondrous Love is This (if the funeral is during Lent)
In Paradisium

For the funeral Mass of Pope John Paul II, the Litany of the Saints was used as the entrance processional. It would actually make an interesting entrance processional for a regular funeral.
 
How about Lift High the Cross?

of course in some places (thinking Chicago and New York) a “traditional funeral hymn” is Danny Boy.
 
If the family doesn’t make any requests for the typical hymns - ie. On Eagles Wings, Here I am Lord, Be Not Afraid, Amazing Grace, etc., this is some of what we suggest to them or choose ourselves (all depends on time of the year, too):

Lord of All Hopefulness (Slane melody)
I Heard the Voice of Jesus Say (Kingsfold melody)
The King of Love, My Shepherd Is (St. Columba melody)
He Comes to Us As One Unknown (Repton melody)
I Know that My Redeemer Lives (Duke Street melody - 18th c.)
What Wondrous Love is This
Attende Domine
Pie Jesu (from Durufle’s “Requiem” mass)
Panis Angelicus - Lambillote or Franck (This is something that is sometimes requested by family)
Ave Maria - Schubert (also something that is requested by family as well)
 
In a TLM there are NO hymns, only the chants, psalms and canticles that are appointed for the funeral rites.
 
Chatter163 said:
In a TLM there are NO hymns, only the chants, psalms and canticles that are appointed for the funeral rites.
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That is true. But recessionals such as In Paradisum are used, though one of Bach’s softer instrumentals, such as Little Prelude in G minor, can be appropriate.

I also believe that in the EF Masses for the Dead (black vestments) are now allowed on a daily basis.
 
Two very good ones that come to mind are “To Jesus, Heart All Burning” and “Mother Dearest, Mother Fairest”.
 
At my M-I-L’s funeral (several years ago) my S-I-L sent everybody an audio tape of the hymns they had chosen so we could practice in advance.

When my father died i knew he had wanted the 23rd psalm prayed, not sung, so we went to his bible for the version he knew and there we found his choice of hymns and readings. He had Hail Queen of Heaven, Sweet Sacrament Divine and All Creatures of Our God and King among others, none of them traditional funeral hymns but ones of rejoicing.

I love that is how I remember my father. He had such trust in God’s mercy that he wanted his death to be a celebration of his entry into eternal life.That doesn’t mean that we canonised him, we pray daily for his soul to be released from Purgatory and enter the Church Triumphant.
 
There’s also:

Parce Domine
Jesu Dulcis Memoria

But since I am a native New Orleanian, how about Just a Closer Walk with Thee?
 
When I sing at a funeral, most of the time the family requests songs. That would be “On Eagle’s Wings,” “Here I Am, Lord,” “Be Not Afraid,” “Amazing Grace,” and the occasional “How Great Thou Art.” (Yes, I am tired of most of these; but if the family finds comfort in them, I’m OK with that.) Some will request an “Ave Maria”; I prefer the Bach/Gounod or the Saint-Saens version.

If I am allowed to choose, I often select from among the following (numbers are from The Adoremus Hymnal):
  • I Heard the Voice of Jesus Say - 579
  • Lead, Kindly Light - 578
  • The King of Love My Shepherd Is - 580
  • There’s a Wideness in God’s Mercy - 613
  • Jesus, My Lord, My God, My All (Communion) - 516
  • May Flights of Angels Lead You on Your Way (for the Final Commendation) - 573 - a paraphrase of “In Paradisum”
  • Soul of My Savior (Communion) - 522 - the last verse is especially appropriate for funerals (“Call me and bid me come to Thee on high, when I may praise Thee with Thy saints for aye”)
If you have a small group of singers capable of harmony, I would recommend as a Communion hymn “Lord, to Your Feast We Come” by Lvov. It recalls the Good Thief calling to Jesus for mercy in his last hour. It is from the Eastern Orthodox tradition, musically beautiful. I hope they will sing it at my funeral (if a Traditional Latin Mass is not possible)! Music is available from G.I.A. giamusic.com/search_details.cfm?title_id=3931

If I know that the family would not mind Latin, I might include:
  • Dies Irae - 577 (Selected verses; it is long. I used verses 1, 2, 5, 6, 9, 10, 17, 18, 19, 20 for Offertory with incensing, and that was about the right length.)
  • Panis Angelicus (Franck or Lambillotte) (Communion)
  • In Paradisum - 572
 
PhilotheaZ said:
When I sing at a funeral, most of the time the family requests songs. That would be “On Eagle’s Wings,” “Here I Am, Lord,” “Be Not Afraid,” “Amazing Grace,” and the occasional “How Great Thou Art.” (Yes, I am tired of most of these; but if the family finds comfort in them, I’m OK with that.) Some will request an “Ave Maria”; I prefer the Bach/Gounod or the Saint-Saens version.

If I am allowed to choose, I often select from among the following (numbers are from The Adoremus Hymnal):
  • I Heard the Voice of Jesus Say - 579
  • Lead, Kindly Light - 578
  • The King of Love My Shepherd Is - 580
  • There’s a Wideness in God’s Mercy - 613
  • Jesus, My Lord, My God, My All (Communion) - 516
  • May Flights of Angels Lead You on Your Way (for the Final Commendation) - 573 - a paraphrase of “In Paradisum”
  • Soul of My Savior (Communion) - 522 - the last verse is especially appropriate for funerals (“Call me and bid me come to Thee on high, when I may praise Thee with Thy saints for aye”)
If you have a small group of singers capable of harmony, I would recommend as a Communion hymn “Lord, to Your Feast We Come” by Lvov. It recalls the Good Thief calling to Jesus for mercy in his last hour. It is from the Eastern Orthodox tradition, musically beautiful. I hope they will sing it at my funeral (if a Traditional Latin Mass is not possible)! Music is available from G.I.A. giamusic.com/search_details.cfm?title_id=3931

If I know that the family would not mind Latin, I might include:
  • Dies Irae - 577 (Selected verses; it is long. I used verses 1, 2, 5, 6, 9, 10, 17, 18, 19, 20 for Offertory with incensing, and that was about the right length.)
  • Panis Angelicus (Franck or Lambillotte) (Communion)
  • In Paradisum (for the Final Commendation) - 572
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I forgot to mention “Pie Jesu” from Requiem by Fauré.
 
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