[Sheet music] The Dead March in Saul

Sheet music for the instrumental march titled 'The Dead March in Saul', composed by Frederick George Handel and arranged by C. Ryder. This is the common name for the funeral march that appears in the third act of Handel's oratorio 'Saul'. The piece is sometimes referred to as 'Funeral march from Saul' or simply 'Funeral March'. The piece was composed between July and September 1738 with the first performance of the oratorio on 16 January 1739.

Funeral marches are a musical genre that are representative of funeral processions. These are often featured during occasions calling for solemn and dignified music due to the nature of the music. Handel adopted the term 'dead march' to refer to this genre. These are also used for marches played by military bands.

This copy of the piece was published around 1943 as part of the anthology 'Famous Marches for Piano' by W.H. Paling Pty. Ltd.



Towards the bottom of this page is a sound recording of this sheet music, or a parody, that was created as part of the Music and the First World War project. More information about this recording, including names of the performers, can be found on the catalogue record for the sound recording. A link to the catalogue record for the sound recording can be found at the bottom of this page, under the heading ‘Related objects’ where it can be identified with the prefix [sound recording].