Funeral Music

A friend of mine died earlier this year and, at his funeral, we all sang Abide With Me like spectators at an FA Cup Final, then sent the coffin on its way to the strains of Days sung by Kirsty MacColl. Now that, thought I, is how I would like to go. Probably to the original version by the Kinks, but it's hard to be choosy when you're not actually around. Just remember my wishes please. Anyway, it also made me realise that I'd actually been planning my funeral music over many, many years. Is it just me, or does everyone sometimes hear a piece of music and think 'that's just what I'd like them to play? ' Years ago I sang in a school performance of Brahms Requiem and took a shine to Ihr habt nun Traurigkeit, thinking that would be ideal! It means 'You now have sorrow' which I suppose might be inappropriate if the congregation are cheering my demise to the rafters, but hey, whose funeral is it anyway. And the cost of the solo soprano can come out of the estate. Later on, much of Elton John's material had a certain appeal - Funeral for a Friend, Candle in the Wind, Song for John (if I'd been born a John). In researching 'curtain music' today, I discovered that the UK press had run articles on the same subject last month following a survey by the Co-op. Here's a particularly good account: http://blogs.guardian.co.uk/culturevulture/archives/2005/11/17/curtain_music.html
Anyway, Time to Say Goodbye, lie back and await your own suggestions...