# Help i.d. that "funeral song"

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-i-d-that-funeral-song/778846>\
**Category:** Cafe Society\
**Created:** [February 2, 2017, 8:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-i-d-that-funeral-song/778846 "2017-02-02T20:35:41Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 5\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![Cardigan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cardigan/32/187_2.png) [@Cardigan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cardigan)\
**Post date:** [February 2, 2017, 8:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-i-d-that-funeral-song/778846/1 "2017-02-02T20:35:41Z")

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I’m trying to identify what/where the world’s most famous ‘funeral song’ comes from. You’ve heard the 11 note melody I’m talking about dozens if not hundreds of times (dum dum dadum dum dadum dadum daduuum) and can be heard in everything from Bugs Bunny cartoons to sitcoms, and I believe is even heard as a watch alarm tone in the movie Beetlejuice.  
I assume these famous notes are a short excerpt from a classical piece. I don’t believe I’ve ever heard its’ name of the composer.

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**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\
**Post date:** [February 2, 2017, 8:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-i-d-that-funeral-song/778846/2 "2017-02-02T20:38:33Z")

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Frederic Chopin.

> **[Funeral March — Frédéric Chopin | Last.fm](https://www.last.fm/music/Fr%C3%A9d%C3%A9ric+Chopin/_/Funeral+March)**
>
> Watch the video for Funeral March from Frédéric Chopin's Chopin - The Essential Collection for free, and see the artwork, lyrics and similar artists.

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**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\
**Post date:** [February 2, 2017, 10:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-i-d-that-funeral-song/778846/3 "2017-02-02T22:04:17Z")

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Yes, it’s the third movement of Chopin’s Piano Sonata #2 in B-flat Minor, Opus 35, “Marche funèbre”.

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**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\
**Post date:** [February 2, 2017, 10:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-i-d-that-funeral-song/778846/4 "2017-02-02T22:13:57Z")

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I’m almost certain that’s the one the OP is thinking of, but some other ideas are given in this old thread: [That depressing funeral march you hear in movies and TV](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=686565).

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**Author:** ![Cardigan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cardigan/32/187_2.png) [@Cardigan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cardigan)\
**Post date:** [February 3, 2017, 2:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-i-d-that-funeral-song/778846/5 "2017-02-03T14:14:33Z")

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> [@panache45](#):
>
> Yes, it’s the third movement of Chopin’s Piano Sonata #2 in B-flat Minor, Opus 35, “Marche funèbre”.

That would be it. Thanks.