Funeral March

In 1863 Edvard Grieg (1843-1907) met Rikard Nordraak (1842-1866), one year his senior, who had composed the Norwegian national anthem at the age of seventeen. A deep friendship soon developed, and between them they proceeded to champion the cause of nationalism in Norwegian music.
In 1866, whilst Grieg was in Rome, Nordraak died of consumption in Berlin. When Grieg heard of this some eleven days later, on April 6th, he immediately composed the Funeral March in A minor for piano in memory of his dear friend.
Thereafter he made versions for military band (in G minor) and brass band (in B flat minor), and took to carrying the military band one with him whenever he travelled. In 1904 he wrote, ''I wish to be buried in my native town (Bergen), and I desire and I desire that at the interment my Nordraak Funeral March be played as beautifully as possible.”
Grieg’s wishes were respected at his funeral some three years later, although the Bergen band proved distressingly unequal to the task, and the composer Johan Halvorsen (1864-1935) had hurriedly to produce an orchestral version instead.
The music disappeared from print until in 1970 (inspired by a reference in the excellent fifth edition of Grove) I tracked down a manuscript of the brass version of 1878 and re-scored it for Philip Jones. Subsequently, this brass choir version has been recorded several times, and published by Robert King. The present edition is the first available for wind orchestra, and a brass band scoring is available from Rakeway Music.
The Funeral March in Memory of Rikard Nordraak is a masterpiece, simple and dignified, but deeply moving. It also happens to be one of the very few wind band (or brass band) pieces by a nineteenth century composer of note.
- Geoffrey Emerson

This set comprises:
Full score
2 x Flute 1 2 x Horns 1 & 2
2 x Flute 2 2 x Horns 3 & 4
1 x Piccolo 2 x Cornet 1
2 x Oboes 4 x Cornets 2 & 3
3 x Clarinet 1 2 x Trombones 1 & 2
6 x Clarinets 2 & 3 1 x Trombone 3
1 x Bass Clarinet 2 x Euphonium
2 x Alto Saxophone 4 x Tubas
1 x Tenor Saxophone 2 x Strong Bass
1 x Baritone Saxophone 1 x Timpani
2 x Bassoons 1 & 2 2 x Percussion