Funeral March-The Dead March In Saul

The Funeral March is composed in C and proceeds at a grand and stately pace. The Flute duet provides an excellent contrast to the majesty of the piece.Handel’s great oratorio of 1739, Saul, was conceived on a grand scale to tellthe Old Testament story of King Saul, David the slayer of Goliath and Saul’s son, Jonathan. By the end, both Saul and Jonathan have been killed and this moving funeral march marks that sombre moment in the oratorio. Saul isconsidered one of Handel's greatest works, with particular praise for the Choral writing and for this funeral march.