Funeral March of a Marionette cover.jpg

Funeral March of a Marionette flute ensemble

Funeral March of a Marionette (Charles Gounod)

  • flute ensemble (5 players minimum)

  • ca. 5:00

Score/Parts PDF Preview


Program Notes

Composed by Charles Gounod, arranged by Ian Deterling.

  • Charles Gounod composed Marche Funébre d’une Marionnette (Funeral March of a Marionette) in 1872. Initially conceived as part of a series of short piano works titled Suite Burlesque, the composition stands as a singular piece due to the series never being completed. The work is structured in ternary form (ABA), following a narrative in which a marionette meets its demise in a duel. The piece opens in D minor with a brief introduction depicting the duel and the marionette's death. As the piece unfolds into the first 'A' section, the somber tone portrays the beginning of the funeral procession led by the marionette's friends. The middle ‘B’ section introduces a lighter, more cheerful mood (in D Major) as the mourners pause for refreshments. The somber mood returns in the final ‘A’ section, as the procession resumes. Funeral March of a Marionette has been used in numerous films and television shows, most notably for the opening of “Alfred Hitchcock Presents.”

  • Instrumentation (minimum 5 players needed)

    • Flute 1

    • Flute 2

    • Flute 3

    • Flute 4

    • Alto Flute

    • Bass Flute (optional; doubles Alto Flute)


What do I get when I order Funeral March of a Marionette?

  • You will receive the score and parts in the form of two PDFs:

    • Full Score

    • Complete set of parts

  • Once your order has been processed, you’ll be emailed a link where you can download the sheet music.

  • When you click on the link to download your music, you’ll be brought to the download page (see image)

Download page for Funeral March of a Marionette

  • Note that the score and parts are separated into different PDF files.

  • You can download everything (‘Download All’ button at the bottom), save the files to Dropbox, or download selected score/parts individually.

  • My website is set to five download attempts (see ‘5 downloads remaining’ in the image). If an error occurs or if you need additional download attempts, contact me here and I’ll reset the limit for you.