Funeral March of a Marionette

Funeral March of a Marionette

Charles Gounod

This humorous character piece was originally written for solo piano in 1872, intended as part of a suite that was never completed. In 1879, Gounod arranged the piece for orchestra, and it’s in this form that it became famous, especially in America as the theme music for the TV show Alfred Hitchcock Presents. The piece has a detailed program explaining that the marionette is killed in a duel at the start, then the funeral march starts, then the mourners stop to take refreshments before continuing to the end.