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Ceremonial
Music that is composed, written, and appropriately arranged for a particular ritual -- whether the activity be associated with religion, politics, or social status -- is Ceremonial Music. Ceremonial music is a transcultural phenomenon, the structures of which are culturally dependent. Certain cultures, for example, will play celebratory, festival music with strong major cadences for funeral rituals, while others will seek music that is subdued, melancholy, and most often written in minor keys or modes. Requiems for the dead are forms of ceremonial music, as are wedding marches, preludes, and processionals. Ceremonial music has also been composed in accord with the celebration of births, birthdays, coronations, spring festivities, and, of course, religious holidays.
