In his late years Hanns Eisler concentrated increasingly on adapting his film scores for the concert hall. He also began his Leipzig Symphony during this period, but it was left unfinished at the time of his death. Thilo Medek, a young composer at the time, stepped in to complete the symphony with a number of extracts from Eisler’s film scores.

The compilation of Funeral Pieces of Motion Picture Scores was realised by Tobias Faßhauer and Jürgen Bruns in 2015. The scores use film music from the 1947/48 Hollywood movie So Well Remembered. Eisler wrote the music for the KZ Documentary Nuit et brouillard (Night and Fog) in 1955 for the French movie director Alain Resnais (1922–2014). After many successful concert performances (with and without the moving images), this album now represents the world premiere recording of the score.