Despite the negative reaction to the work, the reception of the "Marche funèbre" itself was generally positive, and according to Hadden, writing in 1903, the work had been "popularised to death". Franz Liszt, a friend of Chopin's, remarked that the "Marche funèbre" is "of such penetrating sweetness that we can scarcely deem it of this earth", and Charles Willeby wrote that it is by far "the most beautiful and consistent movement" of the work. Despite criticising the sonata as a whole, Hadden conveyed the opinion that the "Marche funèbre" "is really the finest movement in the Sonata". The "Marche funèbre" alone continues to be one of Chopin's most enduringly popular compositions, and is performed at funerals around the world. In addition to Chopin's own funeral, it was also performed at the state funerals of John F. Kennedy, Sir Winston Churchill, Margaret Thatcher, and those of Soviet and Communist leaders, including Leonid Brezhnev, Yuri Andropov, and Josef Broz Tito. The movement was also played at the state funeral of Polish president Lech Kaczyński, and Egyptian presidents Anwar Sadat and Hosni Mubarak.