One of my dear friends is getting married, and as she considers me to be an expert on classical music (this is extremely relative, believe me), has asked me to find her some ideas for music she can give the pianist.
No Ave Maria or Lohengrin, says she.
I have already suggested Pachabel’s Canon in D for the seating period as it’s not too overdone, but I need suggestions for a walking down the aisle piece (medium short), a lighting the unity candle piece (medium), and then the recessional (long).
I’ve already decided that Rimsky-Korsakov’s Procession of the Nobles and Orff’s Carmina Burana don’t quite fit the mood, as much as I like them.
One piece I really like but I don’t know the name to is the duet from Mozart’s Marriage of Figaro that Andy Dufresne played over the intercom in Shawshank Redemption.
Really what I’m looking for is quietly joyous music. Please, crack many jokes. My friend and I giggled over the idea of using the William Tell Overture already. But I do need as many real ideas as possible.
Ode to Joy and Jesu, joy of man’s desiring are good…
I have a tape with all kinds of wedding music on it you might want to check at Tower or something. Also a good wedding pianist will have a list of stuff that is normally played. (esp. if its in a church!)
Hope I helped a little!
-Frankie
“Mother Mercy, can your loins bear fruit forever?/Is your fecundity a trammel or a treasure?”
-Bad Religion
Trumpet Voluntary (I think that’s the name of it–possibly Voluntaire) is a great processional. I personally like Beethoven’s Ode to Joy as a recessional, too.
That is roughly the extent of my knowledge when it comes to classical music. Excepth for Beethoven’s Fifth. Maybe you could work that in on the processional. Can you imagine a bride starting that loooong march down the aisle to that tune? Hehehehehe…
“The quickest way to a man’s heart is through his ribcage.” --anonymous redhead
I would go with Ode To Joy for the recessional, definately…it makes you want to stand up and makes you feel euphoric, perfect tension-breaker. I would try to fit in the 2nd movement of the Pathetique sonata somewhere, though some may think it is too depressing, I think that it is the most beautiful music ever written. (Hey- I’m a Beethoven fan.)
Bach is a goldmine for the “quietly joyous” stuff. You might also want to track down a tape of Charles and Di’s wedding. We got some good ideas for our wedding from that. It may not seem like terribly good karma, but hey, I’ve been married so long I don’t even remember what the music was, so it didn’t hurt us much.
That would be hilarious. Forget the bride-imagine the look on the groom’s face when the chapel doors blow open on the first few, resounding notes and he sees his bride-to-be framed by thunderclouds and lightning, her veil and train whipping about in the wind.
He weathered a firestorm of agony and did not break.
And while Yori raged against his unbending
courage, we took Kyuden Hiruma back.
His loss is great, but so is the gift his suffering brought.
-Yakamo’s Funeral
This is my EXACT dilemma. Getting married in May. MY problem is, I refuse to use Ode To Joy, Pachelbel, Trumpet Voluntary, Jesu, or any of the other ones that you KNOW are so overplayed at weddings it’s disgusting.
Some suggestions I’ve gotten include Mouret’s Rondeau, which is the theme from Masterpiece Theatre. That’s the reason I won’t use it, but some other people might not mind.
Also, Charpentier’s Te Deum. I haven’t heard it yet, though.
Geez, now I really wish I had a computer at home so I could refer to my music library. I’ve started a pretty extensive classical collection, but, being a newbie to it, I can’t remember many of the names of the pieces yet,only which CD’s they are on!
Anyway, if you do like The Planets, the composer is Gustav Holst.
How 'bout the overture (I think it’s the overture) to Pier Gynt by Jean Sibelius? Just an idea
The Sull Aria, if I’m not mistaken – been a while since I saw the movie, but I remember whispering it at the time to my date in an effort to show how classy I was.
I would suggest the Widor Toccata for organ. It is wonderful, upbeat, and extremely passionate. (more traditional)
Perhaps if you want something immensely romantic you could go with Recuerdos de Alhambra by F. Tarrega for classical guitar. If you have more money and can hire a small orchestra (7 parts) I would suggest either Concerto for guitar and small orchestra by H. Villa-Lobos (I played this one for my senior recital) it is very beautiful and technically challenging.
There are so many other pieces to consider but these would be a good bet.
HUGS!
Sqrl
Gasoline: As an accompaniement to cereal it made a refreshing change. Glen Baxter
