Germanic Trivia
The Wedding March(es)
German Cultural and Language Trivia
The German Origins of Several
Traditional Musical Choices for Weddings
Here comes the bride... ta, ta, ta, ta.... If you're like most people, you can hear the melody in your head right now. But where does this cultural icon, the so-called "Bridal Chorus," come from?
Actually, there are several popular wedding marches or melodies. The most familiar wedding march, the one most English-speaking people associate with weddings, comes from a well-known German composer of operas. The "Bridal Chorus, G Major" is borrowed from the Richard Wagner (1813-1883) opera "Lohengrin." The processional "Wedding March" heard in his popular opera has become a cliché in wedding music. Wagner's music is usually played as the bride walks down the aisle before the ceremony.
Another popular piece of German music is often heard after the wedding vows when the newly married couple march down the aisle as husband and wife (recessional). Felix Mendelssohn-Bartholdy's (1809-1847) "Wedding March, C Major" is just as familiar to most people as Wagner's "Bridal Chorus." It was composed as part of Mendelssohn's music for Shakespeare's "Midsummer-Night's Dream" (1842).
Both the Wagner and Mendelssohn melodies gained great popularity after they were used at the royal wedding of Queen Victoria's daughter "Vicky" and the German Crown Prince Friedrich Wilhelm of Prussia on January 25, 1858. Victoria ("Vicky"), the Princess Royal and eldest daughter of the British queen, was a great admirer of the music of the German composers. (See Is British Royalty German? for more about Queen Victoria's German connections.)
In an effort to avoid the rather clichéd wedding processionals by Wagner and Mendelssohn, some weddings feature an alternative by another German composer: Johann Pachelbel (1653-1706). But even Pachebel's "Canon in D" has become a wedding standard of its own.
For more information about wedding marches see the links below.
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WEB > Easybyte.org - Sheet music and midi versions
WEB > Wikipedia - "Bridal Chorus"
WEB > Wikipedia - "Wedding March" (Mendelssohn)
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