Wedding music
Encyclopedia
Wedding music applies music
played at wedding
celebrations, including the ceremony and any festivities before or after the event. The music can be performed live by musicians and/or vocalists or use pre-recorded songs, depending on the format of the event, traditions associated with the prevailing culture and the wishes of the couple being married.
), and in many western cultures, this takes the form of a wedding march. For over 100 years the most popular processional has been Wagner's
Bridal Chorus
from Lohengrin
(1850), often called "Here Comes The Bride", traditionally played on a church organ.
Some couples may consider the traditional wedding marches clichéd and choose a more modern piece of music or an alternate such as Canon in D
by Johann Pachelbel
. Since the televised wedding of Lady Diana to Prince Charles, there has been an upsurge in popularity of Jeremiah Clarke
's "Prince of Denmark's March
" for use as processional music, a piece that was formerly (and incorrectly) attributed to Henry Purcell
as "Trumpet Voluntary".
Weddings in other cultures vary to this, for example in Egypt
there is a specific rhythm called the zaffa
. Traditionally a belly dance
r will lead the bride to the Wedding Hall, accompanied by musicians playing the elzaff, on drums and trumpets, sometimes the flaming torches. This is of unknown antiquity, and may even be from the pre-Islamic era.
At Jewish wedding
s, the entrance of the Groom is accompanied by a tune called baruch haba. Siman Tov ("Good Tidings") is an all-purpose Jewish celebration song.
During the service there may be a few hymns, especially in liturgical settings.
At the end of the service, in Western services, the bride and groom march down the aisle to a lively recessional tune, the most popular tune being Mendelssohn's
Wedding March
from A Midsummer Night's Dream
(1826). Another popular choice is Widor's
Toccata
from Symphony for Organ No. 5
(1880).
to play songs for the couple and guests.
Some culture have specific post-ceremony dance cultures, such as the traditional Scottish ceilidh
with traditional music (such as popular song Mairi's Wedding
) and formation dancing.
At traditional Scottish weddings there is often a dance, after the ceremony, called a ceilidh
. This ceilidh involves traditional Scottish music and has dances such as a "Strip the Willow", "Dashing White Sergeant", and "The Gay Gordons". "Mairi's Wedding
" (aka "Marie's Wedding", the "Lewis Bridal Song", or "Mairi Bhan") is popular in weddings with a Scottish theme. It was written by Johnny Bannerman using a traditional Scots
tune in 1934 and translated from Gaelic
into English
a year later. It has since been recorded by Kenneth McKellar
, The Clancy Brothers
, The Chieftains
with Van Morrison
, The King's Singers
and others, with The Rankin Family
taking it to number one in Canada
.
Music
Music is an art form whose medium is sound and silence. Its common elements are pitch , rhythm , dynamics, and the sonic qualities of timbre and texture...
played at wedding
Wedding
A wedding is the ceremony in which two people are united in marriage or a similar institution. Wedding traditions and customs vary greatly between cultures, ethnic groups, religions, countries, and social classes...
celebrations, including the ceremony and any festivities before or after the event. The music can be performed live by musicians and/or vocalists or use pre-recorded songs, depending on the format of the event, traditions associated with the prevailing culture and the wishes of the couple being married.
Entry and ceremony
Music can be used to annnounce the arrival of the participants of the wedding (such as a bride's processionalProcession
A procession is an organized body of people advancing in a formal or ceremonial manner.-Procession elements:...
), and in many western cultures, this takes the form of a wedding march. For over 100 years the most popular processional has been Wagner's
Richard Wagner
Wilhelm Richard Wagner was a German composer, conductor, theatre director, philosopher, music theorist, poet, essayist and writer primarily known for his operas...
Bridal Chorus
Bridal Chorus
The "Bridal Chorus" "Treulich geführt", from the 1850 opera Lohengrin, by German composer Richard Wagner, is a march played for the bride's entrance at many formal weddings throughout the Western world...
from Lohengrin
Lohengrin (opera)
Lohengrin is a romantic opera in three acts composed and written by Richard Wagner, first performed in 1850. The story of the eponymous character is taken from medieval German romance, notably the Parzival of Wolfram von Eschenbach and its sequel, Lohengrin, written by a different author, itself...
(1850), often called "Here Comes The Bride", traditionally played on a church organ.
Some couples may consider the traditional wedding marches clichéd and choose a more modern piece of music or an alternate such as Canon in D
Canon in D
Pachelbel's Canon is the most famous piece of music by German Baroque composer Johann Pachelbel. It was originally scored for three violins and basso continuo and paired with a gigue in the same key. Like most other works by Pachelbel and other pre-1700 composers, the Canon remained forgotten for...
by Johann Pachelbel
Johann Pachelbel
Johann Pachelbel was a German Baroque composer, organist and teacher, who brought the south German organ tradition to its peak. He composed a large body of sacred and secular music, and his contributions to the development of the chorale prelude and fugue have earned him a place among the most...
. Since the televised wedding of Lady Diana to Prince Charles, there has been an upsurge in popularity of Jeremiah Clarke
Jeremiah Clarke
Jeremiah Clarke was an English baroque composer and organist.Thought to have been born in London around 1674, Clarke was a pupil of John Blow at St Paul's Cathedral. He later became organist at the Chapel Royal...
's "Prince of Denmark's March
Prince of Denmark's March
The Prince of Denmark's March, commonly but erroneously called the Trumpet Voluntary, is a musical composition written circa. 1700, by English baroque composer Jeremiah Clarke .-Composition:For many years the piece was attributed incorrectly to Clarke's elder and more widely known contemporary Henry...
" for use as processional music, a piece that was formerly (and incorrectly) attributed to Henry Purcell
Henry Purcell
Henry Purcell – 21 November 1695), was an English organist and Baroque composer of secular and sacred music. Although Purcell incorporated Italian and French stylistic elements into his compositions, his legacy was a uniquely English form of Baroque music...
as "Trumpet Voluntary".
Weddings in other cultures vary to this, for example in Egypt
Egypt
Egypt , officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, Arabic: , is a country mainly in North Africa, with the Sinai Peninsula forming a land bridge in Southwest Asia. Egypt is thus a transcontinental country, and a major power in Africa, the Mediterranean Basin, the Middle East and the Muslim world...
there is a specific rhythm called the zaffa
Zaffa
In the Arab culture, the zaffa , or wedding march, is a musical procession of bendir drums, bagpipes, horns, belly dancers and men carrying flaming swords. This announces that the marriage is about to begin. This is an ancient tradition, possibly predating Islam.When the procession reaches its...
. Traditionally a belly dance
Belly dance
Belly dance or Bellydance is a "Western"-coined name for a traditional "Middle Eastern" dance, especially raqs sharqi . It is sometimes also called Middle Eastern dance or Arabic dance in the West, or by the Greco-Turkish term çiftetelli...
r will lead the bride to the Wedding Hall, accompanied by musicians playing the elzaff, on drums and trumpets, sometimes the flaming torches. This is of unknown antiquity, and may even be from the pre-Islamic era.
At Jewish wedding
Jewish wedding
A Jewish wedding is a wedding ceremony that follows Jewish law and traditions.While wedding ceremonies vary, common features of a Jewish wedding include a ketuba signed by two witnesses, a wedding canopy , a ring owned by the groom that is given to the bride under the canopy, and the breaking of a...
s, the entrance of the Groom is accompanied by a tune called baruch haba. Siman Tov ("Good Tidings") is an all-purpose Jewish celebration song.
During the service there may be a few hymns, especially in liturgical settings.
At the end of the service, in Western services, the bride and groom march down the aisle to a lively recessional tune, the most popular tune being Mendelssohn's
Felix Mendelssohn
Jakob Ludwig Felix Mendelssohn Barthóldy , use the form 'Mendelssohn' and not 'Mendelssohn Bartholdy'. The Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians gives ' Felix Mendelssohn' as the entry, with 'Mendelssohn' used in the body text...
Wedding March
Wedding March (Mendelssohn)
Felix Mendelssohn's "Wedding March" in C major, written in 1842, is one of the best known of the pieces from his suite of incidental music to Shakespeare's play A Midsummer Night's Dream...
from A Midsummer Night's Dream
A Midsummer Night's Dream
A Midsummer Night's Dream is a play that was written by William Shakespeare. It is believed to have been written between 1590 and 1596. It portrays the events surrounding the marriage of the Duke of Athens, Theseus, and the Queen of the Amazons, Hippolyta...
(1826). Another popular choice is Widor's
Charles-Marie Widor
Charles-Marie Jean Albert Widor was a French organist, composer and teacher.-Life:Widor was born in Lyon, to a family of organ builders, and initially studied music there with his father, François-Charles Widor, titular organist of Saint-François-de-Sales from 1838 to 1889...
Toccata
Toccata
Toccata is a virtuoso piece of music typically for a keyboard or plucked string instrument featuring fast-moving, lightly fingered or otherwise virtuosic passages or sections, with or without imitative or fugal interludes, generally emphasizing the dexterity of the performer's fingers...
from Symphony for Organ No. 5
Symphony for Organ No. 5 (Widor)
The Symphony for Organ No. 5 in F minor, Op. 42, No. 1, was composed by Charles-Marie Widor in 1879. It lasts for about thirty-five minutes. Its Toccata is the best known of all of Widor's compositions.-Structure:The piece has five movements:# Allegro vivace...
(1880).
Post ceremony
After the ceremony, there is often a celebratory dance, or reception, where there may be a live band or DJMobile disc jockey
Mobile Disc Jockeys, also known as Mobile Discos in the UK, are disc jockeys that travel or tour with mobile sound systems and play from an extensive collection of pre-recorded music for a targeted audience...
to play songs for the couple and guests.
Some culture have specific post-ceremony dance cultures, such as the traditional Scottish ceilidh
Céilidh
In modern usage, a céilidh or ceilidh is a traditional Gaelic social gathering, which usually involves playing Gaelic folk music and dancing. It originated in Ireland, but is now common throughout the Irish and Scottish diasporas...
with traditional music (such as popular song Mairi's Wedding
Mairi's Wedding
Mairi's Wedding is a Scottish folk song originally written in Gaelic by Johnny Bannerman for Mary McNiven. Written using a traditional Scottish tune, it was first played for McNiven in 1935 at the Old Highlanders Institute in Glasgow's Elmbank Street. Hugh S...
) and formation dancing.
At traditional Scottish weddings there is often a dance, after the ceremony, called a ceilidh
Céilidh
In modern usage, a céilidh or ceilidh is a traditional Gaelic social gathering, which usually involves playing Gaelic folk music and dancing. It originated in Ireland, but is now common throughout the Irish and Scottish diasporas...
. This ceilidh involves traditional Scottish music and has dances such as a "Strip the Willow", "Dashing White Sergeant", and "The Gay Gordons". "Mairi's Wedding
Mairi's Wedding
Mairi's Wedding is a Scottish folk song originally written in Gaelic by Johnny Bannerman for Mary McNiven. Written using a traditional Scottish tune, it was first played for McNiven in 1935 at the Old Highlanders Institute in Glasgow's Elmbank Street. Hugh S...
" (aka "Marie's Wedding", the "Lewis Bridal Song", or "Mairi Bhan") is popular in weddings with a Scottish theme. It was written by Johnny Bannerman using a traditional Scots
Music of Scotland
Scotland is internationally known for its traditional music, which has remained vibrant throughout the 20th century, when many traditional forms worldwide lost popularity to pop music...
tune in 1934 and translated from Gaelic
Scottish Gaelic language
Scottish Gaelic is a Celtic language native to Scotland. A member of the Goidelic branch of the Celtic languages, Scottish Gaelic, like Modern Irish and Manx, developed out of Middle Irish, and thus descends ultimately from Primitive Irish....
into English
English language
English is a West Germanic language that arose in the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of England and spread into what was to become south-east Scotland under the influence of the Anglian medieval kingdom of Northumbria...
a year later. It has since been recorded by Kenneth McKellar
Kenneth McKellar (singer)
Kenneth McKellar was a Scottish tenor.-Career:McKellar studied forestry at the University of Aberdeen, after graduation working for the Scottish Forestry Commission. He later trained at the Royal College of Music as an opera singer...
, The Clancy Brothers
The Clancy Brothers
The Clancy Brothers were an influential Irish folk music singing group, most popular in the 1960s, they were famed for their woolly Aran jumpers and are widely credited with popularizing Irish traditional music in the United States. The brothers were Patrick "Paddy" Clancy, Tom Clancy, Bobby Clancy...
, The Chieftains
The Chieftains
The Chieftains are a Grammy-winning Irish musical group founded in 1962, best known for being one of the first bands to make Irish traditional music popular around the world.-Name:...
with Van Morrison
Van Morrison
Van Morrison, OBE is a Northern Irish singer-songwriter and musician. His live performances at their best are regarded as transcendental and inspired; while some of his recordings, such as the studio albums Astral Weeks and Moondance, and the live album It's Too Late to Stop Now, are widely...
, The King's Singers
King's Singers
The King's Singers is a British a cappella vocal ensemble who celebrated their 40th anniversary in 2008. Their name recalls King's College in Cambridge, England, where the group was formed by six choral scholars in 1968. In the United Kingdom, their popularity peaked in the 1970s and early 1980s...
and others, with The Rankin Family
The Rankin Family
The Rankin Family is a Canadian musical family group from Mabou, Cape Breton Island, Nova Scotia. The group has won many Canadian music awards, including 15 East Coast Music Awards, six Juno Awards, four SOCAN Awards, three Canadian Country Music Awards and two Big Country Music Awards.- Career...
taking it to number one in Canada
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
.