Top classical wedding songs
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Picking your wedding music can be difficult sometimes, especially if you are going with classical music. Since you presumably don't listen to this music every day, you might not know what songs are popular with weddings or which are traditional for wedding marches and processionals. Here is a short compilation of some of the most played classical songs for during a wedding--for the processional, the ceremony and the recessional.
Classical Processional Music
Canon in D by Johann Pachelbel is one of the most used songs for the processional. It is a piece of baroque classical music written around 1680. It is the basis for many modern songs, none of which can compare to the original. It is immediately recognizable once it has started to play.
Ave Maria was written by Franz Schubert around 1825. It is part of a group of songs that he wrote for a play, "Lady of the Lake" by Sir Walter Scott. The title means "Hail, Mary" and is a very spiritual song.
Classical Ceremony Music
Ave Maria is also sung often during the ceremony. If you want a different song, two by Johann Sebastian Bach are popular: "Air on a G String" and "Wachet Auf."
"Air on a G String" is just a small section of a whole suite of music written by Bach between 1722 and 1723. It is played by violins and a viola only. Although part of a larger piece, this one section is the most famous.
"Wachet Auf" means "Sleepers, Awake!" in German. It was written in 1735 as a series of cantatas to be played leading up to Easter Sunday. The sleepers that the title is referring to are recorded in the Bible. Bridesmaids have been waiting for the groom to arrive, but have fallen asleep before he arrives. When he shows up, the bride is waiting for him, and together they wake up the sleeping bridesmaids.
Classical Recessional Music
"The Wedding March" by Felix Mendelssohn is the most popular wedding recessional music. It was first written as a piece for the Shakespearean play "A Midsummer Night's Dream." Its first recorded use in a wedding was by Princess Victoria Adelaide Mary Louise, a daughter of Queen Victoria, in 1858. Opening with a blast of trumpets, it is a very regal, celebratory piece of music. By using this music in a royal wedding, it set the standard high, with other people wanting to replicate the music at their own wedding.
Beethoven's "Ode to Joy" is a light, happy piece with a fast pace. It is also called "Symphony No. 9." It was inspired by a poem he read by the same name, and it is full of an intense joyous feeling. Full of repetition, this song brings a smile to the face and a skip to the step.
Tags: classical music, classical wedding, classical wedding songs, music written, their weddingSource: www.ehow.com
