# Wedding music with specific criteria - suggestions welcomed



## mingo

Hi everyone,

I have been asked to play the piano at a friend's civil wedding ceremony, during the signing of the register. The bride is open-minded as to which piece(s) and we've come up with the following criteria:


Around 10 minutes in length
Not an arrangement (though a proper transcription would be ok)
A single piece (a sonata movement would be ok, but two sonata movements wouldn't be)
Mostly in a major key
Not too virtuosic, so as not to detract from the ceremony
Ideally DipABRSM level or easier (I've passed LRSM but don't have that long to learn anything really difficult) 


So far I have come up with:

Brahms: Ballade No. 4 in B Major (Op. 10)
Schubert: Impromptu No. 3 in B-Flat Major (D. 935)
Herbert Howells: Rhapsody (Op. 14 No. 1)
Fauré: Nocturne No. 6 in D Flat Major (Op. 63)
A couple of Mozart sonata slow movements (Sonatas No. 13 and No. 17, both in B Flat Major)

The bride is a musician and very cultured, so suggestions from 'off the beaten track' would be most welcome.

Thank you.


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## Bettina

You've already come up with some good choices. I particularly like your idea of the Schubert Impromptu in B-flat. Another possibility would be Schubert's Impromptu in G-flat.


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## hpowders

Given my experiences, the Funeral March from Beethoven's Eroica Symphony. I'm sure Liszt did a piano arrangement somewhere.


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## Pugg

> Not an arrangement (though a proper transcription would be ok)


If I had to do this I would certainly look for real wedding music , like the Bridal march from Wagner and Mendelssohn for piano.


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## Animal the Drummer

Good choices in other circs.but I suspect they might be too showy to fit the bride's criteria.

Bach might be a fitting choice for a wedding. Harriet Cohen's (or, failing that, Walter Rummel's) transcription of "Ertödt' uns durch deine Güte" would be lovely, but too short for the 10-minute rule. How about the Sarabande from the Partita no.1 in B flat?


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## mingo

I should have said that the virtuosity criterion is mine, not the bride's. I think the pieces I have listed would be fine (though obviously they're not easy), but I've ruled out Chopin Ballades, some fast sonata movements, etc. because I think they would be too showy for this setting. I hope that makes sense.

I played the Mendelssohn-Liszt-Horowitz Wedding March at a wedding previously, but it was part of a recital so seemed more appropriate then.

The Partita suggestion is a good one. I'm a little "Partita-ed out" (!) after learning and performing the whole of No. 2, but there are indeed some longer movements among them that might be worth considering.


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## mingo

I'll look at the English and French suites too. I believe the 10 minute requirement is reasonably strict so I'm looking for something between 9 and 11 mins probably. That certainly rules out a lot of things and makes it easier in some ways!


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## Tchaikov6

mingo said:


> I'll look at the English and French suites too. I believe the 10 minute requirement is reasonably strict so I'm looking for something between 9 and 11 mins probably. That certainly rules out a lot of things and makes it easier in some ways!


You could play a couple movements of the English Suite No. 4. Happy music, not too virtuosic- or does it have to be only one movement? There's some great Preludes from Well-Tempered Clavier as well that would work for a wedding.


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## Art Rock

Grieg's Wedding Day at Troldhaugen from Lyric pieces book VIII maybe?


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## Judith

Art Rock said:


> Grieg's Wedding Day at Troldhaugen from Lyric pieces book VIII maybe?


I was going to say this one too!


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