Wedding March (Mendelssohn)
From The Art and Popular Culture Encyclopedia
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Felix Mendelssohn's "Wedding March" is one of the best known of the pieces that he wrote as incidental music for Shakespeare's play A Midsummer Night's Dream in 1842. It is one of the most frequently used wedding marches, generally being played on a church pipe organ.
At weddings in many English-speaking countries, this piece is commonly used as a recessional, though frequently stripped of its episodes in this context. It is frequently teamed with the "Bridal Chorus" from Richard Wagner's opera Lohengrin, or with Jeremiah Clarke's "Prince of Denmark's March", both of which are often played for the entry of the bride.
The first time that Mendelssohn's "Wedding March" was used at a wedding was when Dorothy Carew wed Tom Daniel at St Peter’s Church, Tiverton, UK, on 2 June 1847. However, it did not become popular at weddings until it was selected by Victoria, The Princess Royal for her marriage to Prince Frederick William of Prussia on 25 January 1858.
An organ on which Mendelssohn gave recitals of, among others, the "Wedding March" is housed in St Ann's Church in Tottenham.
See also
The term "Wedding March" is also used for the "Bridal Chorus" from Richard Wagner's opera Lohengrin.
