What Music Did You Play At Your Wedding?

[jiyoung]

[quote name='Raphael' date='23 February 2010 - 01:05 PM' timestamp='1266944747' post='2061880']
Let's see...Sleeper's Awake, Let All Mortal Flesh Keep Silence, Adoramus Te Christe, Jesu, Joy of Man's Desiring.

jiyoung was our cantor. Since she's done a solo in St. Peter's, I thought that was pretty good.
[/quote]

haha. It was actually St. John Lateran with the FUS group, but I'm flattered that you thought I'm good enough to be chosen for a solo at St. Peter's. I believe you also had the Franck Panis Angelicus and the Schubert Ave Maria.

I've sung for a heck of a lot of weddings--most of them you may know, since they're a lot of FUS types--Beth Waechter & Justin Rowland being very recent, Jen Giannakas & Jeremiah Elsinger, azaelia & phatcatholic from here (not including their full names because I'm not sure if they want those revealed, and I don't remember if they have already), Raphael & StColette, etc. I find that they tend to veer towards the same pieces--not a bad thing, especially since that means I don't have to learn a whole lot of new stuff. The repertoire you choose should depend on the capabilities of your musicians, as well as your own musical tastes...for instance, I'd like to have a moderately-sized choir (8 to 16 voices?) and string quartet as well as an organist at my theoretical wedding. Much more within my grasps because I'm going to music school, I think. So, I would choose a lot of sacred polyphony, and some chant, and then some other sacred choral pieces.

I don't know who you're having sing at your wedding (hint hint nudge nudge. lol jk) but I would consult with that person, or the organist. If you're lucky enough to have someone who actually knows what's appropriate to the liturgy, who has a lot of experience singing in churches, and who has a wide knowledge of the sacred music literature. I'm assuming you'll have a Novus Ordo in English? I found a lot of really beautiful and appropriate hymns in the Adoremus Hymnal. For Amy & Nick's wedding (azaelia & phatcatholic), they requested a good deal of chant, so I sang the chant propers for the procession--they processed in together, which is a very traditional option for Catholic weddings--as well as chant ordinary. I really like the Missa de Angelis for this; it's well-known (relatively) so people can recognize it and sing along if they wish, and it's a major mode, and very pretty and ornamented. I do usually get tired of this setting, but for weddings I like it a lot--thankfully, most people ask for it.

Some popular hymns I've sung for weddings are "The King of Love, My Shepherd Is," "Love Divine, All Loves Excelling" ...I think Ubi Caritas might be appropriate as well. The Panis Angelicus is popular, especially the Cesar Franck version--I'm actually not a big fan of this setting, especially since I've now sung it so many times. Mozart's Ave Verum Corpus is also popular, but requires a lot of vocal stamina as far as breath control goes. It's really nice as a solo or duet, but I think for the full effect having all four parts is best.

If you're doing a Marian thing (usually presenting a bouquet to Mary) then there are a lot of appropriate Marian pieces. Schubert's Ave Maria, as well as the Bach/Gounod, are popular. I actually found out that the Schubert version is on a liturgical music black list, because it's actually German lied which has had the Latin prayer superimposed on it--technically, it's art music and not sacred music. However, the distinction is kind of...vague...now. The Bach is beautiful, I think more so than the Schubert, but it's very hard to sing, especially if you're a mezzo-soprano like I am: it goes all the way up to a high B! Stratospheric for me; my highest note lately is somewhere around a C# only about a whole step above that on a good day.

People use a lot of different instrumental pieces as well. Canon in D is popular--I usually want to poke my eye out when I hear it, and not just at weddings. It's a little overdone, in my opinion. Jesu, Joy of Man's Desiring is also popular. It's done a lot as well, but I happen to really like it so it doesn't make me want to commit any kind of violence. I really, really love the fourth movement of Bach's Cantata 140, Wachet auf (this would be the Zion hoert movement) as an instrumental on organ, and want this at my own wedding someday. I think I've only ever heard it at one or two weddings, but I think it's absolutely beautiful.

For other ideas, you might actually look at stuff like the Oratorio Anthologies that Hal Leonard Co. puts out--they have stuff like Mozart's Laudate Dominum, etc. I prefer to go for stuff that you might not often hear, but that's because I've pretty much been singing what seems like Wedding Music: The Greatest Hits for the past few years. But, there's nothing wrong with those pieces, as they're very beautiful--I'm just a little sick of them.

I wouldn't underestimate the power of a simple hymn sung beautifully, also. Same goes for chant--you don't need extraneous flourishes if you have excellent musicians. For your own sake, I would say try to get the best vocalist you can, as well as a great organist--I've worked with everyone from people who can't really sight-read to someone with a doctorate in choral conducting whose primary instrument is organ. The higher talent/education levels made things a lot easier for me. Those people also have really good ideas about what kind of music you can use for a wedding, especially instrumental music, in which I really don't have too much experience. But as far as a vocalist goes, I think having a so-so singer can actually detract from the beauty of the wedding, because it can be a little distracting when you have a sub-par vocalist. I'm probably biased though because I am a vocalist and I think highly of my own profession and my role in the ceremony...lol.

Okay. I'm going to end this here, because I've gone on quite a bit without realizing it, and this post is waaaay too long--and I have class in the morning. lol. Marcus, you could always email me if you like as far as help figuring out music

[jiyoung]

Oh, PS, Rexi, I LOVE the Victoria Ave Maria! Actually, I pretty much just love Victoria. More than I love Palestrina--is that even allowed? And Adoro Te Devote is just gloriously beautiful in its simplicity. It's also a really nice choice.

[jeffpugh]

I empathise about Canon in D

[Winchester]

I didn't play any music. I had someone else do that. You have enough to think about without playing music.

[Slappo]

[quote name='jiyoung' date='24 February 2010 - 02:45 AM' timestamp='1267008312' post='2062351']
Oh, PS, Rexi, I LOVE the Victoria Ave Maria! Actually, I pretty much just love Victoria. More than I love Palestrina--is that even allowed? And Adoro Te Devote is just gloriously beautiful in its simplicity. It's also a really nice choice.
[/quote]

to quickly respond to this and the above (I'll post more later), my singers are Katie Monagle, John Brodeur and Mary Gabriel. I'll probably keep any solo's to Katie or John though as I know they are more musically talented, and then probably John over Katie as he actually has classes on it.

I don't know who my organist is or how good she is but John Brodeur knows someone can do it from FUS. I'll ask him more later.

For music I'm stuck between Panis Angelicus for communion and Adoro te Devote. I might go with the latter just becuase I love it. If I do a marian song it will probably be O Sanctissima, maybe Ave Maria but I think Ave Maria is over used and I don't know if Katie can hit the notes. O Sanctissima would be beautiful.

I will have to talk more later about it all.

[jiyoung]

Why not do both? lol. Depending on which version of Panis you use. I like the simple hymn version, and that one doesn't take very long. I imagine you'll have a lot of Catholics at your wedding, so Communion might last long enough for you to have both. Have Adoro Te Devote sung simply and a cappella, maybe even going back and forth between male and female voices. It's long, but with short verses, so it's also nice as a filler kind of thing.

O Sanctissima is really nice--I've actually sung that as well sometimes. Katie has a lower range, I think, and John definitely does, so it would certainly be easier for them. I've sung with both of them so I'm somewhat familiar with their voice types. Honestly, I find that it's good to use music that's on the simpler side that's easy to sing, because if your singers can't do vocal gymnastics required by some of these pieces then it's not going to sound good when they try. O Sanctissima is a very simple, but very pretty piece, as are Adoro Te Devote and the Lambillotte Panis Angelicus, so they would work really well with those voices. If they're secure enough as far as pitch and that sort of thing, you could have them sing it a cappella, and since it's chant it should work well. You might also think about seeing if for the Panis they might be able to sing in parts (or at least with partial harmony) because it's nice that way.

I wonder who the organist is? If it's Casey or Elizabeth then you'll be fine, they're both very good, and though I haven't heard Mandy play I believe she's pretty good as well. The organ majors at FUS are typically pretty talented kids.

Anyway, like I said, if you want to pick my brain about wedding music some more, I'm here for you

[Maggyie]

Hmmmmm I think the main question to ask is what does the briiiiiiide say?

[Slappo]

[quote name='Maggie' date='24 February 2010 - 08:43 PM' timestamp='1267073030' post='2062736']
Hmmmmm I think the main question to ask is what does the briiiiiiide say?
[/quote]

The bride says "You plan the liturgy" and I say "Ok honey". Secretly I add a "SWEEEEEET" in there.
I'm much more liturgy conscious than she is, especially liturgical music.

She said no to the Imperial March though... I asked
(I asked just for kicks of course... no really... i wouldn't ever play that at my wedding i promise )

Edited February 25, 2010 by Slappo

[Nihil Obstat]

[quote name='Slappo' date='24 February 2010 - 11:19 PM' timestamp='1267075185' post='2062761']
The bride says "You plan the liturgy" and I say "Ok honey". Secretly I add a "SWEEEEEET" in there.
[/quote]
I'm praying that I hear the same thing someday.

[Slappo]

[quote name='jiyoung' date='24 February 2010 - 08:08 PM' timestamp='1267070904' post='2062727']
Why not do both? lol. Depending on which version of Panis you use. I like the simple hymn version, and that one doesn't take very long. I imagine you'll have a lot of Catholics at your wedding, so Communion might last long enough for you to have both. Have Adoro Te Devote sung simply and a cappella, maybe even going back and forth between male and female voices. It's long, but with short verses, so it's also nice as a filler kind of thing.

O Sanctissima is really nice--I've actually sung that as well sometimes. Katie has a lower range, I think, and John definitely does, so it would certainly be easier for them. I've sung with both of them so I'm somewhat familiar with their voice types. Honestly, I find that it's good to use music that's on the simpler side that's easy to sing, because if your singers can't do vocal gymnastics required by some of these pieces then it's not going to sound good when they try. O Sanctissima is a very simple, but very pretty piece, as are Adoro Te Devote and the Lambillotte Panis Angelicus, so they would work really well with those voices. If they're secure enough as far as pitch and that sort of thing, you could have them sing it a cappella, and since it's chant it should work well. You might also think about seeing if for the Panis they might be able to sing in parts (or at least with partial harmony) because it's nice that way.

I wonder who the organist is? If it's Casey or Elizabeth then you'll be fine, they're both very good, and though I haven't heard Mandy play I believe she's pretty good as well. The organ majors at FUS are typically pretty talented kids.

Anyway, like I said, if you want to pick my brain about wedding music some more, I'm here for you
[/quote]

It is Emily Meixner. Do you know her?

[jiyoung]

[quote name='Slappo' date='25 February 2010 - 01:19 AM' timestamp='1267075185' post='2062761']
The bride says "You plan the liturgy" and I say "Ok honey". Secretly I add a "SWEEEEEET" in there.
I'm much more liturgy conscious than she is, especially liturgical music.

She said no to the Imperial March though... I asked
(I asked just for kicks of course... no really... i wouldn't ever play that at my wedding i promise )
[/quote]

I figured that was what happened...lol.

Please don't play the Wagner Bridal Chorus, whatever you do. Want to know what that is? It's from an opera--unsuitable to liturgy because it's specifically secular music. I don't remember if Fr. Giles ever addressed this in our liturgy class (you were in that with me, weren't you?) but stuff like Tra le sollecitudini came about because of the practice of singing operatic music in Mass and stuff. That's performance-based, not sacred. Also, the wedding it's sung at in the opera fails pretty much immediately. All kinds of death and stuff...not exactly the kind of atmosphere you'd want for your wedding, I'm sure. I'm thinking you and Jen are not gonna end in tears and bloodshed...

[jiyoung]

I do know Emily! I didn't know she played organ, actually...but now that I think of it, I have hazy remembrances of hearing that she was joining the music program. She's a sweet girl--she's involved in Dom Gueranger Society, or at least she was when I was still around over there. You may want to ask one of the students who are still there, especially the organists. She'll be studying under Dr. Weber, who's a fantastic teacher and all-around musician, and who also doesn't take anyone's croutons. Just in case she's not entirely quick on her feet, though, you may want to set the music soon so that you can give her sheet music (or at least give her what you want so she can find it on her own) and she can start learning it now. When's your wedding, anyway?

[Slappo]

[quote name='jiyoung' date='24 February 2010 - 10:02 PM' timestamp='1267077759' post='2062789']
I do know Emily! I didn't know she played organ, actually...but now that I think of it, I have hazy remembrances of hearing that she was joining the music program. She's a sweet girl--she's involved in Dom Gueranger Society, or at least she was when I was still around over there. You may want to ask one of the students who are still there, especially the organists. She'll be studying under Dr. Weber, who's a fantastic teacher and all-around musician, and who also doesn't take anyone's croutons. Just in case she's not entirely quick on her feet, though, you may want to set the music soon so that you can give her sheet music (or at least give her what you want so she can find it on her own) and she can start learning it now. When's your wedding, anyway?
[/quote]

Wedding is May 29th, so she has the rest of the semester to practice, about 3 months. But yes I do need to get music picked soon so she can practice and my singers can practice as well. I'll ask John Brodeur how she is on the organ, and maybe even e-mail Dr. Weber to see if he would recommend her. I could give him a list of the music we'd be playing when I ask him.

[scardella]

We used a mix of praise and worship, both widely available and Ann Arbor specials, and more traditional music.

Our closing song was "It is Good". Oh yeah!

[jeffpugh]

[quote name='Slappo' date='25 February 2010 - 12:19 AM' timestamp='1267075185' post='2062761']
The bride says "You plan the liturgy" and I say "Ok honey". Secretly I add a "SWEEEEEET" in there.
I'm much more liturgy conscious than she is, especially liturgical music.

She said no to the Imperial March though... I asked
(I asked just for kicks of course... no really... i wouldn't ever play that at my wedding i promise )
[/quote]
Lawl. High five! Not that easy for Cat and me when we talk about weddings and such. We're both quite liturgically minded and have our own opinions. We might have to have a third-party intervention