Suggestions for piano pieces to be played at a wedding?
My aunt will be having her wedding near the end of august, and my sister and I are searching for piano pieces to play for her wedding. My aunt said that the priest suggested Canon in D by Pachelbel (beautiful piece =D), so now we still are looking for a Classical piece and a Triumphant piece for her wedding. Are there any suggestions for a classical and triumphant song that would fit great for weddings?
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23 Answers
Also sprach Zarathustra (key musical motif in 2001: A Space Odyssey)
Chopin’s Etude in G-flat major, Op. 10, No. 5 is lively, happy, and I would call it triumphant. It’s also short (ca. 2 minutes), as classical pieces go, which is good for a wedding I’d assume. It is hard to play though… Are you hiring a pianist? If so, they might have something good in their repertoire to recommend to you, too.
@aprilsimnel Ooooh, I like that very much, even more so since it’s called Liebesträum. Was about to comment that I don’t have enough Liszt when I did a search and found this very song in my iTunes… So really, the problem is that I don’t know what I have!
I know I don’t have enough Liszt! Or Chopin.
@aprilsimnel My little brother is a classical pianist and loves Chopin. He’s made sure that I have what he calls a “smattering” of his works, which amounts to (gotta check iTunes) 7 hours and 43 minutes of Chopin. Hahaha! On the other hand all I have is Liszt’s “Greatest Hits” CD. A hilarious title in and of itself. :)
@fireinthepriory, My sister or I will be playing the piano for our aunt. Chopin’s piano pieces are easy to play…. but hard to play well. lol but i love that piece!. not enough time to master it tho. but thanks for the suggestion! (that goes for everyone else too!)
Canon in D by Pachelbel. Classy.
Braham’s Gaudeamus Igitur Juvenes dum sumes. “Let us rejoice while we are young.” (For Triumphal.) Here is Mario Lanza singing with a chorus. The piano alone is stirring and not difficult to play.
Bach: Cantata, BWV 147, Jesu, Joy of Man’s Desiring
We had the pianist at our wedding play different variations on Pachelbel’s Canon – a slower, sweeter, more traditional version for the processional, and then a more upbeat, triumphant variation for the recessional. I love that piece so much that I just couldn’t find anything I liked as much to use with it – using it in a couple different ways kept it simple, but still gave us the variety we were looking for.
Would “Fur Elise” be an appropriate song for the opening or closing of a wedding cermony?
In my personal opinion, no. I gather that you learned the piece. All of us who took piano lessona learned it. How old are you and your sister? How skilled are you? What about both of you playing a duet; some Haydn or Mozart? My daughter and I used to do that at her piano recitals when she was in HS.
Yeah, I wouldn’t play Fur Elise… it’s too recognizable. Do you have something you’ve learned that’s a little atypical? Most people will know the songs that are in the first few Suzuki books. If you’re in book ten or something there are some good ones in there that will be new to many people. If not, see if your piano teacher has some suggestions. She or he will know what you two will be able to learn before the wedding, and might have some pieces for four hands like @gailcalled suggested, I think that would be very nice. (Plus it would sound more complex but be easier for you both to learn in time!)
To answer most of those questions, i don’t think age should matter for this, i’d say my sister is more skilled than I, and we quit piano lessons last year but still play for the fun of it. We’ve done the higher end of Royal Conservatory Piano although not up till grade 10.
That duet idea sounds good, but i doubt my sister would agree, and we have no time to practice together.
@curiouscat Well in that case just give your aunt a list of the songs you two know how to play and let her choose!
Can’t beat Beethovens Ode to Joy!
@flimfamm: But you need a 90 -person chorale group as well as a full orchestra and thus a very big church.
We did it with a church organist by herself. Sounded terrific.
How about Ode to the Common Man?
Jesu Joy of Man’s Desiring,
10th mvt. of cantata Herz und Mund und Tat und Leben BMV 147, Bach
Classic wedding music.
Somehow, Fur Elise doesn’t sound appropriate.
Love Dream 3 would make a great opening song.
Also, The Rose might be another good opening one.
Or how about Claire De Lune as the song everyone including the bride walks down to?
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