UKC

Hi. Suggestions needed for piece of classical music to be played as background music to a non religious wedding ceremony. Lasting for 30 mins. Not dramatic or pompous!

In reply to Flinticus:
Mozart's Requiem












More seriously how about Respigi's Pines of Rome, or Fountains of Rome or both?

In reply to Flinticus:

pachelbel's canon. Can be made to last for ever if desired.

In reply to Trangia:

That should read Respighi

In reply to Trangia:


Beat me to it, very good.

In reply to Flinticus:

Mendelssohn's Incidental Music to A Midsummer Night's Dream. You can select your own sequence of tracks, preferably beginning with the Overture and ending with the Wedding March.

In reply to Flinticus:

I take it this for the signing and photos and the like? Anything will do. No one will be listening. I remember spending ages choosing, and in the end I can't remember any music being played in the middle. I can't even remember what we chose. I did however love walking out to Morecambe and Wise's Give me Sunshine though!

In reply to Flinticus:

Ennio Morricone's score for The Mission.

In reply to Flinticus:

The Bach cello suites are nice background music I think - I played some parts during the signing of the register when a couple of friends got married.

In reply to Removed UserJohn Willson:

+1

or some slow movements from Mozart Piano Ctos. Nos. 21, 23 and 24 would add up to about 25 mins.

In reply to Flinticus:

Theme on fantasia by Thomas Tallis, vaughen williams arrangement.
Cheers
Mark

In reply to freerangecat:

Yes, my brother used to play those a lot, I like them a lot, very melodic.

In reply to Flinticus:

Endless possibilities.

It depends what you want, and what the wedding guests are used to and would like.

If you want upbeat, with content that some of the guests might recognise, and probably like, then this Naxos collection of Mozart Overtures is terrific:

http://www.naxos.com/catalogue/item.asp?item_code=8.550185

or, in a similar very hummable vein any of his early stuff will do, for example this CD of his Salzburg Symphonies, which is just great:

http://www.naxos.com/catalogue/item.asp?item_code=8.550108

Less well known, but deliciously joyous and jaunty, are these pieces by Jan Dismus Zelenka's trio sonatas, here played by Heinz Holliger and co

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Zelenka-Trio-Sonatas-Holliger/dp/B00000E41F/ref=sr_...

If you want something more modern, and quieter, without being sombre, how about piano music by Sati, Rodrigo, Ravel or Debussy:

Satie
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Satie-Gnossiennes-Gymnop%C3%A9dies-Piano-Works/dp/B...

Rodrigo
https://itunes.apple.com/us/album/joaquin-rodrigo-complete-music/id45613681...

Ravel/Debussy
https://itunes.apple.com/gb/album/ravel-works-for-2-pianos-piano/id26546297...

For jaunty keyboard music, half an hour of Scarlatti could go dwon very well, for example as played on a modern piano by Mikhail Pletnev:
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Scarlatti-Keyboard-Sonatas-Domenico/dp/B00005IA25

For ethereal, try earlier musics from the 16 C, for example by Shepherd, Byrd, Dowland and Josquin. Or try Monteverdi.


Schubert's German Dances and Moments Musicaux would surely not upset too many, and might delight a few.

Or try chamber music. Haydn would be a good bet for that.

Good Luck and happy choosing!

In reply to Timmd:

I think they are great, but many might find them hard going, I would think.

In reply to mbh:

youtube.com/watch?v=dZn_VBgkPNY&

I don't think people would find this hard going...

In reply to Timmd:

Yes, YYM is a great player, and that is sublime music, but....

... imagine an actual wedding. You've got your Auntie Mavis who likes a bit of Bruce an on a Saturday night, others like her, and some teenagers who like stuff you've never heard of, nor want to,and unknowns in between, few of whom are likely actually to know or like on first listening to the best bits of hard-core Bach. You've put a lot of effort and money into this day, and you want them all to have a lovely time.

Do you really think that Bach's solo cello suites are the best thing for this?

If you do, then I suggest that Bach's violin solo pieces be at least mixed in there, and that you start with t the first part of the 3rd partita, as played by Perlman. It's a wedding!

In reply to Flinticus:

I think contemporary classical would suit the best.

Ludovico Einaudi. You can't really go wrong with him, though the last album "Time lapse" is a little bit different. It would be better to stick Essentials of Einaudi or just any other older album.
youtube.com/watch?v=9qvglWAHDak&
youtube.com/watch?v=qmxFAT581T4&
youtube.com/watch?v=k016mR9tQdI&
youtube.com/watch?v=E4qyIQAsm74&
youtube.com/watch?v=xPXWxPdQMSw& (there are few different versions of it, so be aware)

Yiruma. I'm not the biggest fan of him, but it sounds quite nice.
youtube.com/watch?v=rhN7SG-H-3k&

youtube.com/watch?v=weebxMU-Nac&

Fabrizio Paterlini. Not as popular as both above, but still makes some good quality music. A little bit melancholical, though.
youtube.com/watch?v=weebxMU-Nac&
youtube.com/watch?v=sByGyM-O_ts&

Max Richter. The last, but not the worst. A big plus as he graduated the University of Edinburgh. Also a little bit more melancholical, but I prefer him a lot.
youtube.com/watch?v=rVN1B-tUpgs&
youtube.com/watch?v=r_QMKuVPWMY&
youtube.com/watch?v=LoqZ-gxxR04&
youtube.com/watch?v=ZTvhR0lEtZM&

In reply to mbh:
Perhaps I mix in rarefied middle class circles. They'll like it because it's 'improving' ()

You may have a point.

In reply to Flinticus:

Thanks everyone: much more detailed suggestions than I expected. Goes to show the width of expertise outside climbing on this site.

Anyway, due to time constraints, I went with Graeme Jackson's suggestion, but also had Barber's Adagio for Strings.

In reply to Flinticus:

I had 'Viva Las Vegas' played at my wedding, a classic, although maybe not classical.

In reply to Cú Chullain:

But what music would you want for your funeral? I rather fancy the final part of Mahler's Resurrection symphony for myself.

In reply to Flinticus:



Noooo not Pachelbel! youtube.com/watch?v=JdxkVQy7QLM&

In reply to PPP:



Lavinia Meijer's harp version of these are beautiful. Just putting it out there!

In reply to Flinticus:

We had the Moonlight Sonata at ours

In reply to higherclimbingwales:

That's brilliant, thanks a lot for the recommendation!

In reply to mbh:



Hardcore Bach? Nice cello suites are not hardcore. Hardcore Bach that would go down badly at a wedding sounds like this:

youtube.com/watch?v=5Hd35AHmw3I&

In reply to Jon Stewart:
Cello concerto, prelude in G.

In reply to Jon Stewart:

Well that's certainly at the core, or near it!

The only person I've known who actually liked the cello suites, apart from me, was a former landlord of mine, someone steeped in music and literature, with children playing in John Eliot Gardiners outfit, and so on. I don't move in musical circles, but everyone I know who says they like this or that piece of classical music, does not like the cello suites. I think they find them too spare, too jerky, too demanding, too lacking in froth. I'd be very surprised if the majority of the people at most weddings would like them.

The landlord (Boris Ford, now dead), told me how Rostropovich once played them to him, alone.

In reply to mbh:

I suppose I like the cello suites because I love playing them. I suggested them because some parts (not all) i think are nice uncomplicated background music that you can talk over or sit and listen to if you wish. I would say that perhaps solo pieces like the cello suites are better live (all music is, obviously, but perhaps pieces like this more so).

In reply to Flinticus:

Elgar's Enigma Variations

In reply to Flinticus:

Oh sorry I misread the question.
You want something like Hooked On Classics probably.

I thought about this for my wedding - should I try to encompass an influence over others moods, shoudl I attempt to forecast what will be well-received etc.? In the end I thought 'stuff it', it's our day, let's have what we want - so we used the piece I payed a Cellist to play at a pre-arranged place and time so we could walk past and in pretending to pop some money in the hat, I bent down on one knee... etc. So it was very personal to my wife and I. It was in fact Bach's Cello Concerto or bits from it. Pretty good cellist actually, we recorded some stuff together after that - I've got that kicking around somewhere; must use it some day.