Who wrote the Bridal March, and when was it first used to start weddings?

gmackematix

Well, I'm no expert on classical music but off the top of my head "The Wedding March" is from Mendelssohn's "Midsummer Night's Dream" and "Here Comes the Bride" is by Wagner (from "Lohengrin"?) May 02 05, 7:11 AM

lanfranco

Well, this was an interesting question, eschatologist. According to this timeline, both the pieces cited by Gmack were first used at the wedding of Queen Victoria and Prince Albert in 1858. Victoria started the fashion of wearing white, so perhaps her choice of music initiated yet another trend. http://www.sam-hane.com/sass/time2.htm#1850 May 02 05, 7:49 AM

Arpeggionist

She did not start the fashion of wearing white. That was a custom in many cultures around the world long before the British monarchy existed. She did however set the Wagner and Mendelssohn wedding march trend. Mendelssohn had tought her to sing, and Albert was an afficionado of more modern sounding music (and liked Wagner particularly). Outside the wedding halls, you would not find too many places where one could hear those two composers sharing a stage. And today many brides chose different music for their weddings (I wrote and played my cousin's wedding march, and she married a Brit). May 02 05, 8:09 AM

lanfranco

Well, while it's true that ancient Roman brides, for example, wore white (with saffron shoes and veils and very strange hairstyles), this custom fell into disuse in Western Europe for centuries. Most brides wore whatever color they liked, or, if they couldn't afford a new gown, simply the best dress they owned. However, I was curious about this, because the fashion for white in Europe is usually attributed to Victoria. A little research did turn up Ann of Brittany, who apparently popularized the white wedding dress around the turn of the 16th century. So I'll concede on Vicky, Arpeggionist. http://www.worldweddingtraditions.com/locations/west_europe_traditions.html May 02 05, 9:21 AM

bloomsby

I don't see how anything from Wagner's "Lohengrin" can have been played at Queen Victoria's wedding, which took place in 1840, before "Lohengrin" was composed. In some British timelines the wedding in February 1840 is sandwiched between the introduction of the "Penny Post" (January, 1840) and the introduction of the first postage stamp in May 1840. Omg! It was none other than the "penny black". Nowadays, that would be regarded as most inappropriate, perhaps even some form of lèse-majesté in the year of the monarch's wedding, but in the 1840s people took a more relaxed view of the monarchy Anyway, there's some mistake in respect of "Lohengrin" at that particular royal wedding. Did she, perhaps, popularize it at the weddings of her _children_? This link seems quite useful on the genesis of "Lohengrin": http://www.unitel.de/uhilites/150800.htm May 02 05, 10:16 AM

lanfranco

You are quite right, Bloomsby, I should have doublechecked the date on that site. After looking at a number of other sites, however, I am confused. It seems clear that Victoria's daughter, the Princess Royal, used the Mendelssohn at her wedding in 1858, but all I could get on the "Lohengrin" piece was that it was first used by a "Princess Louise." Victoria's Louise married in 1848, so she's out. Perhaps Edward VII's Louise? She married in 1889. One site claimed that the "Lohengrin" was first used in America during the Civil War. May 02 05, 11:11 AM

Arpeggionist

The opera was written not long after 1848, at a point where Brahms would have been able to criticize it, but King Ludwig of Bavaria. What about Queen Victoria's other children? May 02 05, 2:38 PM

lanfranco

I am having incredible trouble with my dates today. Obviously, Victoria's daughter Louise didn't get married as an infant. Instead, she married in 1871, so she could well have been the Princess Louise who used the Lohengrin march. Must be all these wedding sites. I recall being in a similar addled condition before my own wedding. May 02 05, 4:54 PM

gmackematix

I have seen a number of sites that agree it is the marriage of Princess Victoria and Frederick (or Friedrich) of Prussia in 1858 that set the trend in clothing and the use of Mendelssohn and Wagner's tunes. This site is a fairly comprehensive history of everything nuptial: http://www.und.edu/instruct/akelsch/399/student%20papers/marriage.htm May 02 05, 5:05 PM

gmackematix

Incidentally, Offenbach's famous "Can Can" was written in 1858. That would have made the wedding interesting. May 02 05, 5:08 PM

eschatologist

I'm smart. I never got married. May 02 05, 5:25 PM

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