Yes, but you can't play Pachelbel's Canon on the organ if you only have the usual 2 hands and 2 feet.

Or can you?

Well, at least half of it.

And if people enjoy listening to it ......................

SB

...which was really the point I was making at post no.12. To a musician the enjoyment is in following the canon in the three upper voices. There's no way you can reproduce that on the organ, which takes away the whole point of the piece. All the organist can do is to preserve the bass and the harmonic structure with the general contour of the figuration at the top, but since that's all the less musically aware hear anyway, they're happy.

I did once hear it played as a duet on organ, which did add a whole new dimension.

SB

That certainly could work, though I guess you'd really want three balancing manuals.

The opening section of Mendelssohn's Third Sonata was written as a wedding march for his sister, Fanny, when she got married in 1829. It makes a magnificent bridal march.

What about Derek Bourgeois' Serenade, written for his own wedding? I heard this played brilliantly as a bridal march in Malvern Priory on 25th September 2004. The groom was Andrew Moyes, managing director of Nicholsons organ builders, and his bride was The Reverend Stephanie Watson. (I was best man.) The organist was the assistant at Bath Abbey and had been Stephanie's music teacher at school. Stephanie was not going to walk to anyone else's time so she chose Bougouis' delightful piece - you cannot walk in time to that one! (The choral music was rather spectacular too - a Board member may own up to directing the Malvern Abbey Choir brilliantly and at the very highest of cathedral standards. The postlude was Mulet's Carillon Sortie, which made a triumphant conclusion to the occasion.

It was a really super occasion and, as you would expect, there was rapt attention to the service and music throughout.

Has anyone been asked for the Finale to Vierne's Sixth Symphonie as a wedding postlude? It is wonderfully pagan.

Barry Wiliams

"What about Derek Bourgeois' Serenade, written for his own wedding?"

I was introduced to this piece when I was approached after a service one Sunday in 1982 by a young lady who came to discuss the music for her forthcoming wedding, she'd played it in a wind band and would like to have it at her wedding. I asked her if she could get me the music and we'd take it from there. The next week she came with a full orchestral score (OUP 1968), I said I'd look at it and get back to her.

The task of producing a keyboard version from the full score seemed somewhat daunting, however when I looked at it the next day I saw on the title page that it was written for the composer's own wedding, I thought it possible that he didn't have a full orchestra present! I rang up OUP to see if there was a keyboard version. They gave me Derek Bourgeois' phone number, so I rang him, he told me that what I needed was the Conductor's score of the Wind Band version and gave me details of the publisher. This had been published in 1981. So well before the wedding I had this score - on 2 staves, the right hand can play everything on the top stave, left hand chords and pedal comfortably sharing the lower stave, the whole piece on 3 sides of A4, so by photocopying one side I had the whole piece in view and no page turns. Being a conductor's score the instrumentation, in small print, is indicated at various points but this is no distraction.

Since playing it for that wedding in 1982 I have played it many times, before weddings, in recitals, at Flower Festivals it always has people smiling. Incidentally for my own wedding in 1967 my wife and I walked out to Herbert Murrill's Carillon.

RAC

I first heard it played at St John's Shirley by Ian Fox. That must have been in the early nineteen seventies. Since then R Smith & Co Ltd of Aylesbury has published a three stave organ score. It has the date 1990.

Murrill's Carillon is a fine choice for a wedding - just the right combination of toccata and fanfare.

Barry Williams

Can anyone give me a rough idea of the level of difficulty of the Bourgeois Serenade?

I have designs on the end of Vierne 6 at my own wedding... if I can find some poor ### to play it

It is not that hard! The Finale from Vierne's Fifth Symphonie is more difficult.


Barry Williams

hmm.... how about either the first movement or the Finale from Vierne's Second Symphony..... (i love them both).

Both are gorgeous pieces, but perhaps a trifle too serious for a wedding.

Has anyone thought of the last movement of Widor Sixth - a rombustuous romp if ever there was one! I recall one bride coming in to the opening movement of Widor Six, having the intermzzo during the singing of the register and the last movment as the recessional. That all arose from one of Carlo Curley's concerts when she heard the whole symphonie.

Barry Williams

I love Widor Sixth, both the opening and the last movement.

I've had a successful days' music shopping today and I got the Bourgeois Serenade, (much to my surprise) and showed it to my teacher later on who said 'I'm sure I know this - it was somebody's signature tune years ago'
I pointed out the copyright date of 1990 and he said 'that can't be right...' so after re reading the posts on here I see he is obviously correct; the organ score must have come quite a bit later. It's lovely, BTW, many thanks Barry - I shall enjoy playing it.

Other things that people have suggested I have also purchased including the Pachelbel Ciacona in F min and the Stanley Voluntaries. I would have got the Widor but as this particular post reminded me, it was over £53 for a very few pages, so decided I could live without it for the time being.

Oddly, could not find a single solitary C.H.Trevor Prog Org no matter how hard I looked. Next time, maybe.

Mel,

http://imslp.info/files/imglnks/usimg/7/7d...inorOp42No2.pdf

Is the Widor 6th - Like all his works though it's a lot of notes and needs a big big organ

Hey - thanks for that! I shall print that off pronto. I agree, it is a lot of notes but fortunately our listeners don't usually sit there with the score in front of them so will be blissfully unaware of all the little accommodations that we can make to render these monsters playable. (Those of us that need to, I hasten to add)

Yesterday I was looking at a French copy of the Widor 5, I think it was; the Adagio that someone kindly suggested did look a distinct possibility apart from the ludicrous price tag.

Get the Dover edition of the Widor, about £12 for 5 symphonies, and then another £12 for the last 5.

I play Widor 6 and the last movement is a bit easier if you use one of the editions that omits a bit chunk in the middle, as Gillian Weir did last time I heard her.

How about the slow movement of Vierne 5 for during the register, so luxurious and radiant, though not sure you would hear it if congregation have habit of making lots of noise.

Another couple of splendid pieces are the Walton Crown Imperial, remembering that the opening and subsequent chords are two semi- quavers, not a quaver, as in the Murrill arrangement and Orb and Sceptre, arranged by William McKie. Walton was never really happy with the latter piece. I do not know why for it is superb. There are simpler arrangements of Orb and Sceptre, but not nearly so effective as McKie's version.

Dennis Morrell arranged a part of the 'Spitfire' Prelude by Walton for organ. It is worth playing the whole of the Prelude and Fugue - it goes well on the organ - but Morrell's arrangment gives the big tune in a simple form suitable for weddings. RAF people like it for obvious reasons.

"How about the slow movement of Vierne 5 for during the register, so luxurious and radiant, though not sure you would hear it if congregation have habit of making lots of noise."

Scrumptious - good idea Guilmant! It uses Vierne's characteristic harmonic language (harmonic ninths, secondary sevenths,etc) and despite being in six sharps and chromatic is reasonably easy to read because it goes slowly.


Barry Williams

If you're going for Vierne, why not choose from the 24 Pièces en style libre? E.g. Lied, Berceuse, Pastorale, Reverie etc. Far more likely to be appreciated. Aren't these pieces the most amazing resource?

Am I alone in finding Vierne's lst 2 Symphonies, in comparison to the first 4, a bit rambling and self-indulgent? (I haven't tried to play either of them, so pose the question hesitantly.) I listened to the slow movement of 5 last night (Filsell) and wouldn't expect it to grab the attention of an uninitiated audience. What about the Cantilène from Symphony 3?

All good stuff, thanks to all; I haven't looked seriously at Vierne because I presumed it would be too difficult for me, but I shall note the suggestions for later.

I don't recollect seeing a Dover edition of the Widor on Saturday but now I know there is one I shall search a bit harder at the next opportunity.

Have to agree with this. I love the first 4, but cannot even bring myself to listen to No.5. In particular, the Larghetto never really seems to get to the point.

On a slightly different tack, the last movement of Whitlock's Sonata has exactly the same effect on me.

The Cantilene from Symphony 3 is beautiful, but isn't it a little too serious for wedding music?

Ses

I wouldn't play it for a wedding, but I was suggesting it in preference to the slow movement of Symphony 5.

Personally I go for pieces from the superb Dearnley collections and other 18th century English pieces, Whitlock, the Vierne Lied, the Pastorale from the Archer Suite (always goes down well) and similar fluffy stuff.

That's the last 2, of course. Don't know where the A went.