Wedding Music - Recommendations for Program

Led Zeppelin played by a string quartet? The mind boggles.

Well, let's see. Your prelate is subjected to more wedding music in a year than most people hear in a lifetime, thus is happy to hear you say that you wish to avoid the done-to-death stuff. I've heard everything from Wagner to Kenny G.

Wagner is better.

Most "Contemporary Christian" wedding music really is dreadful schlock. I'm often embarrassed for the couple when I see the looks on the faces of the congregation when it is played. Best to stick to the classics.

Here are some possibilities...

Bach: Arioso, Air on the G String, a movement from one of the Brandenburgs
Handel: Lots of stuff from the Water Music or the Royal Fireworks
Marcello: Psalm 19
Campra: Rigaudon
Vivaldi: Excerpts from the Four Seasons, esp Spring and Autumn

There's much great processional/recessional stuff out there but relatively little of it is well suited to string quartet. However, your quartet members should be able to give you some guidance about what they know and have used before.

Good luck. Let us know what you choose.

will

I second the Bishop's suggestions (as husband of a minister, I've been to a lot of weddings myself), both as to what to have and what not. The Handel Entrance of the Queen of Sheeba is a great recessional piece, although I don't know if there's a version for strings without woodwinds. It is a good idea to speak with the leaders of your quartet, they will have plenty of ideas.

Hey It Could Happen !!!!!! HEE HEE

I used to tease my wife that I wanted "Black Dog" by the mighty Zeppelin played at our reception.

At the wedding ceremony for my second marriage about 10 years ago, we used a variety of baroque string quartet and small orchestra pieces. Among my favorites were Corelli's 12 concerti grossi (there is an excellent recording of these by Nicholas McGegan and the Philharmonia Baroque Orchestra on Harmonia Mundi); the late violin concerti by Telemann; Haydn's 6 string quartets, Opus 76 (called the Erdody quartets), as well as the string quartets in Opus 20 (Sun quartets) and Opus 33 (the Russian quartets); and Mozart's string quartets #14-19. And you shouldn't leave out Bach: his sonatas for solo cello (BWV 1007-1012) are sublime, as are the orchestral suites #1-4 (BWV 1066-1069) which may be adaptable to string quartet.