I attended a wedding over the weekend; it was exactly what I was expecting it to be, even to the choice of pieces for Processional, Bride's Entrance, and Postlude. There does not seem to be a lot of variation in this category for young ladies anymore.
Sure there are the music majors that will jump happily out of the Pachelbel box, but for the most part there are trumpet voluntary and Bach renditions most accompanists can play in their sleep.
The surprise to me was that this wedding used a small keyboard with some synthesized string sounds and an electronic piano sound and the pianist was not prepared. He (nameless) hacked away at the staples of this genre, often skipping the B section completely because he didn't seem to know how to play it.
More important, I wonder whether the congregation even recognized the poor quality of the music. The bride was lovely, the message was great, but perhaps they should have used a CD.
That being said, I don't like canned music, especially for big events. This was the song the soloist sang while they lit the Unity Candle. My family was not happy that they chose "Train". The accompaniment for this piece could have been played with 3 fingers, as demonstrated in this open guitar part. And Nameless couldn't keep a pulse, so it was weird.
Enjoy your Monday!
I want to make good choices at my wedding....
ReplyDeleteI know you will!
ReplyDeleteMostly what I remember about the music from our wedding was that we printed the words to Ode to Joy in the program, because when the PCUSA politically corrected it in the hymnal, it went from four verses to three and I liked the old version better. That and we had the Widor Toccata as a recessional. Supposedly it's quite a standard. I find that hard to believe, given the complexity. But First Pres. Rochester has an amazing pipe organ and an equally amazing organist, and it was great fun.
ReplyDeleteSilva, I took lessons at the First Presbyterian there! That organ is outstanding! I only got as far as the Widor in my studies; it's a great recessional!
ReplyDelete