I will be playing solo music at my stepdaughter’s wedding on 8/3 ( probably mostly on my Schultz flute, possibly some on one of my own whistles). While people are filing in, getting seated, I’ll play assorted slow pieces eg Fanny Power, Star of the County Down, etc.
Any good ideas for a processional, and recessional? They don’t have to necessarily be Celtic. Thanks, all. Paul
Trumpet Voluntary (J.Clarke)
Wedding March (Mendelssohn)
- although both would probably sound rather funny on a flute. Don’t you have decent brass ensembles over there?
They don’t have to necessarily be Celtic.
Slip in a few bars of ‘Who let the Dogs Out!’
Seriously? She Moved Through the Fair
If you have a guitarist friend or if you can find somebody to just learn the descending bass part on a whistle, try Pachibel’s canon in D for a processional.
Pachelbel’s canon is certainly beautiful, but I don’t see how you could play it on a whistle or irish flute, as it goes below low D. It is quite difficult to play it well, and I don’t think you could get the crescendo-effect towards the end when playing it on 2 lonely whistles. Maybe a simplified version could be done.
What about Haendel’s Largo?
[ This Message was edited by: claudine on 2002-07-17 08:37 ]
YOu may not be able to play Pachelbel’s (sp?) Canon but you can do arpeggios on the chords with a nice relaxing effect. One measure each of the following chords
D/A/Bm/F#m/G/D/G/A.
I would just do four notes of D, then A and so on through the chords. (D,F#,A,F#/A,C#,E,C#/ etc. Or whatever variations of the notes appeals to you.)
Of course, it would sound nicer if you had a guitar.
Steve
Correct spelling is definitely “Johann Pachelbel”.
Another nice and very easy tune is “Suo Gan”.
If you have a keyed (chromatic) flute, you could also play Mozart’s “Ave Verum”.
Solo wedding music?
What’s a solo wedding? I mean, I am into self-love, but I don’t think I’d take it as far as actually trying to marry myself.
http://www.irishtunes.net/othertunes/inionniscannlain.html
This is brilliant! Thank Psychih for the link, and hear it played at:
http://www.lunasa.ie/album1.htm
If fluting like this doesn’t ping the bride’s garter, I don’t know what will!
Classical-wise:
Kanon in D by Pachelbel
Jesu, Joy of Man’s Desiring by J.S. Bach
Selections from Water Music by Handel
Selections from Royal Fireworks Music also, I think, by Handel
I Dreamt I Dwelt in Marble Halls by Balfe
Wedding March by Mendelssohn (from either Midsummer Night’s Dream or Lohengrin)
Waltz by Brahms (the lullaby one)
Minuet in G by Beethoven
Sonata in A by Mozart
Meditation by Massenet (from Thais)
Spring by Vivaldi
Barcarolle by Offenbach (from Tales of Hoffman… sounds absolutely gorgeous; very romantic to listen to)
Largo by Dvorak (from The New World Symphony)
Minuet by Boccherini (the famous one from the Quintet in E major??)
Celtic, basically anything that sounds pretty.. 
Plus, there’s a piece I wrote that sounds beautiful on Flute, or Whistle… if you want me to send it to you for review, just let me know.
[ This Message was edited by: The Whistling Elf on 2002-07-17 12:22 ]
Molly Ban from Loesbergs Vol II. Order it from Ossian.
I played it at a wedding for an irish gal here in CA. A hit with the folks.
Others have covered the usual.
There is a very nice piece, How Beautiful, that would make a very nice processional on whistle. Mack Hoover used to have a brief clip on his site and the church choir I’m in has done it before, though I typically play the solo part on clarinet. Maybe Mack could send you the clip, if you’re interested, or I could possibly record a snippet of it.
Our band played for a small wedding recently. We did “Simple Gifts” for the processional - nice stately tempo, recognizable tune, very appropriate for the simple outdoor wedding that followed
For the recessional, try Beethoven’s “Ode to Joy.” It works well on the whistle - play it in G on a D whistle to be able to get the lowest note in. There’s lots of room for ornamentation - let the music soar!!
Three Tunes I always wanted to work into a wedding were:
- Dans](http://artists.mp3s.com/artist_song/514/514114.html%3EDans) En Dro (A Breton dance tune)
- Schottische](http://artists.mp3s.com/artist_song/564/564533.html%3ESchottische) Fran Havero which seems to me a great recessional for dancing down the aisle.
- Ghostwood</a](http://artists.mp3s.com/artist_song/563/563544.html>Ghostwood</a)> would also work as a recessional.
The above links are to Lothlorien’s MP3’s, so you can hear a flute version of the tunes.
Hope these help bride and groom …
Enjoy Your Music,
Lee Marsh
[ This Message was edited by: LeeMarsh on 2002-07-17 16:11 because he can’t count (changed two to three) duh…]
[ This Message was edited by: LeeMarsh on 2002-07-17 16:14 ]
I’ll also second DanD’s suggestions on whistle. Very nice tunes.
"Last weekend, I played flute and whistle at her daughter’s ( my stepdaughter!) wedding. "
So what did you end up playing?
Thanks for all of the suggestions…
I ended up playing for about 15 min before the festivities, while people milled around and got seated. I played Fanny Power, Ashokan Farewell, a Hassidic Niggun (wordless tune), couple of others I don’t recall at the moment. As a processional for the members of the wedding party, I did South Wind, and for the brides march down the aisle, I played a tune I composed which I’m calling Planxty MacBeth ( both bride and groom, in a spirit of equality, are giving up their former names and both taking MacBeth as their last name).
As a sprightly recessional, I switched to my whistle and played Kid on the Mountain, and Garrett’s Wedding. All in all, it worked out very nicely.