Royal weddings

Given the enormous public interest in the Royal Family, it's not surprising that the music they choose for their weddings influences wedding music countrywide.

If you asked an average person to name "traditional" wedding music, the chances are that they would nominate Wagner's Wedding March from Lohengrin, "Here comes the bride"() for the entrance of the bride and Mendelssohn's Wedding March() for the exit of the bridal party at the end.

But why should this be regarded as the "traditional" choice? Might it be because this is exactly the combination chosen by George V for his wedding in 1893?

Although today we think of these pieces as very traditional and even perhaps a bit hackneyed, the Mendelssohn had been written barely fifty years previously, and Lohengrin didn't receive its first performance in this country until 1875 - so at the time they were daringly modern selections!

However, it would be wrong to think that the Royal Family are always innovative in their choice of wedding music. Every monarch from Queen Victoria to our present Queen chose Psalm 67 for their wedding, and the Queen followed her father and grandfather in leaving her wedding to Mendelssohn's Wedding March, for example.

And it is gratifying to see that the Royals are perhaps influenced by us too - Widor's Toccata from Symphony No.5() has been a hugely popular recessional for many years, but the Royals didn't get round to choosing it until Princess Anne selected it in 1973.

One very definite (if unsurprising) trend, though, is that music written by British composers features heavily in each service. And it is interesting to see how much less music by German composers has been chosen at Royal weddings since the Family changed its name to Windsor in 1917!