The Wedding March ("Bridal Chorus"), from Wagner's Lohengrin may be the most famous tune connected with the marriage ceremony, but it’s only one of many classical works that celebrate the union of two people in holy—and, occasionally, unholy—matrimony.

In this hour, Wagner's piece, plus wedding music by Bach, Mendelssohn, Rimsky-Korsakov, Goldmark, Grieg, Saint-Saens, and Maxwell Davies.

Featured Recordings

Title	Performers	Catalog Number	UPC
Canadian Brass: Wagner for Brass	Canadian Brass	Philips 432 999-2	028943410922
Doulce Memoire	Doulce Memoire	Naïve E 8898	0822186088982
Bach: Secular Cantatas	Aureum Collegium, Elly Ameling (solist)	Harmonia Mundi GD77151	0035627715129
Mendelssohn: Midsummer Night’s Dream [for Wedding March]	Scottish Chamber Orchestra, Jaime Laredo cond.	Nimbus NI 5041/2	0710357504129
Wedding Album (for Wagner Bridal Chorus)	National Philharmonic Orchestra, Ambrosian Singers, Leonard Slatkin cond.	BMG/RCA 631532	090266315321
Grieg Lyric Pieces	Andrei Gavrilov	DG 437 522-2	028943752220
Goldmark: Rustic Wedding Symphony	New York Philharmonic, Leonard Bernstein cond.	Sony SMK 61836	074646183625
Rimsky-Korsakov: Le Coq d'Or	Sofia National Opera Orchestra and Chorus, Dimiter Manolov cond.	Capriccio 10 760/61	845221003603
Saint-Saens: Complete Wks Piano & Orch [for Wedding Cake]	Stephen Hough	Hyperion CDA 67331-2	034571173313
Grainger: The Power of Love  [for To a Nordic Princess: A Bridal Song]	Slovak Radio Symphony Orchestra, Keith Brion cond.	Naxos 8.554263	636943426326
Maxwell Davies: Celebration of Scotland [for An Orkney Wedding with Sunrise]	Scottish Chamber Orchestra, George McIlwham (bagpipes0, Peter Maxwell Davies cond.	Unicorn-Kanchana DKP 9070	053068907026