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www.hymncds.com has a wide range of accompaniments for hymns and worship songs, plus organ voluntaries. Read more >>

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The Sacred Flame - Cambridge Singers   


I'll be honest, my mental image of the Cambridge Singers is of rather heavy handed singing, suitable for John Rutter's jolly carols, but not exactly competition for the Sixteen. However in this collection of Renaissance and Baroque they have proved they can do subtlety too. The Monteverdi pieces bounce along with just enough lightness. There's a wonderful range of the best music here. Gesualdo's O vos omnes, for example, is full of 'he can't do that!' moments - it's electrifying. Buxtehude's chunky and jubilant Magnificat adds a little light relief among the exquisite likes of Victoria and Josquin Desprez... and it runs through neatly through Schütz to the (relatively) trendy 'new' music of Mr Bach.


All in all a great collection.


 

Wedding Hymns, Songs and music

A Church Wedding

Music makes a church wedding, but you may not be familiar with what could be on offer. Here are some suggestions that might help. Note that this is based on UK information - while many hymns and traditions are the same in the US, sometimes there may be differences. This is a long page - use this guide to jump to the right spot:


Planning your wedding music

We often get asked for help in planning the music for a wedding. You'll find plenty of information on this page, but we have now also produced a detailed 62 page downloadable guide to planning the music for a church wedding, or any wedding using traditional music like hymns. In the guide you will find:


The planner is there to help you make a choice of wedding music that you'll always love. You can download a free sample with the contents and introduction by RIGHT CLICKING HERE and selecting "Save Target As..." or "Save Link As..." to download. Both the sample and the actual planner are in Adobe Acrobat format to read on the computer. Note sample and cover are from the PDF version - the Kindle version has a different cover and slightly different text.

Not got Adobe Acrobat reader?

Got any questions? Email us and we'll get back to you with the information you need. You can buy the full planner in either pounds sterling, or US dollars, from us as PDF or from Amazon for Kindle.

Want a choir?

Many churches offer a choir to sing at the wedding (for a fee). We strongly recommend having a choir if you can. These days a lot of guests at weddings may not be totally familiar with the hymns or songs you sing - the main function of the choir is to lead the singing, to make sure there's a strong line rather than an embarrassing silence. The choir may also be able to sing an anthem during the signing of the register (see below) - but this may depend on who is available. If, for instance, you are getting married in August, you may find the choir is thinner than usual and are best sticking to the hymns. If the church can't provide a choir you may be able to find one locally who will fill in - it's well worth asking around, as it makes a huge difference to the singing.

A few choirs offer a junior choir or a full choir at an extra charge. The junior choir is fine if you are mostly interested in the look of having the choir there, but the full choir will make a lot of difference to the singing.

CDs of Wedding music

It makes a lot of sense to hear the music for your wedding first to make sure it's what you want. Ask the organist to play through some recommended pieces and hymns (lots of recommendations below), or consider getting a CD to give you some hints. Here are some suggestions:

Organ Music for Weddings  Click here for more information, including a full track list, or to buy

Our own 2 CD set features 26 wedding hymn tunes, 11 worship songs and 14 organ pieces for "ins and outs" as well as playing during interludes like the signing of the register. This is a great way to get to know the various tunes - note they are accompaniments only, there is no singing on the CDs - and to help choose music for the arrival of the bride and the departure of the bride and groom - this collection has about the best set on a single recording. As well as the familiar Wagner and Mendelssohn wedding marches and Widor's Toccata, there are some less well known but superb pieces like the march from Handel's Occasional Oratorio, Karg Elert's variations on Now Thank we All Our God and Charpentier's Trumpet Tune/Prelude - excellent if you want your wedding to stand out from the crowd.

Organ Miscellany - If you want more choice for before and after, during the processions or during the signing, take a look also at our Organ Miscellany CD. This features 22 extra organ pieces from well known music like the Bach/Gounod Ave Maria and Haydn's St Anthony Chorale to some secret gems that will make your wedding extra special. There are a range of trumpet voluntaries, selections from Handel's Water Music and much more. Click here for more information, including a full track list, or to buy

  Love Divine - The Complete Guide to Music for a Church Wedding       

It's difficult to find a single CD that has a good selection of both background music and hymns to get some inspirations for a wedding - this is probably the best choice around. There are the inevitable Wagner & Mendelssohn wedding marches, with several other organ options for in and out, some good anthems to be sung during the signing of the register (though as usual rather randomly chosen) and some of the most popular wedding hymns from the inevitable Love Divine (and why not - it's a good hymn) to less common choices like Dear Lord and Father of Mankind. Perhaps the oddest choices are Elgar's rather weak Ave Verum Corpus (if you don't want Mozart, Byrd's is so much better), Walton's Set Me as a Seal and strangest of all Irish I Would be True. But it's still a very useful starter to explore some potential wedding music. Unfortunately this CD isn't available from Amazon.com (though there's no problem shipping to the US from Amazon.co.uk), and when we last looked was on 1-2 week availability (do check by clicking the See button), so failing that, there's:

The Complete Wedding Album    


It doesn't have the hymns and anthems - if you want to hear these, check out the other CD recommendations below, but this album does have an excellent range of music both for arriving and departing and for playing during any gaps such as the signing of the register. Some of this music you would probably have to play on a sound system (unless you can run to an orchestra for Fantasia on Greensleeves, or the right performers for Unchained Melody) but much of it would work fine on an organ.

The Power and the Glory: Organ Music for Weddings    


Okay, this isn't going to help with hymns, because there aren't any, but this double album has a great selection of pieces played on the organ for "ins and outs" and for playing during the signing of the register. Of course there's Wagner and Mendelssohn (the traditional in and out) and the expected Arrival of the Queen of Sheba and Grand March from Aida, but there's also some interesting surprises like Cocker's Tuba Tune and Gigout's Grand Choeur Dialogue. One or two are maybe not ideal for weddings - I'm not sure I'd go with the Radetsky March or  Liberty Bell (the Monty Python music) but tastes vary!

If none of these meets your need, here's a wider selection (In the UK...):


(... and in the US):


Last minute downloads

If you would like to hear any of the hymns below (and many more) or organ music to play during the signing and for arriving and departing played on a church organ, or to have a backing track for hymns to sing along to at your wedding, but have left it to the last minute, we have a service to email MP3s of individual hymns at just 99p ($1.99) a hymn, or we can send them on a custom CD. Note these are accompaniments only, no singing. Click here for details. Here's what one of our customers said:

Thank you very much for sending out the tracks so promptly!! They are perfect, and you have saved the day!! Terry Golding

Wedding hymns

If possible, borrow a copy of the hymn books used in the church and get the words in your service sheet copied from there. Many hymn books have subtle variants of words, and the choir may well use the hymn books to sing from so they have the music - they will do their best to use the service sheet words, but it's safer to stick to the same version. It also helps if you can provide enough service sheets for the choir! (If you want the hymn Love Divine, check the info below before getting your service sheet printed.)  For most of the hymns we've got a MIDI file that will give you and idea of what the tune sounds like - click on the icon to hear it.

To hear any of these hymns - and many more - played properly, we have a service to email MP3s of individual hymns (tune only - no singing) at just 99p ($1.99) a hymn, or we can send them on a custom CD. Click here for details.

Sheet music for weddings

We quite often get asked where you can get sheet music for a particular wedding hymn. Few hymns are available as separate sheet music. All the hymns and tunes we mention above are in both the main Anglican hymn books: Ancient & Modern New Standard and The New English Hymnal unless they are marked AMNS or NEH to show just one book features them. See our hymn book page for information on buying these from Amazon, but check with your organist first - many will already have access to copies.

Wedding sheet music for choirs, soloists and organists is readily available. See our wedding sheet music page.

Organ music

Organ music is traditional for church weddings and adds impressive solemnity. There is no other instrument that has the same sheer power as an organ - it really sets off the occasion. You will have to pay for an organist - either your own or one provided by the church. Note that both organists and organs may be limited in capability. Many local organists are elderly, or limited in experience, and many smaller churches have organs that simply aren't up to some of the more dramatic organ pieces. Similarly, neither the organist nor the organ may be up to playing the theme from Baywatch - or another non-standard piece. Take advice from your organist before choosing your music. The organ will normally play you in and out of the church, accompany the hymns and play before the start of the service and during the signing of the register. See above for CDs to hear some of this music.

In and out


To hear many of these pieces - and many more - played properly, we have a service to email MP3s of individual pieces at just 99p ($1.99) a piece, or we can send them on a custom CD. Click here for details. (See the voluntaries section near the bottom for a list of the pieces.)

Other organ music (before the wedding, signing etc.)


Anthems

Depending on the choir, they may be able to sing a piece during the signing of the register. These "anthems" can be very beautiful and act effectively as background music. Check with the choir for its repertoire - note that not every member of the choir can necessarily come to a wedding (especially for weddings in July and August when members may be on holiday), so even the best of choirs may have to limit its repertoire a little for weddings. Some of the many anthems often sung at weddings are:


Solos

If you'd like a solo sung, whether it's a traditional piece like Ave Maria or something a little more modern you will probably have to provide your own soloist. If you don't know anyone, ask the person who runs the choir (or if there isn't one, the vicar), as they will probably know someone who can help. See above for CDs to hear some of this music. Some of the many solos often sung at weddings are:


If you've got a soloist, but your organist isn't up to accompanying them, try these book/accompaniment CD combinations:


Recorded music

You can of course use recorded music (you may have to provide the equipment to play it - check!), but it's never quite the same. Note that to use recorded music you do have to pay appropriate copyright fees - check with the vicar or whoever is taking the wedding.

Hear a wide choice of wedding music

If you can't find a CD that meets your needs, or just want a much wider choice of music to check out before your wedding, see the excellent Classical Wedding website. This features over 200 pieces of music, covering hymns, anthems and organ music. For a one off £20 charge you get three months access to all this music to help arrange your wedding. Provided you can play RealAudio, MP3s or WMAs on your computer it's easy to use. You won't find every piece of music we recommend there, but the majority of them are, and many more besides. We found it a little fiddly to find specific pieces, but once you get used to the site it's very good. There are sample snippets from some of the pieces so you can get an idea of how the site works without paying anything.

Buy The Ultimate Church Wedding Music Planner (Adobe PDF format) £2.99 IMMEDIATE DOWNLOAD - you will be able to pay securely using a credit card or PayPal. Select Return to Creativity Unleashed Limited at the end of the transaction to get to the download page.

Buy The Ultimate Church Wedding Music Planner (Adobe PDF format) $3.99 IMMEDIATE DOWNLOAD - you will be able to pay securely using a credit card or PayPal. Select Return to Creativity Unleashed Limited at the end of the transaction to get to the download page.


Music for hymns

We quite often get asked where you can get sheet music for a particular hymn. Few hymns are available as separate sheet music. All the hymns and tunes we mention above are in both the main Anglican hymn books: Ancient & Modern New Standard and The New English Hymnal, except for the two worship songs, which are from Songs of Fellowship 1 (River Wash Over Me) and Songs of Fellowship 2 (I, the Lord of Sea and Sky). See our hymn book page for information on buying these from Amazon, but check with your organist first - many will already have access to copies.


If there is no organist available, you might find our hymn accompaniment CDs useful - they enable you to sing hymns without anyone to play. For baptisms, the general set is usually most relevant, but it is worth also taking a look at our cheaper Wedding set, which includes many celebratory hymns, and voluntaries that can be played at the beginning and end of the service.




More for the wedding

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