Another kind of wedding

[Sylvia]

I wonder how many wedding harpists here have been to a wedding played by a string quartet.
I happened to know there would be a wedding this afternoon at 4, at a church not far from where I live, so I decided to invite myself and do some research. (I didn’t know what kind of music there would be.) Catholic weddings are considered public, and anyone can go.

I got there at 20 till 4. I got the program and went in and sat in the last row of the groom’s side. Usually there aren’t as many people on that side as the bride’s. I was hoping no one else would sit there (no one did) and climb over me for Communion. Also, I knew if the bride came down the aisle and saw me on her side, she would know immediately that she hadn’t invited me…but the groom would never notice.

There was no music. Just silence while people were coming in. About 3:45, a string quartet came in and sat in their area up front. It is a group of young guys…no keyboard, just strings.) I knew who they were, but I figured they wouldn’t see me in the back, and if they did, they wouldn’t recognize me. When I play, I have my hair down …here I had my hair up and was harpless.

I should say here that the group played beautifully, and I know it’s much harder for a group than a soloist because they have to coordinate to start-stop, etc.

I always start the prelude a half hour before the wedding. After some coaching by the leader, they started at 10 till 4. I figure you should know what you’re going to do by the time you get there, right?
The program stated that the prelude would be “a variety of pieces.” It did not name the quartet.
The “variety” consisted of two pieces…the Bach Arioso, which is pretty sludgy stuff, but as I said, they played well. Then, after a LONG pause…like about a minute and a half, they resumed with Handel’s Hornpipe….again, I think no coaching between tunes should be necessary. They should know exactly what they would be doing.

After that, it was 5 till 4, and they started the Canon in D, which can be eternal, as you know. All the padrinos and bridesmaids came in on it. I sometimes use different music for the padrinos than the bridesmaids, but as a solo player, I can do that.
Then the bridal march. I used to always use here comes the bride, but last year a friend of mine who plays organ with a Catholic choir I play with sometimes told me they weren’t supposed to use the marches from the operas anymore…the traditional entrance and exit marches, so she uses other stuff. I guess the message didn’t get here, because it was here comes the bride.

During the ceremony, the string group seemed to think they were in an insulated bubble because it looked like they were chatting…a lot. The cellist also spent a lot of time practicing his fingering! I always stay attentive and pretend to be interested, even when I’m bored to tears, because otherwise it is disrespectful.
(an aside…once when someone put a singer with me, the girl sat behind me during the mass, so I didn’t see what she was doing. After the wedding, she had left, and a nun came up to me and told me “my” singer was drinking water and smiling at someone in the audience DURING HOLY MASS. I told her I’d never met the girl before, and the bride and groom had chosen her to sing with me.)

The priest started the Offertory, and he was in full swing before the guys decided to play….it was Panis Angelicus…which they had to kind of drizzle off when the priest was ready to talk.
Then for the Sign of Peace, they played the Jesu, Joy. In other words, everything was strictly classical.
I like to use ceremony music I learned when I worked with the choir (that music is on my website) ….unless the bridal couple actually asks for something else.
The communion music here, I think, was Gluck. It pretty much droned on, but it was nice.

Then it was time for the Flowers to the Virgin, where the bride takes a bouquet (not the one she walks with) to the statue of Mary…which in this church is in the BACK of the church….eek…they walked right past me…but Cloud 9 made it impossible for them to see me. (the groom goes with her). Well, our guys didn’t start the Ave (credit where due…it WAS the right one, the Schubert) until the couple was all the way at the back…so that meant they walked in silence all the way down the aisle. Now, if the couple had stayed back there longer, everything would have been fine, but they didn’t, which meant that by the time they got back up to the front, the group was smack dab in the middle of the Ave…and instead of playing the second half, they STOPPED. Well, the priest can continue meditating while the Ave finishes…but I guess they didn’t know that. I NEVER stop my Ave. If the priest is rude and starts talking, I drop the volume and finish it…if you’re still playing it, the people are still listening to it, trust me. I consider the Ave the musical highlight of the mass.

After the final blessing, they were announced hubby and wife, and the applause lasted a long time. Now it was time for the march out, and what did our guys play? The same march as the march in! I just kept thinking maybe I wasn’t hearing it right…maybe I’ve lost my mind for sure? but no, it was, indeed, Here Comes the Bride! They continued until the large wedding party had gotten out, and then stopped. I usually do a postlude….just a tune or two to send folks on their way.

Well, it was deathly cold in there, as I expected, so I was frozen solid. I made a clean getaway, and here I am, telling the tale. Hope this info is useful to others.

[Gretchen Cover]

Sylvia, I am thankful you have high music standards. I don’t think most brides do so it’s up to the musicians to make everything work. I just played a wedding (only to enable my guitar partner to get the job) and musically, the bride was just interested in “that Pacha-thing.”

[Sid Humphreys]

It sounds like there was no communication between the musicians and the wedding co-ordinator. I also assume that the group just showed up and did the wedding without rehearsing together.
I applaude you for your musical standards. This is a couples most important day and it should flow with respect!

[Jerusha Amado]

I would like to echo the thoughts of the previous posters. South Texas is fortunate to have you as a wedding harpist!

[Sylvia]

Gretchen, What the heck is a Pacha-thing?

Also, I must reveal I have played weddings for over 30 years, and this was a group of young guys. The weddings of MY earlier years have (I fervently hope) faded into history.

For example, when I started out, I didn’t know that in the Catholic church everyone gets up and walks around for Communion. I was so distracted, I totally lost my place…. Well, you get the picture. (that’s just one example…I had plenty of other umm experiences to learn from) I’m sure those brides back then probably thought they should have gotten someone else.

We all have to start somewhere, and as I said, these guys play really well. I think as they get more experience, they will have a smoother presentation….and remember, string quartets sound like a little orchestra, which is the sound some people want. Although we can match them piece for piece on the music, our sound is totally different. Apples and oranges.

[Angela Biggs]

It seems like you have a cordial or at least neutral relationship with the quartet — if you run into them again, you might suggest they pick up an old copy of a missalette, or at least do some online research into the order of the Mass. It’s a good thing for musicians to know anyway, for professional reasons. The music *should* flow seamlessly into the Mass and thus enhance it, but it sounds like it was pretty disruptive at this wedding. Yes, growing pains… but there’s a minimum amount of due diligence musicians really should be doing before walking into a new performance situation.

I agree they should have known what they were playing before they arrived at the venue. Maybe this was a last-minute situation?

Re: the cellist: I sing with two organists who practice the organ during the homily (sermon) with the blower turned off. Drives me nuts. Those keys make noise even without the air running through the pipes! I’m with you. I pay attention to what’s going on.

(As for the nun and the singer: vocalists can drink water during Mass. I do it all the time, even at the church where I’m seated up on the altar. It’s an *hour* of singing, after all! We can also smile at people. I go even further; at weddings or funerals, I’ve been known to get up from my chair to give the bride or a mourner a tissue. If the girl was being disruptive about it, or flirting, then fine, she should have been more discrete, but — what was that nun doing paying attention to some random, silent vocalist DURING HOLY MASS. Hm??? 😉 )

[jimmy-h]

I bet “that Pacha-thing” was the brides reference to Pachelbel Canon. Lol, funny!

[Sylvia]

I was blessed to spend a lot of time with a Catholic choir in the 90s…then the director moved away….so I was very fortunate to learn a lot during that time. Otherwise, I would still be wallowing in ignorance. I would never tell anyone how to play a mass. I wouldn’t want those guys to know I was there even. Maybe the girl drinking water was flirting at the same time? I don’t know, but the nun seemed upset. As for the Pacha…I guess that’s it, the Taco Bell Canon. I thought of pachanga (this is S. TX).

[Gretchen Cover]

Sylvia – We figured out the “pacha-thing” was Pachabel’s Canon.

[Alison]

I went to a catholic wedding in France and yes it was long, with communion, but actually when you are one of the guests, surrounded by family, it’s much more emotional, the focus was on the bridal couple with little or no instrumental music but perhaps more anthems and vocal/organ works which I like to discover.

[Briggsie B. Peawiggle]

I have to ask this. Why is the Schubert, “the right one?” I was raised as a Catholic, and there are several nice Ave Maria’s to choose from, so I’m just confused by that statement.

[Jerusha Amado]

Briggs! So nice to see you here again! How have you been?

[Sylvia]

Why the Schubert? I knew about the Bach-Gounod Ave, and in my early years, I would play them both and ask the bride which one she wanted. The bride would ALWAYS identify the Schubert as the one she wanted. As I said, this is S. TX, and most people are Hispanic. The Schubert is the one they know and love.

[Briggsie B. Peawiggle]

Jerusha…..thanks so much. I’m okay. I just got back from Chicago where I attended the L&H 150th Anniversary Festival…..getting ready for a trip to NYC to visit friends, and when I get home finalizing all the practicing I’ve been doing with my duo partner to play on a “concert in the park” series in a town nearby. It should be fun!! I sold my practice ogan immediately after retiring fom my chuch gig last December and now I have an official harp studio in the house. I have some harp students, and I’m still teaching voice and piano. Life is okay…..particularly since I had some terrible health scares in February and just last week found out everything is okay. Hope all is well with you…..

Briggsie

[Briggsie B. Peawiggle]

Thanks for explaining about the Schubert.

Briggsie

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