What song do you think of when you hear the term 'wedding'?
Richard Wagner's 'Wedding March' is the most common song you can hear when the bride enters the wedding room. But, did you know that this song leads to a false charge of murder, innocent's execution, and death?
Left: Wilhelm Richard Wagner, Right: Opera [Lohengrin] (Source: Wikipedia.com)
The tragic story behind the 'Wedding March.'
Issue 1: Why is this song used for the bride's entrance?
The song used when the bride enters, 'Wedding March' is one of the inserts of the 1850's opera <Lohengrin>, composed by a German opera composer, Richard Wagner. After this song was used in Elsa and Lohengrin's wedding scene in an opera called Lohengrin, England's princess, Victoria Adelaide Mary Louise, and German Emperor, Fredrick III, played the 'Wedding March' at their wedding in 1858. Since then, the song has been played all over the world.
The Marriage of Victoria, Princess Royal, 25 January 1858 by John Phillip (Source: Royal Collection Trust, rct.uk)
Issue 2: The story behind the 'Wedding March' is tragic.
This opera called Lohengrin has a tragic story, especially in terms of what happens to the bride. The opera begins with Elsa's sibling missing. Elsa gets framed for killing her sibling and almost gets executed. Then, a knight riding a swan appears and says "I will prove it. In return, Elsa will marry me, and then I will prove her innocence." The knight finally gets married, and on their wedding scene, 'Wedding March' is played. The knight tells Elsa not to ask him about his name and background. However, like when Eurydice told Orpheus not to look back, but Orpheus did, Elsa could not stand but ask the knight his name. When Elsa asked him, the knight said "I am a knight called Lohengrin, and I am from a country far away from here. The swan I rode here was your sibling who turned into a swan by a spell. But because you asked my name, I must leave you, and I will not prove your innocence". The opera ends with the knight leaving Elsa with her dying.
Left: A knight riding a swan (Source: Wikipedia.com) , Right : Knight gets married with Elsa (Source : hisour.com)
Issue 3: The meaning of the song itself is not tragic.
'Wedding March' is played when Elsa enters the wedding room. Hence, the song and its lyrics itself is flawless. The lyrics is about a young couple who have a bright future and faith in each other, getting a holy marriage. Furthermore, Richard Wagner, being a composer who uses the chords very tightly and displays his talent in increasing the overall scale, made four of the vocalists, from the lowest of the male to the highest of the female, sing together for 'Wedding March'.
The fact that everyone plays Wagner's 'Wedding March' at their wedding is fascinating. However, when married people or people who are planning for a wedding think about a wedding song, I hope they ask themselves 'why am I playing this song' and 'what does it mean'.
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