1 00:00:00,120 --> 00:00:01,960 Speaker 1: This Day in History Class as a production of I 2 00:00:02,040 --> 00:00:10,280 Speaker 1: Heart Radio, Hello and Welcome to This Day in History Class, 3 00:00:10,280 --> 00:00:13,240 Speaker 1: a show that loves history so much they would marry 4 00:00:13,280 --> 00:00:17,840 Speaker 1: it if it could. I'm Gabe Lousier, and today we're 5 00:00:17,840 --> 00:00:20,599 Speaker 1: looking at the time when two famous wedding songs were 6 00:00:20,640 --> 00:00:24,360 Speaker 1: first joined together, defining the sound of weddings throughout the 7 00:00:24,400 --> 00:00:36,120 Speaker 1: Western world for centuries to come. The day was January 8 00:00:36,159 --> 00:00:40,239 Speaker 1: eighteen fifty eight. The wedding March and Here Comes the 9 00:00:40,280 --> 00:00:43,320 Speaker 1: Bride were performed together for the first time at a 10 00:00:43,440 --> 00:00:47,080 Speaker 1: royal wedding in London. The bride that day was Queen 11 00:00:47,200 --> 00:00:52,800 Speaker 1: Victoria's eldest child, Princess Victoria Adelaide Mary Louise. In the 12 00:00:52,880 --> 00:00:56,440 Speaker 1: Chapel Royal at St James Palace, she tied the knot 13 00:00:56,480 --> 00:01:00,360 Speaker 1: with Prince Frederick William the third of Prussia, and because 14 00:01:00,360 --> 00:01:03,160 Speaker 1: the Princess was an avid fan of the opera, much 15 00:01:03,160 --> 00:01:05,679 Speaker 1: like her mother, she chose to include the work of 16 00:01:05,760 --> 00:01:09,760 Speaker 1: two great opera composers in the ceremony. She was accompanied 17 00:01:09,760 --> 00:01:13,039 Speaker 1: to the altar by Richard Wagner's Here Comes the Bride, 18 00:01:13,480 --> 00:01:16,240 Speaker 1: and then once the vows had been exchanged, she and 19 00:01:16,360 --> 00:01:19,480 Speaker 1: her new husband walked back down the aisle to Felix 20 00:01:19,520 --> 00:01:24,560 Speaker 1: Mendelsohns wedding March. From that day forward, the music selected 21 00:01:24,560 --> 00:01:27,640 Speaker 1: by the princess became the standard choice for weddings in 22 00:01:27,680 --> 00:01:32,080 Speaker 1: many Western countries. To this day, millions of couples around 23 00:01:32,080 --> 00:01:34,440 Speaker 1: the world walk up and down the aisle to the 24 00:01:34,480 --> 00:01:38,160 Speaker 1: songs each year. You've no doubt heard them yourself, either 25 00:01:38,240 --> 00:01:41,720 Speaker 1: in person or in countless movies and TV shows. But 26 00:01:41,840 --> 00:01:57,720 Speaker 1: just to refresh your memory, here's Wagner's processional song, and 27 00:01:57,800 --> 00:02:15,560 Speaker 1: here's a clip from Mental Stones Recessional. It's strange to 28 00:02:15,600 --> 00:02:19,080 Speaker 1: think about, but prior to the eighty eight royal wedding 29 00:02:19,400 --> 00:02:23,560 Speaker 1: music wasn't generally included in weddings in Western Europe. There 30 00:02:23,600 --> 00:02:27,160 Speaker 1: were exceptions, as some brides did use processional music for 31 00:02:27,200 --> 00:02:29,480 Speaker 1: their walk to the altar, but for the most part, 32 00:02:29,760 --> 00:02:33,160 Speaker 1: music was reserved for the wedding reception, not the ceremony. 33 00:02:33,880 --> 00:02:37,800 Speaker 1: Princess Victoria and her groom defied that trend, and since 34 00:02:37,840 --> 00:02:40,239 Speaker 1: the public often likes to do as the royals do, 35 00:02:40,800 --> 00:02:44,920 Speaker 1: other couples started setting their own ceremonies to music. In 36 00:02:45,000 --> 00:02:47,880 Speaker 1: that way. The princess was a lot like her mother, 37 00:02:48,160 --> 00:02:51,360 Speaker 1: who also kicked off a long running wedding tradition, the 38 00:02:51,400 --> 00:02:55,800 Speaker 1: practice of brides wearing white gowns. Given the titles of 39 00:02:55,840 --> 00:02:59,679 Speaker 1: the songs, you might assume they were written especially for weddings, 40 00:03:00,040 --> 00:03:04,400 Speaker 1: but that's not quite the case. Mendelssohn's Wedding March was 41 00:03:04,440 --> 00:03:08,040 Speaker 1: actually written for a series of fictional weddings, the ones 42 00:03:08,080 --> 00:03:11,960 Speaker 1: at the end of William Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night's Dream. 43 00:03:12,000 --> 00:03:15,560 Speaker 1: In the early eighteen forties, the German composer was commissioned 44 00:03:15,600 --> 00:03:18,200 Speaker 1: by the King of Prussia to provide a soundtrack for 45 00:03:18,240 --> 00:03:22,200 Speaker 1: an elaborate stage production of that comic play. The piece 46 00:03:22,240 --> 00:03:24,600 Speaker 1: we now know as the Wedding March was part of 47 00:03:24,639 --> 00:03:27,679 Speaker 1: that suite of music, but within five years of its 48 00:03:27,680 --> 00:03:31,079 Speaker 1: creation it was already being used in real life weddings. 49 00:03:32,080 --> 00:03:34,800 Speaker 1: The first such instance is believed to have taken place 50 00:03:34,840 --> 00:03:38,720 Speaker 1: on June two, eighteen forty seven. It was played at 51 00:03:38,720 --> 00:03:42,440 Speaker 1: St Peter's Church in Tiverton, England, during the wedding ceremony 52 00:03:42,480 --> 00:03:47,080 Speaker 1: of two locals, Tom Daniel and Dorothy Carew. The organist 53 00:03:47,160 --> 00:03:50,360 Speaker 1: that day was a young man named Samuel Ray. He 54 00:03:50,400 --> 00:03:53,200 Speaker 1: had heard Mendelsohn performed the march at a recital in 55 00:03:53,280 --> 00:03:56,800 Speaker 1: London and decided to include it in the Daniel ceremony. 56 00:03:56,960 --> 00:03:59,920 Speaker 1: Other couples may have used the song as well. There's 57 00:04:00,120 --> 00:04:02,720 Speaker 1: not much evidence one way or the other, but it 58 00:04:02,760 --> 00:04:06,480 Speaker 1: didn't become widely popular until the Princess Royal played it 59 00:04:06,520 --> 00:04:10,200 Speaker 1: at her wedding a little over ten years later. As 60 00:04:10,240 --> 00:04:13,000 Speaker 1: for the Wagner song she paired it with, it was 61 00:04:13,160 --> 00:04:17,960 Speaker 1: also originally composed for a theatrical wedding. We know it 62 00:04:18,040 --> 00:04:21,160 Speaker 1: as Here Comes the Bride today, but the pieces original 63 00:04:21,200 --> 00:04:25,400 Speaker 1: title was faithfully guided. It was written for Wagner's eighteen 64 00:04:25,520 --> 00:04:29,480 Speaker 1: fifty opera Low Hung Green, an adaptation of a medieval 65 00:04:29,560 --> 00:04:33,559 Speaker 1: German romance. The song appears at the beginning of act three, 66 00:04:33,880 --> 00:04:36,440 Speaker 1: as members of a wedding party escort the bride and 67 00:04:36,480 --> 00:04:40,600 Speaker 1: groom to their bridal chambers. That means that, as written, 68 00:04:40,839 --> 00:04:44,839 Speaker 1: here Comes the Bride is really more of a honeymoon processional. 69 00:04:45,600 --> 00:04:49,159 Speaker 1: Make of that what you will. That fact alone makes 70 00:04:49,240 --> 00:04:52,320 Speaker 1: the song a somewhat odd choice for a wedding ceremony, 71 00:04:52,560 --> 00:04:55,359 Speaker 1: but even more so when you consider that Wagner's opera 72 00:04:55,560 --> 00:05:01,320 Speaker 1: ends in tragedy. The bride Elsa of Bravant literally dies 73 00:05:01,400 --> 00:05:05,159 Speaker 1: of grief after the groom, the titular Lohan Green is 74 00:05:05,200 --> 00:05:08,760 Speaker 1: forced to leave her, and while that ending is romantic 75 00:05:08,800 --> 00:05:11,120 Speaker 1: in um a Cob kind of way, it's not the 76 00:05:11,160 --> 00:05:13,640 Speaker 1: type of story you'd want to tie to your own wedding, 77 00:05:14,200 --> 00:05:17,119 Speaker 1: though of course, most couples likely don't know the story 78 00:05:17,160 --> 00:05:20,320 Speaker 1: at all. For those who do know the origins of 79 00:05:20,360 --> 00:05:23,359 Speaker 1: these popular songs, there may be a similar question of 80 00:05:23,360 --> 00:05:28,080 Speaker 1: suitability surrounding Mendelssohn's wedding march. As I mentioned, it was 81 00:05:28,120 --> 00:05:31,640 Speaker 1: originally composed for A Midsummer Night's Dream, a play in 82 00:05:31,680 --> 00:05:35,840 Speaker 1: which young aristocrats frolic with pagan gods, fairies, and other 83 00:05:35,880 --> 00:05:40,040 Speaker 1: sorts of magical creatures. Because of this, some religious leaders 84 00:05:40,040 --> 00:05:43,360 Speaker 1: have objected to the piece being used in Christian ceremonies. 85 00:05:44,080 --> 00:05:47,080 Speaker 1: So to sum up, we've got one song heralding the 86 00:05:47,160 --> 00:05:51,160 Speaker 1: consummation of a doomed marriage and another celebrating a bunch 87 00:05:51,200 --> 00:05:55,400 Speaker 1: of weddings arranged by pagan magic. It doesn't sound like 88 00:05:55,440 --> 00:05:58,320 Speaker 1: a smart match for a wedding soundtrack, but I guess 89 00:05:58,360 --> 00:06:01,920 Speaker 1: the heart wants what the heart wants, especially if a 90 00:06:02,120 --> 00:06:11,800 Speaker 1: royal princess wanted it first. I'm Gabe Lousier and hopefully 91 00:06:12,040 --> 00:06:14,840 Speaker 1: you now know a little more about history today than 92 00:06:14,920 --> 00:06:18,400 Speaker 1: you did yesterday. You can learn even more about history 93 00:06:18,440 --> 00:06:22,000 Speaker 1: by following us on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram at t 94 00:06:22,080 --> 00:06:26,040 Speaker 1: d i HC Show. You can also rate and review 95 00:06:26,080 --> 00:06:28,760 Speaker 1: the show on Apple Podcasts, or you can mail your 96 00:06:28,760 --> 00:06:32,080 Speaker 1: feedback directly to me at this Day at I heart 97 00:06:32,200 --> 00:06:36,280 Speaker 1: media dot com. Thanks, as always the Chandler Mays for 98 00:06:36,400 --> 00:06:39,360 Speaker 1: producing the show, and thank you for listening. I'll see 99 00:06:39,360 --> 00:06:43,120 Speaker 1: you back here again tomorrow for another day in History class.