The "Bridal Chorus" (German: Treulich geführt) from the 1850 opera Lohengrin by German composer Richard Wagner is a march played for the bride's entrance at many formal weddings throughout the Western world. In English-speaking countries it is generally known as "Here Comes the Bride" or "Wedding March", though "wedding march" refers to any piece in march tempo accompanying the entrance or exit of the bride, notably Felix Mendelssohn's "Wedding March". The piece was made popular when it was used as the processional at the wedding of Victoria the Princess Royal to Prince Frederick William of Prussia in 1858.
Contents
The chorus is sung in Lohengrin by the women of the wedding party after the ceremony, as they accompany the heroine Elsa to her bridal chamber.
Text
Although at most weddings the chorus is usually played on an organ without vocal singing, in Lohengrin the wedding party sings these words at the beginning of act three.
Eight women then sing a blessing to a separate melody.
The chorus then repeats the first section, gradually proceeding offstage.
Religious attitudes
Many pastors of the Lutheran Church–Missouri Synod oppose the "Bridal Chorus" because of both pre-First World War Lutheran opposition to the theater and the pagan elements of Wagner's operas. The Roman Catholic Church generally does not use the "Bridal Chorus"; one diocese's guidelines regarding the chorus states that the chorus is a secular piece of music, that it is not a processional to the altar in the opera, and especially that its frequent use in film and television associate it with sentimentality rather than worship. The song is also not used in Eastern Orthodox weddings.