This Wedding March (Recessional) was originally written in 1967, and first performed on the organ at St Andrew's Church, Plymouth. It was composed for friends of mine, who wanted something different at the end of the service, and wanted something which would show off the fine organ in the Mother Church of Plymouth, a picture of which is attached. It is written in ternary form, with the quieter middle section returning triumphantly at the close. It has since has a number of ?outings? across the c... (more)

This Wedding March (Recessional) was originally written in 1967, and first performed on the organ at St Andrew's Church, Plymouth. It was composed for friends of mine, who wanted something different at the end of the service, and wanted something which would show off the fine organ in the Mother Church of Plymouth, a picture of which is attached. It is written in ternary form, with the quieter middle section returning triumphantly at the close. It has since has a number of ?outings? across the country.

The attached MP3 file is played on the Yamaha EL 90 Electronic Organ. Classical purists will still shake their heads in horror, but the sound is infinitely better than from a simpler tone generator module, and will have to do, until I can prevail upon Ian Tracey at Liverpool Cathedral to record it for me on a real organ!

All Reviews

There are 4 reviews for this score

Interesting
This piece is quite interesting harmonically. The composer does not seem to care that it abounds in dissonant intervals. It does add to the "feeling," if you will, of the piece. It is also tonally interesting. Short modulations are frequent; they also add to the feeling. I would prefer something more stately for my wedding, but still- I would recommend it.

Luke Waddell

Wedding Bells
This is a great alternative as recessional music at a wedding service. We had this played at our wedding in August and had many fellow musicians comment on how nice it was to hear such a different, but well structured piece. I would recommend this to any couple who are looking for something different on their big day. It can, of course only be played on a full church organ. A keyboard reduction doesn't do it any justice! Many thanks Phillip.

sarah fox

Walton would be proud
This piece would be an excellent recessional piece for a wedding. The melody is very memorable and the harmony is well-controlled. I commend Buttall for his harmonic structure, the movement between F major and Dm is particularly effective as in the passing modulation in C (b9 reoccurring throughout). There are two points in the piece that seem to weaken the over all affect and they can be found at bars 73, and 128-129. In the first instance, the returning 'A' section feels like it needs one more bar preparation with the C7 chord being held for two bars and the descending bass line rhythm augmented to minims. The second instance (in the coda) again creates the feeling that a bar is missing. The phrasing appear slightly wrong with a 3-bar phrase (bb126-128) falling in the middle of a series of 4-bar phrases. This makes the returning 'B' idea (b129) feel like it has come in early. Aside from these minor points, this piece is worth buying and definitely playing.

Guy Bunce

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