Richard Wagner (1813–1883)
was largely self taught in music. He finished
Lohengrin in 1848 and Franz Liszt conducted the premier in 1850. The
Introduction to Act III of
Lohengrin with the Bridal Chorus is played by orchestras everywhere, sometimes with a chorus
of women and sometimes without. Unusually, it has no relation to the themes from Act III. We owe the ubiquity of the Bridal Chorus
to Hollywood, but it was Victoria, daughter of Queen Victoria, who first used it for her wedding in 1858.
Samuel P Warren (1841–1915), though born in Montreal, made his mark on the
organ world in New York City. He was a
founder of the American Guild of Organists,
a respected performer and teacher, and extraordinary transcriptionist. It is possible to play only the Bridal Chorus by starting on
page 11. Introduction, difficult; Bridal Chorus, moderate.
