Felix Mendelssohn (1809-1847) 1842 C major 4/4 Intermediate 0:17 Both hands
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Mendelssohn's Wedding March is the jubilant music of the end of a wedding: a trumpet fanfare, then a theme that starts on a high C and sweeps down. This page arranges that main theme, the eight bars after the fanfare, for piano in C major, the original key. The right hand plays the top line of the orchestra, without the trills and grace notes, and the left hand gives one or two bass notes per bar. It covers a wide range, from middle C up to the C two octaves higher, so it is an intermediate piece. Listen first, then practise the arpeggio in bar 4 on its own before you put the theme together.
Bar 1 starts high: the C two octaves above middle C, then B and F#. Bar 2 walks down A G F D. Bar 3 sits on the C above middle C, then D, a low G and D. Bar 4 is the big moment: E, then a C major arpeggio from middle C up to the G an octave and a fifth higher. Bars 5 to 8 repeat the theme and close on C.
Two bass notes in bars 1 to 3: A then B, E then G, C then G, two beats each. Bar 4 holds C. Bars 5 and 6 repeat bars 1 and 2, bar 7 holds C for three beats before G, and bar 8 ends with G and C.
The arpeggio in bar 4: six eighth notes, C E G C E G, from middle C upwards, with the thumb passing under after the first G. The dotted figures in bars 3 and 7 (G-D, D-E) are quick: a dotted eighth and a sixteenth.
Bar 1: C-B-F# with 5-4-1. Bar 2: A-G-F-D with 4-3-2-1. Bar 4: E with 3, then the arpeggio C E G C E G with 1-2-3-1-2-3, passing the thumb under after G.
The right-hand melody of this version, bar by bar, in letter names and in Do Ré Mi. Sharps are written #, flats b; a note held across a bar line is written once.
Melody: C B F# A G F D C D G D E C E G C E G C B F# A G F …
| Bar | Notes | Do Ré Mi |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | C B F# | Do Si Fa# |
| 2 | A G F D | La Sol Fa Ré |
| 3 | C D G D | Do Ré Sol Ré |
| 4 | E C E G C E G | Mi Do Mi Sol Do Mi Sol |
| 5 | C B F# | Do Si Fa# |
| 6 | A G F D | La Sol Fa Ré |
| 7 | C E D E | Do Mi Ré Mi |
| 8 | D C | Ré Do |
The chords this arrangement holds for at least two bars, read from the score with the root in the bass. Each one opens its page: the notes, every inversion and the fingering, playable on a piano.
The piece is in C major: all the chords of the key
Felix Mendelssohn wrote the Wedding March in 1842 as part of his incidental music, Op. 61, for Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night's Dream; he had written the overture to the play years earlier, at 17. The march is in C major, marked Allegro vivace, and opens with a trumpet fanfare before the full orchestra enters with the theme.
The first known use of the march at a wedding was in Tiverton, England, on 2 June 1847, played on the organ by Samuel Reay. It became a fixture after Victoria, the Princess Royal, chose it for her marriage to Prince Frederick William of Prussia on 25 January 1858. Today it is usually played as the couple leaves, often paired with Wagner's Bridal Chorus for the bride's entrance.
This transcription: Mendelssohn, A Midsummer Night's Dream, Op. 61 (1842), No. 9 Wedding March: the main theme after the fanfare, bars 1-8, checked against a piano edition (Boston: F. Trifet, 1896); top line only, left hand by GOONS Studio. Transcribed by GOONS Studio from the original work, which is in the public domain.
Easy Version, Main Theme · C major
Easy Version, First Theme · G major
Easy Version · C major
Theme A · A minorThe full piano studio opens this score with your MIDI keyboard and sustain pedal, records what you play and exports it as a MIDI file. It comes with the GOONS Studio subscription - start with the 7-day free trial, no card required.
In C major: C B F#, A G F D, C D G D, E C E G C E G - Do Si Fa#, La Sol Fa Ré, Do Ré Sol Ré, Mi Do Mi Sol Do Mi Sol. Every bar is in the Notes section.
Mendelssohn's is the triumphant march that opens with a trumpet fanfare and is usually played at the end of the ceremony. "Here Comes the Bride", played for the entrance, is Wagner's Bridal Chorus.
This version is level 3 of 5. The rhythm is simple, but the right hand covers two octaves and bar 4 has a fast arpeggio.
From Felix Mendelssohn's incidental music to Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night's Dream, Op. 61, written in 1842.