Music

This page contains advice for choosing hymns and organ music for your ceremony. There is a very wide choice and our organists and Director of Music will be able to advise further. The selections below contain some time-honoured pieces that reflect the sense of occasion.

Hymns

Hymns should be chosen for their words, their significance to you, and for the tune.  If you like a particular set of words, but the tune is not commonly known, we can often guide you to an alternative tune that is better known.

When choosing hymns you should bear these points in mind:

1. ‘All things Bright and Beautiful’ is a very common choice and has become rather well-worn, especially as it is a very frequent funeral choice.
2. Because people are less familiar with singing hymns today, the number of hymns people think they know is getting smaller with the result that there is quite an overlap between choices at funerals and weddings. Hymns marked † in the list below are often chosen for funerals. They are often selected because they are good hymns. So for a wedding by all means choose one or two, just not all of them.
3. For Christmas weddings one carol is fine, more than that is undesirable.
4. ‘Jerusalem’ is a popular, stirring tune, but it is a patriotic song not a Christian hymn. Similarly, ‘I vow to thee my country’. Both are usually chosen for their tunes, and there are very good alternative words for both tunes which the Rector will recommend as suitable for a wedding.
5. The first hymn should be one which everyone knows so that the service gets off to a good and confident start.
6. The second hymn, which comes after the marriage vows and before the prayers, can pick up the theme of the vows that you have just taken, asking God for strength to fulfill them in the years ahead.
7. The final hymn, which comes before the final blessing, should be one of praise and thanksgiving as you leave church to begin a new life together as husband and wife.
8. Hymns can be sung to different tunes.  The tune usually has a name, and if you want a particular tune, you may have to sing it down the phone to the Rector.  Worse, he may sing it to you… A less demanding approach is to use Google.  If you type the first line of the hymn into “Google” then you will usually find the first one or two references will take you to sites that will play the tune and offer alternatives. Alternatively, the audio tracks of more frequent choices are available on the Church of England wedding planning site.

The hymns are found in different hymn books and therefore will have different numbers!

• A&M(NS) = Hymns Ancient and Modern (New Standard Edition). The red hymn book in both churches.
• SOF = Songs of Fellowship volumes 1, 2 & 3 combined. The blue hymn book at St. Stephen’s.
• † = often sung at funerals.

When you produce your order of service please carefully check the words against an English hymnbook because websites often have American spelling and other differences. The following is a fairly comprehensive list of hymns, more traditional than modern. However, recently a number of new hymns specifically for weddings have been written to be sung to well-known tunes such as Morning has Broken.  You may like to search these out. Unfortunately the words can not be reproduced here because of copyright permission. On a related note, it is your responsibility to ensure you have copyright for the words you are reproducing on the order of service. We have a CCLI licence that covers most of the hymns in our hymn books.

336 A&M(NS) – All my hope on God is founded
100 A&M(NS) – All people that on earth do dwell
SOF 19 – Amazing Grace†
163 A&M(NS) – Angel voices ever singing
343 A&M(NS) – Be thou my vision, O Lord of my heart
161 A&M(NS) – Christ is our corner stone
156 A&M(NS) – Come down O love divine
450 A&M(NS) – Crown with love, Lord, this glad day (Tune: Heathlands – 179)
113 A&M(NS) – Father, hear the prayer we offer
356 A&M(NS) – Father, Lord of all Creation
200 A&M(NS) – Fill thou my life
104 A&M(NS) – For the beauty of the earth
459 A&M(NS) – Give me joy in my heart (Sing Hosanna)
179 A&M(NS) – God of mercy, God of grace
374 A&M(NS) – Help us to help each other, Lord
375 A&M(NS) – I danced in the morning
378 A&M(NS) – Jesus, good above all other
379 A&M(NS) – Jesus, humble was your birth
380 A&M(NS) – Jesus, Lord, we look to thee
224 A&M(NS) – Lead us, heavenly Father, lead us†
393 A&M(NS) – Lord of all good, our gifts we bring to thee (Tune: Woodlands – 422)
394 A&M(NS) – Lord of all hopefulness†
131 A&M(NS) – Love divine, all loves excelling
381 SOF – Make me a channel of your peace
393 A&M(NS) – Morning has broken (words – listen)
205 A&M(NS) – Now thank we all our God
152 A&M(NS) – O Holy Spirit, Lord of grace
235 A&M(NS) – O Jesus I have promised
203 A&M(NS) – O praise ye the Lord!
101 A&M(NS) – O worship the King
1483 SOF – One more step along the world I go
192 A&M(NS) – Praise my soul the King of heaven
195 A&M(NS) – Praise the Lord! ye heavens, adore him
207 A&M(NS) – Praise to the Lord the Almighty
362 SOF – Shine, Jesus shine (Lord, the light of your love)
126 A&M(NS) – The King of love my shepherd is†
422 A&M(NS) – Tell out my soul the greatness of the Lord
640 SOF – You shall go out with joy

Organ Music

There is an entrance of piece commonly chosen at weddings which you may like to reflect on before choosing it. The Bridal Chorus from Lohengrin by Wagner (often known as the Bridal March by Wagner) has an unofficial set of words – ‘Here comes the bride, all dimensionally challenged …’, you probably know them! However, the opera Lohengrin and the setting of this piece of music is a tragic wedding night and distinctly non-Christian – it amused Wagner that it made it’s way into Church weddings because it is not particularly appropriate.

Suggestions for music whilst guests arrive

This wants to be joyful but unobtrusive. You can specify particular piece if you would like, provided we can source the music economically and they are suitable for organ. Remember, the bride won’t hear it!

Suggestions for Entry

You will want to choose something that is long enough for the bride and bridesmaids to walk the length of the aisle at an appropriate pace. Gluck and Pachelbel are both gentle entrance pieces.

1. Trumpet Voluntary – Clarke
2. Trumpet Tune in D – Purcell
3. Trumpet Voluntaries (Op. 6 nos 5 or 6) – Stanley
4. Canon in D Major – Pachelbel
5. Dance of the Blessed Spirits – Gluck

Suggestions for music during the Signing of the Registers

Apart from an organ piece, this could be instrumental or a piece sung by the choir or a solo artist. Friends and family who are practised musicians may like to play or sing, during the signing of the register. CDs do not work well since our sound system is primarily designed for voice enhancement.

1. Jesu joy of man’s desiring – Bach
2. Ave Maria – Bach / Gounod
3. Ave Maria – Schubert
4. Minuet from the Fireworks Suite – Handel
5. Canon in D – Pachelbel
6. Dance of the Blessed Spirits – Gluck

Suggestions for Exit

You will want a piece of music that is joyful and uplifting.

1. Wedding March – Mendelssohn
2. St. Anthony Chorale – Haydn
3. Te Deum – Charpentier
4. Trumpet Tune in D – Purcell
5. Trumpet Voluntary – Clarke
6. Trumpet Voluntary – Stanley
7. Tocatta – Widor