Unaccompanied wedding/funeral solos

May 17, 2010 at 01:35 AM ·

Fortunately, those two occasions are usually not where you need to pull out anything complicated.  People just want to hear nice music.  You can use Thais for weddings and for funerals, if the family don't know what they want, flip through the hymn book.  Amazing Grace has a nice quality when played unaccompanied.

May 17, 2010 at 02:03 AM ·

There's also Melodie by Gluck.  I think it's a Kreisler arrangement and it's very beautiful.  It's pretty sad though so I wouldn't recommend it for weddings.  I played it at a funeral service once.  It made everyone cry even harder (especially at the part right after the ascending scale) and at first I thought maybe it was too sad but afterward I got a lot of hugs and I ended up playing at a wedding for the same family later in the year.

May 17, 2010 at 07:13 AM ·

I've done the 3rd movement of the a minor Sonata (#2) at a funeral, and the 3rd of the C Major (#3) at a wedding.

I've often thought that the Sarabanda of the d minor Partita is among the most mournful of the movements.  Imagine the chords somewhat strummed, as if on a guitar.  Almost a blues-y color.

If I were to organize a wedding, the Preludio of the E-Major Partita would be a nice opening salvo.  Rather like a high-class carnival barker bringing in the crowds.  In a big cathedral, I'd want to do the arrangement that Bach put together for Cantata #29. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wksoe1iKz5c&feature=related 

May 17, 2010 at 05:17 PM ·

Thanks, these are great suggestions! Stephen, I really like that Sarabanda.

I also accidentally discovered that Chopin's Nocturne #2 in Eb minor sounds great on the violin. Ashokan Farewell (I'm doing it as performed by David Royce Morris) works nicely, too. Both of these would make good funeral solos.

May 18, 2010 at 05:55 AM ·

Big cliche but we had Pachelbel's Canon / Canon in D major at our wedding. If it works it works I guess.

(I've just put it in to google and found someone writing it as 'pacobell'....like 'tacobell'..... oops)

May 18, 2010 at 03:36 PM ·

interesting  i never thought of it as a solo  but you may wana try these three something a lil different   " Pavane " by Faure and Ravel... for a longer piece maybe Cesar Franck  Violin sonata first movement