Talk: Felix Mendelssohn

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The Wedding March was played for the first time on January 25, 1858 at the marriage of Queen Victoria's daughter and the Crown Prince of Prussia.

Presumably this means it was the first time it was played at an actual wedding, not the first time ever. Anybody know for sure? --Camembert

The Incidental Music for Midsummer Night's Dream is his Opus 61, (the Hochzeitmarsch is #9) and was written for a production of Shakespeare's play in Potsdam in 1842 [1] - which would have been the first use at a pretend wedding - a triple one, at that. I'll see if I can find out if Vicky's wedding was the first occasion of its use at a real wedding. Mendelssohn was tremendously popular in England at the time, and the use of a Wedding March at a wedding is...not very innovative... and it's a long time between 1842 and 1858<G>. -- Someone else 01:44, 25 Oct 2003 (UTC)

Actually, how would we ever prove it was the first use? It certainly set the trend in wedding music choice (both the Wagner and the Mendelssohn, an interesting pairing in its own right<G>) so maybe we should content ourselves by asserting only that? -- Someone else 01:51, 25 Oct 2003 (UTC)

Yes, I suppose proving it is tricky - your edit looks good to me. I've just noticed that January 25 and 1858 carry similarly misleading info - maybe you could fiddle with them a bit? (I'd do it, but I'm too lazy... I mean busy.) --Camembert

I have fiddled. Now I smell the faint acrid scent of Rome burning... -- Someone else 01:11, 26 Oct 2003 (UTC)