Royal Wedding March

 

Gounod’s ‘Royal Wedding March’

Publication of a facsimile edition of Wedding March for 1-3 trombones and organ by Charles Gounod (Musikverlag Bruno Uetz, Halberstadt, Germany; 2008) prompted some interest on my part in the circumstances of the commission and first performances of this curious piece.

It was composed ‘at the express desire of her Majesty Queen Victoria’ for the wedding of HRH the Duke of Albany and HRH the Princess Helen of Waldeck. Prince Leopold was Queen Victoria’s eighth child and youngest son. He married Princess Helen at St George’s Chapel, Windsor on 27th April, 1882. The now ubiquitous tiered iced cake was a novelty at their wedding.

The story of the commission of this Wedding March is maybe a little bizarre.  Gounod lived in England from 1870 to 1874, and ever the ladies’ man, he apparently made quite an impression upon Queen Victoria. He became her favourite composer; she reportedly had his music played to her as she lay on her deathbed.  She appears to have personally commissioned this piece from Gounod, and in so doing may have annoyed the organist at the Chapel Royal, Sir George Elvey (1816 - 1893), composer of such well-known hymn tunes as Diademata & St George’s Windsor.  He was appointed organist at the Chapel Royal in 1835.  He resigned his position at Windsor immediately following the Royal Wedding in 1882; and in a memoir published in 1894, his widow hinted at some ‘unpleasantness’ connected to this event.  He was knighted in 1871 for his services at the wedding of Queen Victoria’s 5th child (and 3rd daughter), Princess Louise, Duchess of Argyll; also at the Chapel Royal, Windsor. For this occasion, Elvey composed his once-popular Festival March.

Gounod’s ‘March’ begins with a short maestoso introduction, the organ plays a slightly outré theme in C major, a cousin of the C major fugue in Book 1 of the 48, which is then treated canonically. It is joined by alto, tenor and bass trombones in unison, which play ‘God Save the Queen’, first in F, then in C, accompanied by some development of the initial subject. played first in F and then in C, with some counterpoint played on the organ.

According to a report in the ‘Daily Telegraph’, the music played at the wedding was as follows :

  1. (1)‘Flourish’ played by Royal Trumpets :

  2. (2)‘Festal March’ specially composed for the occasion by Sir George Elvey and played by him on the organ with ‘instrumental accompaniment’ :

  3. (3)Queen's Procession - further flourish on the trumpets then ‘March from the Occasional Oratorio’ by Handel, played on the organ :

  4. (4)Duke of Albany's Procession - ‘March from Athalie’ by Mendelssohn played by organ and string band :

  5. (5)Princess Helen's Procession - March specially composed by M. Gounod played on the organ (but no mention of trombones !) :

  6. (6)Psalms - ‘Blessed are they that fear the Lord’ (Ps 128) and ‘God be merciful unto us and bless us’ (Ps 67) sung to a double chant composed by Elvey :

  7. (7)Concluding March - ‘Hallelujah Chorus’ by Beethoven - from 'Mount of Olives'.

Possibly Sir George was unhappy with the commissioned work from Gounod, and/or the abilities of the trombone players, and refused to allow them to play at the wedding. Gounod wrote an orchestral version of the piece (Wedding March #2 ) which was played at an orchestral concert in honour of Prince Leopold given at Windsor Castle the night before the wedding. The Musical Times (July 1st, 1882, p391) carried a review of a performance given in Bristol on June 19th ….“began with Gounod’s Royal Wedding March, the performance of which was not altogether satisfactory. The trombones were too loud and obscured the counterpoint in the principal movement….” It is not stated what orchestra played on either occasion, nor who conducted, nor whether alto trombone was used.

Though certainly not commonplace, the alto trombone was used in England at the time - production records for Boosey & Co. (1871 – 1888) show 89 alto valve trombones in E-flat, 3 alto slide trombones in E-flat, and 2 alto slide trombones in F. In 1883 The Musical Standard noted that Sir Arthur Sullivan was using alto trombones in choral works that he conducted at the Leeds Festival (Will Kimball : Trombone History).

It may be that Gounod’s piece has never been publicly performed either in its original form for trombone(s) and organ or with alto trombone.

Prince Leopold died on March 28th 1884 from complications of haemophilia. Princess Helen died in 1922.  Their daughter, Princess Alice of Albany, died in 1981. She was Queen Victoria’s last surviving grandchild. 

The wedding of Prince Leopold and Princess Helen in 1882 was to be the last Royal Wedding at Windsor for more than a century. The next was the marriage of Prince Edward, Earl of Wessex, and Sophie Rhys-Jones on 19th June, 1999.


Keith Davies Jones