Bridal Chorus "Here Comes the Bride" (Lohengrin)
Richard Wagner (1813–1883) · sheet music
- Time 4/4
- Levels 9
- Passages 1
Your turn · both hands
Preparing your passage…
Richard Wagner, German romantic (1813–1883). The reading release has 1 passage from this piece at level 9; the reader above opens on the easiest, bars 1–4 for both hands together.
The hardest stretch is bars 1–4 at level 9.
Your practice path
Learn it the way teachers do: each hand on its own, then together, then the hard bars. Each step is a real graded passage of Bridal Chorus "Here Comes the Bride" (Lohengrin).
- Hands together · bars 1–4 level 9
How to play Bridal Chorus "Here Comes the Bride" (Lohengrin)
- Tempo:Play at a stately walking pace, about the speed of a bride's slow steps. A tempo that feels too slow on its own is often right for a procession.
- Right hand:The melody sits on top of fuller chords, so practice the tune alone first. Aim for a warm, connected line in which the long notes ring.
- Left hand:The left hand provides a solid bass and chords on the beat. Keep it firm but not louder than the right hand.
- Hands together:The hands move together on most beats, so block chords reward careful placing. Practice playing each chord in one motion without arpeggiating by accident.
- Fingering:This passage has some wide leaps in the melody. Choose a fingering that keeps the hand still and let the elbow carry you across the keyboard.
- Dynamics:Begin at a medium-soft level, grow slightly through the phrase, and fade at the end. A big crescendo sounds forced; a gentle swell sounds ceremonial.
- Practice:Play through once with the metronome set to a slow beat, counting four aloud. If you drift off the pulse, slow down further.
Common mistakes
- Rushing because the tune is so familiar. Fix: Set a slow metronome and play in time with it until the pace feels natural.
- Pounding the chords so the melody disappears. Fix: Play the top note of each chord a little louder than the others.
- Missing the wide leaps in the melody. Fix: Look ahead to the next note before you play the current one, and practice the leap alone.
Structure: choral march in a simple phrase structure
In the opera it is a short choral scene: a stately processional tune, a separate blessing sung by eight women to a different melody, and a closing passage as the chorus gradually leaves the stage.
- A · Processional tune
- A steady, dignified march in even rhythms. This is the tune most people know; reading it means careful note values and chords on every beat.
- B · Women's blessing
- A softer, more lyrical passage for a group of eight women. Smooth legato matters more than volume here.
- Coda · Chorus exits
- The material fades as the chorus moves offstage. Let the sound thin out gradually.
About Bridal Chorus "Here Comes the Bride" (Lohengrin)
Wagner wrote the libretto for Lohengrin himself and completed the full score in April 1848 while working at the Dresden court. The opera premiered on 28 August 1850 at Weimar, conducted by Franz Liszt. Wagner could not attend because he had been exiled for taking part in the 1849 May Uprising in Dresden.
In the opera, the bridal chorus opens Act III. The wedding party sings it as the women lead Elsa to the bridal chamber, wishing the couple love and happiness. Its first words, Treulich geführt, give the chorus its German name.
The piece became a standard wedding processional largely through royal weddings, including the 1858 wedding of Victoria, the Princess Royal, to Prince Frederick William of Prussia. In English-speaking countries it is called Here Comes the Bride, a name linked to a 1915 silent film of that title. Mendelssohn's Wedding March is the other piece most often associated with weddings.
- Despite its fame at weddings, the chorus opens an act that ends in disaster: that same night Elsa asks Lohengrin the forbidden question, and he leaves her.
- The Weimar premiere on 28 August 1850 was timed to honor Goethe, who was born on that date in 1749.
- In 1955 the Roman Catholic archdioceses of Chicago and New York banned it from weddings, along with several other pieces.
- At weddings it is nearly always played without singing, usually on organ, although in the opera it is a choral piece.
Why the first passage is level 9
That passage is level 9 rather than 8 because it leaps a fifth plus an octave.
This page has one passage, written at a high reading level because of its wide melodic leaps. Use the slow version of the processional and aim for a calm, even pulse.
Questions about Bridal Chorus "Here Comes the Bride" (Lohengrin)
- How hard is Bridal Chorus "Here Comes the Bride" (Lohengrin) to play?
- Its passages grade from level 9 on Real Sight Reader's ten-level reading scale, so the full piece is intermediate to advanced reading. The hardest stretch is bars 1–4 at level 9.
- Is there an easy part of Bridal Chorus "Here Comes the Bride" (Lohengrin) for beginners?
- Its easiest passage is level 9, so it suits a reader past the beginner stage. Start with bars 1–4 for both hands together, the level-9 passage in the reader at the top of this page; it is level 9 because it leaps a fifth plus an octave.
- What key and time signature is Bridal Chorus "Here Comes the Bride" (Lohengrin) in?
- The engraving on this page is in 4/4 time.
- Who composed Bridal Chorus "Here Comes the Bride" (Lohengrin)?
- Richard Wagner, German romantic (1813–1883). Wagner wrote the libretto for Lohengrin himself and completed the full score in April 1848 while working at the Dresden court.
- Can I practice Bridal Chorus "Here Comes the Bride" (Lohengrin) online for free?
- Yes. The reader on this page plays any of the one graded passage from Bridal Chorus "Here Comes the Bride" (Lohengrin) in your browser, with an on-screen keyboard or a MIDI keyboard, and marks every note as you play. No signup.
- Why is it called Here Comes the Bride?
- The English name is linked to a 1915 silent film called Here Comes the Bride. In the opera the chorus sings German words, beginning Treulich geführt.
- Is the Bridal Chorus the same as Mendelssohn's Wedding March?
- No. They are two different pieces by different composers. Wagner's chorus is a choral march from his opera Lohengrin, and Mendelssohn's Wedding March is the other piece most often heard at weddings.
- Is the Bridal Chorus in the public domain?
- Yes. Wagner died in 1883, so the original is in the public domain. Arrangements and editions may have their own rights; the engraving here comes from a public-domain source.
Every passage, easiest first
The reading release grades one passage of this piece. Open any of them in the reader:
- Level 9
- bars 1–4 both hands
More pieces to sight-read
Score: public-domain engraving from the corpus (pdmx), graded by the piano-reading-v2-20261023-identity-audit reading release.