They couldn't have asked us LAST week?

May 15, 2008 1:02 PM

Wedding Music filter: My sister and I (both mezzos) have been tagged to sing at our cousin's wedding. This Sunday. Please help us find a song that is a) a duet, b) that we can both hit the notes on, c) is something we know or is easy to learn, and d) is not stupid. Does such a song exist?
posted by cereselle to society & culture (15 comments total)

How mezzo are you? Alto-mezzo, or can you sing Gs with not a lot of problems?

I can mostly suggest classical stuff, but it's peppy and accessible.

"Panis Angelicus" (Franck) and "Sound the Trumpet" (Purcell) worked very well for me and my mom at my aunt's wedding. We had been asked to sing something kind of like "Con te partiro" and my stomach lurched, so I casually suggested "Sound the Trumpet" and everyone loved it.

Vivaldi's "Laudamus te" (from Gloria) is good as well. Just make sure you have decent practice with the accompanist; it's a fairly standard piece, but you don't want to be tripped up by each other or the piano.

Rutter's "For the Beauty of the Earth" is fairly standard and pretty, and a little more contemporary.

If I think of anything else, I'll add :)
posted by Madamina at 1:24 PM on May 15

Are you singing at the ceremony or reception?
posted by justonegirl at 1:26 PM on May 15

I'm alto-mezzo, definitely. Working on my range, but not there yet. Sister is about the same.

We are singing at the reception; sorry not to be clear. (I would love to do Panis Angelicus, but my dad sang it at church three weeks ago. Although... that would mean the music is around somewhere, and accompaniment would be easily accessed, so maybe.)
posted by cereselle at 1:35 PM on May 15

A musical theater duet would probably be better, then, both in terms of range and style/tone. What other kinds of music will they have at the reception? Poppy dj? Jazz standards? Cover band heavy on the Ramones?
posted by Madamina at 3:06 PM on May 15

Poppy DJ, pretty much. I'm expecting the standard wedding-70s-funk set.
posted by cereselle at 3:13 PM on May 15

I came to suggest Vivaldi's Laudamus Te, but Madamina beat me to it. One of my favorite duets ever, and (from what I hear) a very quick learn.
posted by Rallon at 3:15 PM on May 15

Actually, if you're doing it at the reception, the Barcarolle from Tales of Hoffmann (Offenbach) is beautiful and much more appropriate than in the ceremony. It's dead easy and always a crowd pleaser. It's also usually available in an English version, too, if you feel a bit hesitant with the French. I think it would fit beautifully between a more staid ceremony and a wedding band.
posted by Madamina at 3:36 PM on May 15

The lakme duet (also known as the British airways theme song) is very pretty for two voices and not difficult but might be too high
posted by chickaboo at 3:59 PM on May 15

You could try "I don't need anything but you" from the musical Annie. Very easy, definitely not too high, could be appropriate for friendship or love (in the show, Daddy Warbucks sings it with his adopted daughter Annie).
posted by amtho at 4:20 PM on May 15

Simple Gifts ("Ttis a gift to be simple, tis a gift to be free" etc.)
posted by carmicha at 4:23 PM on May 15

I don't know if this is classy enough for a wedding, but I always enjoyed singing the male/female duet "Don't You Want Me Baby" by the Human League at Karaoke. Very easy to sing. and fun!
posted by Flying Squirrel at 4:36 PM on May 15

Seconding Purcell's Sound the Trumpet and/or the Barcarolle from Hoffmann. [Clip includes a long orchestral intro which you can skip.]

If you're not experienced, I'd say go with the Barcarolle. The Purcell is lovely but goes quite fast and needs good timing, whereas the Barcarolle is slower and simpler.

There's also this tiny short simple duet for two mezzos from Mozart's La Clemenza di Tito. [the clip includes a few lines of recitative beforehand, which you can skip.]

Or the Evening Prayer from Hansel and Gretel, which is so famous you probably know the tune already and has well-known English lyrics. [Battle and von Stade singing it twice, in German. Worth it for the outfits alone.]
posted by Pallas Athena at 6:17 PM on May 15

The song "You Walk With Me" from the musical "The Full Monty" is a GORGEOUS duet with love-related lyrics and was really simple to learn (I learned it in less than 24 hours for a funeral). I walk the line between mezzo and alto and found it really comfortable in my range.
posted by mynameisluka at 7:00 PM on May 15

Sunrise Sunset from Fiddler on the roof is a beautiful song that would very appropriate for a wedding reception.
posted by JujuB at 10:28 PM on May 15

What about the Bono/Corrs version of "When the Stars Go Blue?"
posted by justonegirl at 10:46 AM on May 16