Love Out Loud 5

Sarah and Wil's Wedding (Part II)

A/N: The music for the prelude, processionals, and recessional are linked at the bottom of the chapter.

With 90 minutes to tie up all the loose ends, Marc went into hyperactive mode. The first thing on his agenda was getting the processionals fixed to include Cali and Erin along with whatever musical adjustments would need to be made. Marc, Steph, Katelyn, and the brass trio stood at the top of the center aisle and ran the processional with the same timing as on Friday evening, but accounting for the additional pair of bodies involved. Katelyn stood off to the side while the other five got in single file, with Charlie at the front, then Matt Olson, Matt Benning, Steph, and Marc at the end.

Charlie stepped off after the first chorus, followed by Matt O. in lieu of Cali and Erin, Matt B. in place of Aubrey and Dominic, Steph substituting for Ally and Dawson, and Marc as the stand-in for Sarah and her father. The form and spacing were fine, but with the additional set in the processional, the third verse began prior to when the bride would commence her walk. Marc brought everyone together and laid out the problem.

Marc: Adding Cali and Erin throws off the timing of the various verses. We need to fix that somehow. What can the three of you do musically to add in the twenty seconds or so that will be needed to keep everyone where they are to be situated within "Jesu"?

Matt B.: We could repeat the first chorus, we could step off on the first note of "Jesu" instead of playing the first section in place, we could create some form of introductory phrase or fanfare to play before the start of the piece. Any of those would get you an additional twenty seconds to cover the addition of Cali and Erin.

Charlie: The first option, how do the three of us not stumble into playing the first verse when we begin our downward trek? We've practiced this piece so much in the past several weeks that making that kind of change would more likely throw US off than the participants.

Matt B.: Good point.

Katelyn: With the second option, Charlie will make it up here, play the final measure of "Canon" with you and the other Matt, then have to turn around and be ready to lead the procession with no real pause to get the three of you settled.

Matt B.: Another good point.

Marc: That leaves you with a fanfare or some introductory piece to provide the pause before starting "Jesu" proper and heading toward the altar, unless someone else has another idea.

Matt O.: The end of "Canon" is just a series of four-measure repeats. What about adding a couple additional ones to the end, which we can play once all of us are positioned correctly up here?

Matt B.: That sounds better than trying to invent something on the spot. Positions everyone. We'll start from the point where Charlie begins his walk up the aisle. Instead of playing that phrase three times, we'll play it five.

The three guys went to their spots and, on Charlie's first step, began the ending of "Canon", with the trio in front of the center doors at the completion of the third playing of the last phrase. All three then turned to face forward and played two more repeats before closing the tune.

Matt B.: Think that will do it?

Marc: Sounds good, no obvious tells that you're "adding" anything to the piece to stretch it out, and it gives you a slight breather to transition into "Jesu".

Matt B.: This means we will have to step off on note one of "Jesu" if we want to keep the timing as we rehearsed Thursday and yesterday.

Marc: You want to do one more walk-through of the processional, up to where you hit the key change?