Procession to the Cathedral

Richard Wagner

Richard Wagner (trans. Merlin Patterson)

Subtitle: Gesegnet soll sie schreiten: From Lohengrin

General Info

Year: 1846-48 / 1997
Duration: c. 6:55
Difficulty: V (see Ratings for explanation)
Original Medium: Orchestra and choir
Publisher: TRN Music Publisher
Cost: Score and Parts (print) - $70.00 | Score Only (print) - $20.00

Instrumentation

Full Score
C Piccolo
Flute I-II-III
Oboe I-II
English Horn
Bassoon I-II
B-flat Soprano Clarinet I-II-III-IV
B-flat Bass Clarinet
E-flat Contra Alto Clarinet
B-flat Soprano Saxophone
E-flat Alto Saxophone I-II
B-flat Tenor Saxophone
E-flat Baritone Saxophone
B-flat Trumpet I-II-III
Horn in F I-II-III-IV
Trombone I-II
Bass Trombone
Euphonium
Tuba
String Bass
Harp
Percussion, including:

Bass Drum
Chimes
Crash Cymbals
Triangle

Errata

None discovered thus far.

Program Notes

Like many musicians who received their training and education in the “band world,” I became familiar with Wagner's (Elsa’s) Procession to the Cathedral not in its original operatic form, but through the standard band arrangement, an arrangement so widely performed over the last fifty years as to become something of a “sacred cow.” So when my friend Eddie Green, conductor of the wind ensemble at The University of Houston, asked me to write a new transcription of the work, I knew I would be faced with a unique challenge: to write a “more transparent and colorful” setting (as specified by Mr. Green), one that would retain the power and grandeur of the original and be more faithful to Wagner's own wind scoring and overall orchestration, yet one that would also be accepted by the thousands of band musicians who know and love the standard arrangement.

Upon examining the operatic full score, I was surprised to find that the first third of the piece was scored by Wagner for winds alone. I decided to retain this “orchestral” wind ensemble and gradually and carefully layer in the other instruments. The vocal writing, originally utilizing two choruses staged antiphonally (to represent the people of Antwerp), has been scored for various instrumental choirs within the band. The result is one long, massive crescendo, thus creating the effect of the procession starting from afar, but gradually getting closer and closer. The entrance of the full ensemble and the pealing of the church bells signifies Elsa's arrival at the cathedral.

- Program Note by transcriber

Media

Audio: Reference recording. Ensemble and conductor unknown

State Ratings

Louisiana: V
North Carolina: VI
Texas: V. Complete

Performances

To submit a performance please join The Wind Repertory Project

University of Texas, Arlington, Symphonic Winds (Christopher Evans, conductor) - 20 November 2022

Works for Winds by This Composer

Awake (arr. Houseknecht) (1868/1957)
Chor der Junger from "Das Liebesmahl der Apostel" (arr. Pohler)
Die Meistersinger (arr. Milford) (1868/1998)
Die Meistersinger, Excerpts from the Opera (arr. Eric Osterling)
Die Meistersinger Overture (tr. Hindsley) (1868/197-?)
Die Meistersinger, Prelude (arr. Moses-Tobani/H.R. Kent) (1904/1948)
Die Meistersinger Themes (arr. Daehn) (18684/2009)
Die Meistersinger von Nurnbürg (tr. Hindsley) (1868/196-?)
Die Walkure, Act 2, Scene 4 (arr. King)
Elsa's feierlicher Zug zum Münster (tr. Nefs) (1848/2017)
Elsa's Procession to the Cathedral from "Lohengrin" (tr. Bourgeois) (1848/1997)
Elsa's Procession to the Cathedral from "Lohengrin" (tr. Cailliet) (1848/1938)
Elsa's Procession to the Cathedral (arr. Cherry) (1848/1999/2019)
Elsa's Procession to the Cathedral. See also: Procession to the Cathedral (tr. Patterson)
Entry of the Gods into Valhalla (arr. Godfrey) (1869/1906)
Entry of the Gods into Valhalla (arr. O'Neill) (1869/1930)
Evening Star (arr. Barnard) (1845/1927)
Festmusik (arr. Seifert-Kressbronn) (1843-1982)
Fest Marsch from "Tannhäuser" (tr. Rumbelow) (1845/1997)
The Flying Dutchman (tr. Hindsley) (1843/197-?)
The Flying Dutchman Overture (arr. Godfrey) (1843/1955)
Funeral Music from "The Dusk of the Gods" (arr. Godfrey) (1876/1919)
Gathering of the Armies (arr. Friedman) (1850/1995)
Homage March (ed. Bourgeois)
Huldigungsmarsch (ed. Reed) (1864/2002)
Huldigungsmarsch (ed. Schaefer) (1864/1971)
Huldigungsmarsch (ed. Whitwell) (1864/2015)
Italian Polka (arr. Leidzen) (1941)
Kaisermarsch (tr. Godfrey) (1871/1912)
King Heinrich’s Call (tr. Bourgeois) (1850/1983)
Invocation of Alberich from "Rheingold" (arr. Cailliet) (1869/1940)
Liebestod (arr. Shishikura) (1856/2014)
Liebestod (arr. Bainum) (1856/1964)
Lohengrin (arr. Patterson) (1850/2016)
Lohengrin (arr. Tamanini) (1850/2005)
Lohengrin: Introduction to Act III (arr. Drumm) (1850/1937)
March from "Tannhäuser" (arr. Lake) (1926)
March on, America
Nibelungen March (arr. Stretton) (c.1874/1909)
Overture to Rienzi (arr. Grabel) (1842/1933)
Pilgrim's Chorus (arr. Geese) (1845/2009)
Pilgrim's Chorus (arr. Musser) (1845/)
Pilgrim's Chorus (arr. Musser; ed. Rapp) (1845/2009)
Pilgrim's Chorus (arr. Reed) (1845/1991)
Prelude to Act I of "Die Meistersinger" (trans. Kreines) (1862/2012)
Prelude to Act III from "Lohengren" (tr. Hindsley) (1850)
Prelude to Act III from "Lohengrin" (tr. Brand) (1850/2001)
Prelude to Act III from "Lohengrin" (arr. McAlister and Reed) (1850/2006)
Prelude to Parsifal (tr. Bourgeois) (1882/2016)
Procession of the Knights of the Holy Grail from "Parsifal" (arr. Houseknecht) (1964)
Procession to the Cathedral (tr. Patterson) (1846-48/1997)
Ride of the Valkyries (tr. Patterson)
Ride of the Valkyries (arr. Laurendeau) (1870/1908)
Ride of the Valkyries (tr. Longwood) (1870/2000)
Ride of the Valkyries (arr. Hernandez) (1870)
Rienzi Overture (arr. Meyrelles) (1842/1892)
The Ring (arr. Higgins) (1848-1874/2020)
Selections from Act III of "Die Meistersinger von Nurnbürg" (arr. Hanna) (1868/2015)
Seigfried Fantasie (arr. Seidel) (1876/1893)
Siegfried Idyll (1870)
Siegfried's Funeral March (tr. Tanick) (1876/)
Siegfried's Funeral March from "Gotterdammerung" (tr. Bourgeois)
Siegfried's Funeral Music (arr. Whear) (1876/1966)
Tannhäuser (arr. Lake) (1845/1926)
Tannhäuser Grand March (tr. McAlister) (1845/2005)
Tannhäuser March (arr. E. Fall) (1845)
Tannhäuser Overture (arr. Fall) (1845/1936)
Tannhäuser Overture (tr. Safranek) (1845/1913)
Tannhäuser Overture (arr. Sousa) (1845/)
Tannhäuser Overture (arr. Winterbottom) (1845/1903)
Tannhäuser Selection (arr. Lake) (1926)
Trauersinfonie (ed. Votta/Boyd) (1844/1924/1994)
Trauersinfonie (tr. Leidzen) (1844/1924/1949)
Tristan und Isolde (tr. Janssen) (1862/2015)
Vorspiel und Liebestod (arr. Godfrey) (1865/1909)
Wotan's Farewell and Magic Fire Music from "Die Walküre" (arr. Lake) (1874/1937)

Resources

Girsberger, Russ. Percussion Assignments for Band & Wind Ensemble. Volume I: L-Z. Galesburg, MD: Meredith Music Publications, 2004, 324. Print.
Lohengrin. Wikipedia Accessed 8 August 2023
Wagner, R.; Patterson, M. (1997). Procession to the Cathedral: Gesegnet soll sie schreiten: from Lohengrin [score]. TRN Music Publisher: Ruidoso, N.M.