Karl Goldmark's Rustic Wedding Symphony, as it's usually called (even though it's cast in five movements rather than four, none of them even hinting at sonata form), hovers just at the edge of the standard repertory. It has been performed by the likes of Arturo Toscanini and Leonard Bernstein and is full of sensitively orchestrated, audience-pleasing tunes. Perhaps it could find a secure place in the concert hall if it were considered a Viennese counterpart to Smetana's Má Vlast—except that instead of roaring through epic, nationalist tales, Goldmark focuses on a simple country wedding to illustrate the cheerful and warm aspects of the complex Austrian character. The first movement, "Wedding March," is a series of variations on a bumptious, folk-like (but original) tune first heard in the low strings and soon embroidered with perky woodwind birdcalls. Each variation emphasizes a different group of instruments and brings a different but almost always festive character to the theme, except for a long, heartfelt, ultimately surging, and passionate section featuring the strings and minor key variations that foreshadow the more serious episodes in Elgar's Enigma Variations. The variations triumphantly end and the movement's overall effect and atmosphere are similar to Brahms' Variations on a Theme by Haydn; not coincidentally, Brahms admired this symphony. Next comes an intermezzo titled "Bridal Song." It begins with a gently playful, hesitant yet graceful melody; a short, brassy outburst ushers in a sweet, understated second subject. After the opening material repeats, a third, more serious theme arrives with the initial melody returning for a shy conclusion. The third movement, though marked Scherzo, is not the beefy sort of scherzo common since Beethoven, and although its alternate title is "Serenade," it's not very song-like. Again, the mood is playful and perky, and the trio section is happily bucolic. Goldmark sometimes puts a drone under the woodwind writing to emphasize the music's "rustic" character. "In the Garden" is a delicate andante, suggesting a loving, private al fresco conversation—and perhaps more—between the bride and groom. The long, ardent principal melody quietly begins, but very slowly builds to an ardent climax and recedes. The rest of the movement develops from fragments of this melody, handed gently from one group of instruments to another, with some episodes turning especially passionate. The finale is simply called "Dance." Fast and sometimes percussive, the movement vacillates between fugue and polka; the latter takes over, but not without a remembrance of "In the Garden" halfway through.

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