At times like this, we reach to music to express our feelings. What The Queen represented, music can too: time versus timelessness, constancy versus change, memory, love and spirit.

Her impact on musical life was unquestionable, not least as Patron to numerous organisations. The Queen was the figurehead for the London Symphony Orchestra since her accession in 1952; she opened the Barbican Centre three decades later, attended a gala concert led by Leonard Bernstein in 1986, visited musicians backstage in 2012 and hosted a gala concert for them at Buckingham Palace in 2015.

Elsewhere, she served as Patron of the Royal Academy of Music for almost 70 years, having attended her first concert there as Princess Elizabeth in 1947; they hosted Jubilee parties for her in 2002 and 2012, with Her Majesty enjoying student performances in her honour. Also numbered among the 600 organisations to which she was Patron were Help Musicians UK, the National Brass Band Championships of Great Britain and the Associated Board of the Royal Schools of Music.

She showed a heartfelt interest in and championship of the arts. Look no further than the creation of The Queen’s Medal for Music in 2005, ensuring greater visibility for cultural figures and issues; recipients included Sir Bryn Terfel, Sir Colin Davis and Nicola Benedetti.

She helped champion female composers by appointing the first female Master of the Queen’s Music in the role’s near-400-year-long history; Judith Weir began her tenure as the Monarch’s composer in 2014. Prominent commissions for major events such as the Commonwealth Service and the recent Platinum Jubilee Service of Thanksgiving have helped give a global profile to new music.

Closer to home, among the many key arts institutions she helped open were the Royal Festival Hall (in 1951, as Princess Elizabeth, and its reopening in 2007) and Snape Maltings Concert Hall in Aldeburgh in 1967 and 1970, in the presence of Benjamin Britten. With a reign so long, there are few composers, ensembles and venues that have not been in some way shaped by The Queen.

As well as the many landmark national and global events she witnessed, Her Majesty’s long life accompanied major moments in our musical history too. She corresponded with some of the key figures of British cultural life, including Benjamin Britten; she was given a private piano reading of his Coronation opera Gloriana, had lunch with him at Aldeburgh and addressed private letters to ‘dear Ben’ in her own hand. In 1975, she even handwrote a letter asking Britten to compose some music for The Queen Mother’s upcoming 75th birthday; this was no formal royal commission, but rather a request from a friend. The result – A Birthday Hansel – helped raise Britten’s morale and grow his confidence after a period of ill health, and helped pave the way for him to write his final works. Britten’s last utterances might never have been written had The Queen not given him a helpful nudge.

Her Majesty’s love of music stretched back to childhood. There’s a picture of her playing a piano duet with her sister, Margaret, at Windsor Castle in 1940; the pair performed pantomimes there too. Not long after, theatre was the scene of a blossoming Royal romance; watching Rodgers and Hammerstein’s Oklahoma! on the West End proved a memorable milestone in the courtship of Elizabeth and Prince Philip. ‘People Will Say We’re In Love’ was reported to be a favourite on her personal gramophone at the time.

It is fitting, then, that in her senior years, she championed the role music played in the life of younger generations. One of the most poignant images I have seen in the last few hours is of Her Majesty observing a rehearsal of the National Youth Orchestra of Great Britain and NYO Inspire in 2016; the blurred silhouette of her pink hat and white hair is in the foreground, while young string players are eagerly performing for her. Old and young, past, present and future: a strong and enduring presence. Much like with music: though the composer may no longer be here, the sounds can last forever.

In a long life of 96 years and a reign of 70, Her Majesty was not only witness to a wide range of music, but the trigger for many a piece too. This music is a small slice of her remarkable legacy.

Elgar Nursery Suite: VII. Dreaming – Envoy

English Chamber Orchestra / Paul Goodwin 

As a toddler, Princess Elizabeth inspired Edward Elgar to write one of his final pieces. Drawing on musical ideas from his own childhood, Elgar’s suite illustrates children’s toys and states of mind; it was dedicated to Elizabeth, her new-born younger sister and their mother. In a touching twist years later, Frederick Ashton choreographed his final ballet to this music for a Royal Opera House gala to mark The Queen’s sixtieth birthday in 1986.

Vaughan Williams Silence and Music (A Garland for The Queen)

Cambridge University Chamber Choir / Timothy Brown

If we need any evidence to underline how the Monarch was a focal point for major creative figures, look no further than A Garland for The Queen. To mark her Coronation, the Arts Council commissioned ten British composers and ten writers to pen a new collection of songs; it was a nod to the new Elizabethan Age of music, following the example of Elizabeth I’s reign and a collection of madrigals that were penned for her back in 1601. Its younger sibling reads like a who’s-who of British music, from Tippett to Finzi, Bax to Berkeley; also contributing were Ralph Vaughan Williams and his wife Ursula, who married that same year. Her words speak powerfully at this time: ‘Voices of grief and from the heart of joy; so near to comprehension do we stand that wind and sea and all of winged delight lie in the octaves of man’s voice and hand, and music wakes from silence, where it slept.’

William Henry Harris Let My Prayer Come Up

Choir of Westminster Abbey / Martin Neary 

This was one of my fondest musical discoveries during the Platinum Jubilee, since it comes from one of the only people who could justifiably claim to have conducted The Queen… William Henry Harris was the organist of St George’s Chapel at Windsor Castle from 1933 to 1961; since the teenage Elizabeth and Margaret spent the War at Windsor, he was a key figure in their musical education. Harris led weekly choir practise, which the teenagers are said to have joined (even bringing jars of honey on occasion, as a treat for their fellow singers). It was a touching personal gesture, then, when Elizabeth invited Harris to compose a new piece for her Coronation.

Arnold Bax Fanfare for the Wedding of Princess Elizabeth

Philip Jones Brass Ensemble

Arnold Bax helped provide the musical accompaniment to The Queen’s earliest years. As Master of The King’s Music from 1942, he contributed a piece to celebrate her 21st birthday; the optimistic Morning Song, ‘Maytime in Sussex’ is a lyrical seven-minute piano-and-orchestra pastoral work, available on Naxos (Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra, 2011). She turned 21 in 1947, the very same year she married Philip Mountbatten; this fanfare opened the service. The couple went on to enjoy 73 years together – and it all started with these notes.

Britten Jubilate Deo

Miriam Allen, Tom Liliburn, Nick Madden, Simon Whiteley, Luke Bond / James Vivian 

In 2021, The Queen described the passing of The Duke of Edinburgh as having left “a huge void” in her life. I was one of the 13 million people in the UK who watched the funeral on TV, and aside from the inspiring dignity and respect so clear that day, it was the awesome power of the music that left me dumbstruck. Organist Luke Bond played works by JS Bach, Vierne and Vaughan Williams before the service, while later, the ever-dependable buglers of the Royal Marines Band Service sounded The Last Post. At the musical heart of proceedings was Britten’s setting of Psalm 100, which The Duke had personally requested. He had a long history with Britten, having commissioned Britten’s joyous Jubilate in C for St George’s Chapel in 1961; Britten’s inclusion at The Duke’s funeral service thus brought his musical story full circle. Australian-born soprano Miriam Allen gave the performance of her life, and it seems fitting at this time to return to a place – and a man – that meant so much to Her Majesty.

Arthur Bliss Love (Shield of Faith)

The Finzi Singers / Paul Spicer

We’re staying in St George’s Chapel for our next piece. This was commissioned to mark its 500th anniversary, with poetry from each of the last five centuries set to music by Arthur Bliss. He became Master of The Queen’s Music in the year of Her Majesty’s Coronation, and this cantata – written in 1974 – was one of his final works, before his death one year later. He dedicated it to The Queen. The words are an ideal match to its devout dedicatee, the title drawing on St Paul’s Epistle to the Ephesians: “wherefore take unto you the whole armour of God… above all taking the shield of faith.”

Jerome Kern and Oscar Hammerstein II Ol’ Man River (Show Boat)

Yo-Yo Ma, Kathryn Stott 

In a BBC documentary to mark The Queen’s 90th birthday in 2016, her cousin Lady Elizabeth Anson revealed some of her greatest musical loves. We learned that musical theatre was a firm favourite, especially Oklahoma!, Annie Get Your Gun and the 1927 landmark, Show Boat. The Queen was a regular champion of the theatre, even dropping into War Horse at the Gillian Lynne Theatre in 2009 without any entourage (nobody saw so much as a bodyguard); it’s said that she and Prince Philip made regular incognito visits to the West End.

Jessie Seymour Irvine The Lord is My Shepherd (Crimond)

Choir of Westminster Abbey, London Brass / Martin Neary

Praise, My Soul, the King of Heaven was said to be one of The Queen’s favourite hymns, and this was the other. It feels doubly appropriate given that the most common melody to which the words are sung is named after Crimond Church in Aberdeenshire – the same county that is home to Balmoral, the Royal residence at which The Queen spent her final days and which as a holiday retreat provided a sanctuary and many happy memories to her and her family.

Will Todd Softly

Tenebrae / Nigel Short 

Now we reach the contemporary section of this collection, with music from modern British writers that feels ideally suited to this extraordinary moment in our history. So many of the titles in this touching album seem so fitting, from Remembrance to this gentle, lyrical song of reassurance.

Will Todd is no stranger to the Royal Family, having been commissioned by St Paul’s Cathedral to write a new anthem for the Diamond Jubilee Thanksgiving Service in 2012. The Call of Wisdom was performed in the presence of The Queen.

Cecilia McDowall I Know That My Redeemer Liveth

The Choir of Queen’s College Oxford / Owen Rees

To Epsom, now: this anthem was commissioned by the Epsom Choral Society and premiered at St Martin’s Church in 2009. Not only are its words fitting, but this location too; an expert on horseracing, The Queen attended her first Epsom Derby in 1946 and since then missed just two. Having grown up in Epsom, I used to stand at the bottom of the road that leads away from the racecourse, in the excited hope that I might catch a glimpse of the Monarch; as her motorcade passed, it always struck me how deliberately visible she was, driving in a car with huge windows and wearing a bright dress, so that we could all catch a glimpse.

John Tavener Song for Athene

Choir of King’s College Cambridge / Stephen Cleobury

Tavener wrote this after attending the funeral of a friend’s daughter, called Athene; he shared that its melody came to him straight after the service, as he walked through the cemetery. It would play a famous part in the funeral of Princess Diana in 1997.

Tavener had strong links with the Royal Family; he was knighted in 2000, and in 2008 had an anthem premiered at St Paul’s Cathedral in the presence of The Queen.

Bella Bellow Blewu

Angélique Kidjo, Yo-Yo Ma 

Its words translate as ‘slowly, slowly, gently, we will make it safely home.’ It’s a dirge, wishing safe passage to those who have left us. The piece was written by the Togolese singer Bella Bellow, and is written in Ewe, a language heard in Togo, Ghana and Benin.

Kidjo performed this for an audience of world leaders on Armistice Day in 2018, gathering beneath the Arc de Triomphe, remembering the fallen African soldiers of the First World War. Yo-Yo Ma joined her for an online duet in 2020 as part of his #SongsOfComfort initiative.

Timothy Hamilton In Paradisum (Requiem)

Ilona Domnich, Jennifer Johnston, Nicky Spence, David Stout, Rosenau Sinfonia,  Cantoribus, Ian Tindale / Timothy Hamilton

Naxos provide the world premiere recording of this Requiem, originally written to commemorate the centenary of the First World War; Hamilton had been commissioned by relatives of soldiers who had died in the conflict. Inspiration came from archive footage and wartime letters, helping shape a lush, romantic sound world. With The Last Post quoted and orchestral movements added alongside the traditional Latin choral sections of the Requiem Mass, it offers a fitting opportunity for reflection.

Judith Weir The True Light

The Choir of Westminster Abbey, Peter Holder / James O’Donnell

As Master of The Queen’s Music, Judith Weir penned numerous works for The Monarch over the last eight years, including for her 90th birthday celebrations, for the 500th anniversary of Hampton Court Palace, and music for schools and community groups in Aberdeen, Wandsworth and Dover.

The True Light was performed by the Choir of Westminster Abbey on 11th November 2018, marking 100 years since the end of the First World War. Its words offer hope in the present moment: “the darkness is past, and the true light now shineth.”

Debbie Wiseman Elizabeth II

National Symphony Orchestra / Debbie Wiseman

Debbie Wiseman was the composer, musical director and co-conductor of the 2022 Royal Windsor Horse Show, ‘A Galop Through History’. A 75-piece tri-service orchestra and a cast of thousands – from Azerbaijan to Oman – entertained the Monarch in the grounds of Windsor Castle. Wiseman’s first Royal tasking, though, was back in 2012; she was one of eleven composers commissioned to write the new Water Music, which was played by members of the London Philharmonic Orchestra as they travelled down the River Thames on a barge as part of the Diamond Jubilee River Pageant. My twelve-year-old self was stood beneath the London Eye with my mum and my uncle, watching excitedly – drenched by the rain – as the boats passed by; that day taught me a great deal about how a composer can help match a sense of occasion and tell a story. Wiseman since wrote an Overture and Finale for The Queen’s 90th birthday, and made a whole album in honour of her 95th.

Vincent Atueyi Chinemelu and Lucy Kiely A Life Lived With Grace

Sacha Dow, Rob Lewis

This song neatly summarises the unifying power of the Commonwealth. The Commonwealth Resounds – the Commonwealth’s official music organisation – put out a call for composers and lyricists around the world, to help write a new Song for the Commonwealth in honour of The Queen’s Platinum Jubilee. A Nigerian priest and an Australian singer-songwriter were selected, and their subsequent piece was sung simultaneously by over 800 choirs worldwide, during the lighting of the Platinum Jubilee beacons. Numerous musicians around the Commonwealth also made their own arrangements of the melody, including Botswana-born Lorraine Lionheart and 19-year-old Royal Academy of Music jazz student, Gabriel Taylor. The project therefore spawned a kind of theme and variations, a musical paper chain; a testament to a Commonwealth of nations that Her Majesty worked so hard to develop.

Thomas Hewitt Jones In Our Service

The Choir of Royal Holloway / Rupert Gough 

Another Platinum Jubilee treasure now. The Queen was Patron to the Royal School of Church Music, and to mark her seventy years on the throne, they commissioned Thomas Hewitt Jones to write an anthem that would be sung by choirs around the world. Hewitt Jones selected the words from speeches given by The Queen over the years, including her comment upon the death of Prince Philip: “grief is the price we pay for love.”

Elgar Nimrod Holst I Vow To Thee My Country

The Band of the Coldstream Guards

Here we have the UK’s oldest military band; the Coldstream Guards had drummers as far back as 1685, and officially formed in 1785. They have been at the heart of state events throughout The Queen’s reign, playing at the Changing of the Guard, the Festival of Remembrance and Trooping the Colour. The red tunics and bearskin hats are almost as synonymous with ‘Britain’ as The Queen herself; they are therefore one of the few things alone that can help capture the history, respect and dignity represented by Her Majesty.

Jack Pepper is a composer, broadcaster and writer