Britain’s new monarch has a well-documented love of music.

It extends far beyond King Charles III’s titular patronage of groups like the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra and Royal College of Music. He made two special programmes for Classic FM in 2020, the first an extended interview and the second presented solely by the-then Prince; in the latter, he broadcast his favourite classical pieces, among them Chopin’s piano concertos and the Four Last Songs of Richard Strauss.

Speaking on BBC Radio 3 in 2010, he chose Jean-Marie Leclair’s Scylla et Glaucus as his musical pick-me-up, whilst in an interview with The Spectator, he named Julius Benedict’s little-known Piano Concerto in E flat major as a personal recommendation. Perhaps most famously of all, he is a champion of Hubert Parry, having presented a BBC Four documentary about the composer back in 2011.

See also:

● The Coronation – Meeting the Composers Behind the Music

● The Coronation – Military Musicians

As a child, the King learned the cello, trumpet and piano, and regularly attended the ballet with the Queen Mother; aged 15, he played the trumpet in St Giles’ Cathedral as part of his 80-piece school orchestra; as an undergrad, he became a member of the orchestra of Trinity College, Cambridge, playing the cello in Beethoven’s Fifth and Ninth Symphonies; away from the stage, he was known to sit in his college room listening to the records of Herbert von Karajan.

Whilst the depth of Charles’s personal involvement in and love of music is unprecedented among recent monarchs, music has always been at the heart of Royal life and state occasions. Queen Elizabeth II’s Coronation was an especially epic affair. Lasting some three hours, nine contemporary composers contributed 10 new pieces; Ernest Bullock alone contributed seven new fanfares! Then consider the performers: 182 boy trebles – yes, really – drawn from (deep breath) the choirs of St Paul’s Cathedral, Westminster Abbey, the Chapel Royal, St George’s Chapel, Windsor, 12 British cathedrals and 20 parish churches from across the UK. An orchestra of 60 represented the crème of British orchestral talent, with all 18 violinists the leaders of important British ensembles. Adrian Boult – who had conducted the Coronation of George VI in 1937 – was back on this podium of podiums.

Coronations have taken place in Westminster Abbey since 1066 (39 of them, to be precise), and so to celebrate this rich span of history, let’s wind the clock back and explore the composers, musicians and pieces that have helped make past Coronations so special…

Vaughan Williams Fantasia on Greensleeves

Academy of St Martin-in-the-Fields / Neville Marriner 

Long said to have been written by Henry VIII as a love song for Anne Boleyn, in truth the melody of Greensleeves most likely originated in the later Elizabethan period. Scholars believe the piece derives from an Italian style of song that didn’t come to British shores until after Henry’s death. Despite the myth, Henry VIII was definitely a composer; 33 manuscripts can be accurately traced back to his hand.

Here we enjoy the Greensleeves melody as arranged by Ralph Vaughan Williams, someone who made history for his musical contribution to the Coronation of Elizabeth II; he pressed for the inclusion of a hymn that the whole congregation could sing, a then-unheard-of level of ‘audience participation’ at such an event. The personal approval of the monarch had to be sought. With her agreement, Vaughan Williams set words from Psalm 100 (‘All people that on Earth do dwell’) for four vocal parts, organ, orchestra and congregation, complete with new fanfares. He also wrote the motet ‘O Taste and See’ for the ceremony, and long before that penned the Festival Te Deum in F Major for the crowning of George VI in 1937. Writing music for this most public and national of occasions was surely the ultimate satisfaction of RVW’s artistic credo that ‘the composer must not shut himself up and think about art; he must live with his fellows and make his art an expression of the whole community.’

In this recording, we enjoy the fruits of one of the Monarch’s many patronages; Neville Marriner graduated from the Royal College of Music in 1946. Knighted in 1985, Marriner was then made a Companion of Honour in 2015. Musical royalty, then, takes on an English classic with its own memorable royal history.

Thomas Tomkins Great and Marvellous Are Thy Works

Oxford Camerata / Jeremy Summerly 

Welsh-born Tomkins wrote anthems for the coronation of Charles I in 1626 (a monarch whose musicality was exhibited in infamously lavish masques); among the words Tomkins chose to set were ‘Zadok the Priest’, long before Handel got there.

A pupil of Byrd, Tomkins worked as Master of the Choir at Worcester Cathedral for five decades and was also for a time a Gentleman and Organist with London’s Chapel Royal. His output is dominated by choral music, with numerous anthems and madrigals to his name.

Purcell I Was Glad

Chanticleer & Capriccio Stravagante

These words have been sung at every coronation since Charles I in 1626, and set by the likes of Blow, Attwood and Boyce.

Hubert Parry’s famous setting premiered in 1902 at the Coronation of Edward VII, and later it would be the first piece to be played at Elizabeth II’s. Amazingly – for a work now so iconic – it took multiple coronations to perfect. Parry first provided his setting for Edward VII’s ceremony, and again for George V almost a decade later. Second time round, he embellished his draft and this pomp-pumped-up version (my words, not his) is the one we know today.

Here, San Francisco-based vocal group Chanticleer present Purcell’s setting of these famous words, created for the Coronation of James II in 1685.

Handel Zadok The Priest

The Choir of Westminster Abbey, The English Concert / Simon Preston, Trevor Pinnock

One of four Coronation Anthems Handel wrote for the coronation of George II in 1727, it was performed as the new King was anointed. The words – taken from the Bible’s account of the anointing of Solomon – have been sung at every English/British coronation since 973.

Despite numerous composers setting the same words, such was the success of Handel’s version that William Boyce refused to write a new setting when invited to do so for the next coronation (George III in 1761); he felt Handel was simply unbeatable. Handel’s own version, though, acknowledges past settings and services; before writing it, Handel is said to have studied Blow and Purcell’s contributions to the coronation of James II in 1685, and all the texts Handel eventually chose had been included in that earlier Coronation. The piece itself, therefore, reflects the baton relay of history that a Coronation likewise represents.

Although the music itself exudes confidence, the 1727 Coronation did not go smoothly. Due to the large numbers of musicians involved and their position in the middle of a long procession into the Abbey at the start of the service, the choir failed to reach the pre-agreed spot in time, and so failed to sing ‘I Was Glad’ as the Royal family arrived. This knocked timings and plans out of place, and numbers were ditched as the ceremony progressed; in what must have been one especially cringeworthy moment, two anthems are said to have been started simultaneously by different choirs by accident! Little wonder Handel’s Zadok was such a triumph; after so many mishaps, this awe-inspiring work brought a much-needed dose of musical confidence.

It was quite a gift for Handel to give to a family he had come to know well, having helped make him so comfortable in his new British home. By the time of George III, Handel was such a family favourite that the monarch himself organised private concerts of Handel’s music and wrote out the programme notes by hand. Oh, and Handel’s setting of Zadok The Priest has been sung at every British coronation since 1727. Sounds like a ringing endorsement.

Thomas Attwood Bring Unto the Lord, O Ye Mighty (Psalm 29)

Glen Dempsey, Choir of St John’s College, Cambridge / Andrew Nethsingha

Organist of St Paul’s Cathedral and a composer for the Chapel Royal, Attwood wrote music for such historic events as the funeral of Lord Horatio Nelson. Just as high profile was his music for the Coronation of George IV in 1821, in which he set the centuries-old words ‘I Was Glad’ (George IV was a noted lover of music, employing his own orchestra and being praised by Haydn for his genuine love of the arts). Attwood kept music in the royal spotlight, composing for William IV’s ceremony in 1830; he even began a third anthem for Queen Victoria’s coronation in 1838, but died before completion.

A pupil of Mozart and a friend of Felix Mendelssohn, Attwood was a longstanding favourite among more than just musical royalty. His youthful studies had been funded by the future George IV (such was his promise), and he later became the music teacher to the Princess of Wales.

We’re firmly in the present with this recording, though, spotlighting a key player in the upcoming Coronation; as organist and Master of the Choristers at Westminster Abbey, Andrew Nethsingha will be directing the music during the service.

Elgar Pomp and Circumstance March No 4

Central Band of the Royal Air Force / Duncan Stubbs

Elgar’s rousing set of Pomp and Circumstance Marches have featured in the Coronations of George V, VI and Elizabeth II. Indeed, not one but three of them were featured in 1953 alone, one before the service and two at the end. Elgar also penned ‘O Hearken Thou’ for George V in 1912.

RAF musicians – as heard in this recording – will play a notable role in the upcoming Coronation; their Fanfare Trumpeters will join The State Trumpeters of the Household Cavalry to perform a series of fanfares.

Walton Crown Imperial

Regimental Band of the Coldstream Guards

Walton wrote two Coronation marches. The first, Crown Imperial, was created for George VI in 1937. Orb and Sceptre was one of his multiple contributions to the Coronation of Elizabeth II; an orb and sceptre are presented to the monarch during the service and have been held through history as a symbol of God’s power. Walton had great difficulty composing this follow-up piece, as he was intimidated by the heights he had set himself with Crown Imperial. Still, this didn’t stop him coming up with another classic fast-slow-fast march… not to mention his thumping Te Deum hymn of praise for the same service!

Here, we enjoy his first Coronation contribution with the help of musicians from Britain’s oldest continuously serving Army regiment, the Coldstream Guards; appropriately, one of its main roles is royal protection.

Tallis Litany for Five Voices

Choir of the Chapel Royal, The Musicians Extra-Ordinary / Andrew Gant

Tallis’s Litany first accompanied the Coronation of James II and Queen Mary in 1685, but would be performed nearly three centuries later during the Regalia Procession at the Coronation of Elizabeth II. It’s an appropriately long history for a composer who had a longstanding royal connection even in his own lifetime; Tallis served four English monarchs, juggling their ever-changing religious practices. Latin Catholic church music was followed swiftly by Anglican church music to appease Henry VIII, then it was back to Latin for Queen Mary before a return to English for Elizabeth I… Are you still with me?!

His works tax singers to the utmost in terms of range and duration; the epic 40 vocal parts of his Spem in Alium are said to have been created for the 40th birthday of Elizabeth I. Majestic music for a majestic subject.

Elizabeth Maconchy Proud Thames: A Coronation Overture

London Philharmonic Orchestra / Vernon Handley 

This won the London County Council Competition of 1952, searching for a new piece to celebrate the upcoming coronation. Elizabeth Maconchy’s contribution was a tribute to the River Thames. 35 years later, she would become a Dame.

In this recording, we spotlight an ensemble with unique recent royal memories. The London Philharmonic Orchestra performed on a barge floating along the River Thames as part of the late Queen’s Diamond Jubilee Pageant in 2012; they matched music to the landmarks they passed, playing everything from Arnold’s Padstow Lifeboat to Coates’s Knightsbridge March.

Shirley J Thompson New Nation Rising: A 21st-Century Symphony

Royal Philharmonic Orchestra / Shirley J Thompson

Lastly, a piece from one of the 2023 Coronation composers. Written for the Golden Jubilee of the late Queen, this symphony charts London’s 1000-year history from marshlands to sprawling urban metropolis; the final movement sees a rapper and dhol drummers join the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra (RPO), with forces totalling more than 200 musicians. Expect members of the RPO to appear again as part of the 2023 Coronation Orchestra, which will draw on musicians from across the UK’s leading ensembles.

Thompson is a fitting choice for the upcoming service, representing as she does so many important and timely causes. Born in East London of Jamaican descent, she helped create the pioneering education project ‘Every Child A Musician’ in Newham; she became the first woman in Europe to compose and conduct a symphony in the last 40 years; she’s championed multi-media work as a collaborator with dancers and visual artists; she has written music to commemorate everything from Obama’s Presidency to the Windrush generation.

In this symphony, and in this Coronation, we acknowledge the past and look to the future.