King Charles coronation service will feature 12 newly commissioned pieces of music, including one by Andrew Lloyd Webber. On May 6, the King personally selected the music for a ceremony at Westminster Abbey.
Lord Lloyd-Webber stated that he desired for his new coronation anthem to convey a “joyous event.”
A gospel choir and Greek Orthodox music will be performed in honor of Prince Philip, the king’s father.
Traditional pieces by classical composers such as William Byrd, George Handel, and Sir Edward Elgar will be performed.
New music has been commissioned as part of a coronation theme of merging the modern with the ancient.
This features a coronation march composed by Patrick Doyle, who had previously composed a different type of royal music for Sir Kenneth Branagh’s film adaptation of Shakespeare’s Henry V.
It is yet unknown who will be invited to attend the concert in person, including whether Prince Harry and Meghan, the Duchess of Sussex, will be in attendance.
Camilla, the Queen Consort, who tested positive for Covid earlier in the week, will be coronated alongside the King.
Next week, however, the 75-year-old Queen Consort is expected to resume her duties, indicating that she has recovered.
Camilla has averted controversy regarding the crown she will wear by announcing last week that it will not contain the disputed Koh-i-Noor diamond.
The new coronation music will consist of six orchestral pieces, five choral works, and one organ piece.
Lord Lloyd-Webber is composing an anthem based on Psalm 98, which opens, “O sing a new song to the Lord, for he has done wondrous wonders.”
The composer and theater owner, who shares the King’s age of 74, has had a long career composing popular musicals such as The Phantom of the Opera and Cats.
Lord Lloyd-Webber, who left the House of Lords in 2017, has advocated for the arts and music.
Iain Farrington, Sarah Class, Nigel Hess, Paul Mealor, Tarik O’Regan, Roxanna Panufnik, Shirley J. Thompson, Judith Weir, Roderick Williams, and Debbie Wise are the other composers chosen by the King to create new music.
A “coronation orchestra” will be constructed, with soloists including Welsh opera vocalist Sir Bryn Terfel.
A portion of the ceremony will be conducted in Welsh, while Sir John Eliot Gardiner will perform choral music.
Like with past coronations, including that of the late Queen in 1953, Westminster School choristers will sing the Latin call “Vivat” at the moment when the King is proclaimed.
The coronation service will be performed at Westminster Abbey, which commissioned new music for her death in September.
Some of that music was commissioned from composers many years in the past, including Sir James MacMillan, who was asked in 2011 to produce a piece of choral music in secret.
Incapable of attending rehearsals, the composer first heard the piece performed while watching the historic burial on television.
In addition to music for King Charles’ coronation, there will be a concert the next evening at Windsor Castle with internationally renowned headliners.
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