At the coronation of Charles III, music fit for a king

What would a coronation be without music? "It wouldn't work," says British historian Simon Schama, for whom "the ritual can only survive and produce emotion if it is punctuated by great musical moments."

Haendel superstar

Zadok The Priest by Georg Friedrich Handel will be THE expected music of the ceremony. On the occasion of the coronation of George II in 1727, the most English of German composers created this hymn which will be sung thereafter at each coronation.

"It sounds old, but every time you hear it, it's so timeless," Professor Susan Wollenberg, from the faculty of music at Oxford University, told AFP, adding that it is "with the arrival of Handel that the coronation music took on its full weight".

Based on an Old Testament story, Zadok the priest comes at the holiest moment of the coronation, the anointing, as the lyrics evoke how Zadok the priest and Nathan the prophet anointed Solomon. "God save the King, long live the King, may the King live forever!" proclaims the choir.

The work is so popular that it inspired the famous UEFA Champions League anthem, created in 1992 by Tony Britten.

"Since the coronation in 1661 of Charles II, the monarch has entered Westminster Abbey to the hymn 'I was Glad when They Said Unto me'", recalls Peter Linnitt, librarian of the Royal College of Music of London.

The most famous version is the one composed in 1902 for the coronation of Edward VII by Hubert Parry who “calibrated his music so that the monarch arrived close to the choir at the time of the acclamations ''Vivat Rex'' (Long life to the king),” he says. The anthem was sung at William and Kate's wedding in 2011.

"For centuries coronation music has centered around the Church, but certain compositions by Edward Elgar (1857-1934), with their patriotic overtones, gave Britons a sense of national communion," says Mr. Schema.

His "Pomp and Circumstance" marches are very famous, especially No. 1: created in 1901 and then accompanied by lyrics (Land of Hope and Glory) a year later on the occasion of the coronation of Edward VII, it became almost Britain's unofficial anthem.

Used (without the words) at the coronation of Elizabeth II, it traditionally appears at the last concert of the BBC Proms, but also before rugby or football matches. Its lyrics related to the British Empire have been the center of controversy in 2020. The march is also extremely well known in the United States where it is used during graduation ceremonies.

For his coronation, the music-loving king commissioned 12 composers, including Andrew Lloyd Webber, known worldwide for his musicals Cats and Phantom of the Opera, which played on Broadway for a record 35 years. .

Mr. Weber has been commissioned to compose a new anthem (Make a Joyful Noise), based on Psalm 98. Patrick Doyle will compose a new march, Iain Farrington will create a piece for organ representing musical themes from different Commonwealth countries, Tarik O'Regan will blend Arabic and Irish sounds in his Agnus Dei, while Paul Mealor will compose the first Welsh-language creation performed at a coronation.

Five composers will create pieces for the ceremony, never seen before. Among them, Judith Weir, "King's Music Master" - the first woman to hold this position, which she has held since 2014; the film composer Sarah Class, actively committed to the environment, or even Debbie Wiseman who has created countless soundtracks for cinema and television.