Coronation of Charles III: the music-loving king ordered original music

One inspired the Champions League anthem, another is played at graduation ceremonies in the United States: the public will easily recognize some of the pieces played during the ceremony on May 6, which will also include 2023 premieres. 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."

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," says Susan Wollenberg, a professor in the faculty of music at the University of Oxford, adding that it's "with the arrival of Handel that the music of the coronation 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 on the hymn I was glad when they said unto me", recalls Peter Linnitt, librarian of the Royal College of Music in London. The most famous version is that composed in 1902 for the coronation of Edward VII by Hubert Parry who "calibrated his music so that the monarch arrives near the choir at the time of the acclamations Vivat Rex (Long live the king)", specifies he. The hymn was sung at William and Kate's wedding in 2011. "For centuries coronation music has centered around the Church, but some compositions by Edward Elgar (1857-1934), with their accents patriotic, gave the British a feeling of national communion,” says Simon Schama. His Pomp and Circumstance marches are very famous, in particular No. 1: created in 1901 then accompanied by words (Land of Hope and Glory) a year later on the occasion of the coronation of Edward VII, it has become almost the unofficial anthem of Great Britain. 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 Broadway for a record 35 years. . Andrew Lloyd Weber has been commissioned to compose a new hymn (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, Master of Music to the King, – the first woman to hold this position which she has held since 2014, film composer Sarah Class, actively committed to the environment, and Debbie Wiseman who has created countless soundtracks for cinema and television.