\n
The Queen\u2019s Platinum Jubilee concert: what music will be played at the party at the palace?<\/a><\/strong><\/li>\n
Four pieces of music especially composed for kings and queens<\/a><\/strong><\/li>\n
What has the Queen done for classical music?<\/a><\/strong><\/li>\n
The Queen\u2019s Platinum Jubilee: what music is likely to be played at the Service of Thanksgiving?<\/a><\/strong><\/li>\n
Trooping the Colour \u2013 marking The Queen\u2019s birthday during her Platinum Jubilee<\/a><\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>
<\/p><\/div> <\/section>
So, as the longest-ever reigning British monarch celebrates 70 years on the throne, we take a look at the music that has been inspired by, and written for, Queen Elizabeth II.<\/p>\n
\u00a0<\/p>\n
Walton \u2013 Coronation March, \u2018Orb and Sceptre\u2019<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n<p><strong><a href=\""https:\/\/www.classical-music.com\/composers\/walton-william\/"\">Walton<\/a><\/strong>\u2019s \u2018Orb and Sceptre\u2019, inspired by Elgar\u2019s equally grandiose <em>Pomp and Circumstance Marches<\/em>, was written for the Queen\u2019s coronation in 1953. Its joyous exuberance and swagger set the scene for the day of celebrations, performed before the official service at Westminster Abbey. It was performed alongside the <em>Crown Imperial<\/em> march that Walton composed for the coronation of King George VI \u2013 Elizabeth\u2019s father \u2013 in 1937. Its title refers to the Orb and Sceptre that are presented to the monarch during the coronation ceremony.<\/p>\n<p>\u00a0<\/p>\n<h2><strong>Elgar \u2013 Nursery Suite<\/strong><\/h2>\n<iframe title=\""Edward\" elgar=\"\" :=\"\" nursery=\"\" suite=\"\" for=\"\" orchestra=\"\" width=\""200"\" height=\""113"\" src=\""https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/8dlWcE7COaI?feature=oembed"\" frameborder=\""0"\" allow=\""accelerometer;\" autoplay=\"\" clipboard-write=\"\" encrypted-media=\"\" gyroscope=\"\" picture-in-picture=\"\" allowfullscreen=\"\"\/>\n<p><strong><a href=\""https:\/\/www.classical-music.com\/composers\/edward-elgar\/"\">Elgar<\/a> <\/strong>met the Queen and her sister Margaret as young children, and wrote this suite for them as one of his final compositions, based on sketches he himself had done as a child. Consisting of seven movements and a coda, the piece is focussed around the nursery theme, with some of the suites named after toys, such as \u2018the serious doll\u2019 and \u2018the wagon\u2019. It was one of the first pieces of orchestral music to premiere in a recording studio rather than a concert hall, and was later put to choreography and made into a ballet that was performed in 1932 at Sadler\u2019s Wells Theatre. It was later re-choreographed for a new ballet in celebration of the Queen\u2019s 60th birthday gala at the Royal Opera House.<\/p>\n<p>\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>\u00a0<\/p>\n<h2><strong>Bax \u2013 Morning Song, \u2018Maytime in Sussex\u2019<\/strong><\/h2>\n<iframe title=\""Morning\" song=\"\" in=\"\" sussex=\"\" width=\""200"\" height=\""150"\" src=\""https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/xYIpS9IHIpo?feature=oembed"\" frameborder=\""0"\" allow=\""accelerometer;\" autoplay=\"\" clipboard-write=\"\" encrypted-media=\"\" gyroscope=\"\" picture-in-picture=\"\" allowfullscreen=\"\"\/>\n<p><strong><a href=\""https:\/\/www.classical-music.com\/composers\/arnold-bax\/"\">Arnold Bax<\/a><\/strong>, then Master of the King\u2019s Music, wrote his Morning Song in 1947 to celebrate the then-Princess\u2019s 21st birthday. Subtitled \u2018Maytime in Sussex\u2019, this delightful work for piano and orchestra skips along in true springtime fashion.<\/p>\n<p>\u00a0<\/p>\n<h2><strong>Howells \u2013 Behold, O god Our Defender<\/strong><\/h2>\n<iframe title=\""3)\" queen=\"\" elizabeth=\"\" ii=\"\" coronation=\"\" live=\"\" h.=\"\" howells=\"\" behold=\"\" o=\"\" god=\"\" our=\"\" defender=\"\" width=\""200"\" height=\""150"\" src=\""https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/CtOhLSjouf8?feature=oembed"\" frameborder=\""0"\" allow=\""accelerometer;\" autoplay=\"\" clipboard-write=\"\" encrypted-media=\"\" gyroscope=\"\" picture-in-picture=\"\" allowfullscreen=\"\"\/>\n<p>When looking back at the list of composers who were invited to compose works for the Queen\u2019s coronation, it is a veritable a roll call of great 20th-century British composers. Herbert Howells wrote this quiet and reflective introit on Christmas Day 1952. On the day of the Coronation it signalled the start of the solemn ceremony that transformed a Princess into a Queen.<\/p>\n<p>\u00a0<\/p>\n<h2><strong>Britten \u2013 Gloriana Dances<\/strong><\/h2>\n<iframe title=\""Choral\" dances=\"\" from=\"\" gloriana:=\"\" time=\"\" benjamin=\"\" britten=\"\" john=\"\" rutter=\"\" the=\"\" cambridge=\"\" singers=\"\" width=\""200"\" height=\""113"\" src=\""https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/LPuluNYvYec?feature=oembed"\" frameborder=\""0"\" allow=\""accelerometer;\" autoplay=\"\" clipboard-write=\"\" encrypted-media=\"\" gyroscope=\"\" picture-in-picture=\"\" allowfullscreen=\"\"\/>\n<p><a href=\""https:\/\/www.classical-music.com\/reviews\/miscellaneous\/benjamin-britten-2\/"\">Britten<\/a> composed his opera <em>Gloriana<\/em> for the Royal Opera House\u2019s celebration of the Queen\u2019s coronation in 1953. It tells the story of the life of the Queen\u2019s predecessor, Elizabeth I, who was given the nickname \u2018Gloriana\u2019 by the 16th-century poet Edmund Spenser. Though the opera was a critical failure, and rarely performed today, a series of Courtly Dances celebrating the Queen\u2019s virtues are often performed as a concert piece.<\/p>\n<ul><li><strong><a class=\""standard-card-new__article-title"\" href=\""https:\/\/www.classical-music.com\/composers\/how-the-queen-inspired-britten-to-start-composing-again-after-he-almost-died\/"\">How the Queen inspired Britten to start composing again after he almost died<\/a><\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul><p>\u00a0<\/p>\n<h2><strong>Vaughan Williams \u2013 O Taste and See<\/strong><\/h2>\n<iframe title=\""Ralph\" vaughan=\"\" williams:=\"\" o=\"\" taste=\"\" and=\"\" see=\"\" the=\"\" choir=\"\" of=\"\" somerville=\"\" college=\"\" oxford=\"\" width=\""200"\" height=\""113"\" src=\""https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/cej_jo9bgGU?feature=oembed"\" frameborder=\""0"\" allow=\""accelerometer;\" autoplay=\"\" clipboard-write=\"\" encrypted-media=\"\" gyroscope=\"\" picture-in-picture=\"\" allowfullscreen=\"\"\/>\n<p><strong><a href=\""https:\/\/www.classical-music.com\/composers\/ralph-vaughan-williams\/"\">Vaughan Williams<\/a><\/strong> was commissioned to write this new motet for the coronation by the director of music of Westminster Abbey, William McKie (see below). It is still regularly sung today. However, this was not Vaughan Williams\u2019s only contribution to the ceremony. He also persuaded McKie to include a hymn with which the congregation could join in, complete with fanfare accompaniment \u2013 written by him. Though this may not seem like a controversial idea today, it was considered such a breach of tradition that it had to be approved by the Queen herself before McKie would agree to it.\u00a0 Luckily she agreed, and The Old Hundred (\u2018All people that on earth do dwell\u2019) has since become one of the countries best-loved hymns.<\/p>\n<p>\u00a0<\/p>\n<h2><strong>Bax \u2013 Fanfare for the Wedding of Princess Elizabeth<\/strong><\/h2>\n<iframe title=\""Bax:\" fanfare=\"\" for=\"\" the=\"\" wedding=\"\" of=\"\" princess=\"\" elizabeth=\"\" width=\""200"\" height=\""150"\" src=\""https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/L-1-GGBKM2s?feature=oembed"\" frameborder=\""0"\" allow=\""accelerometer;\" autoplay=\"\" clipboard-write=\"\" encrypted-media=\"\" gyroscope=\"\" picture-in-picture=\"\" allowfullscreen=\"\"\/>\n<p>Bax held the position of Master of the King\u2019s Music from 1942, and during this time Princess Elizabeth married Prince Philip of Greece in 1947. This piece was played as she processed in through Westminster Abbey to begin the service. Its concluding bars lead obviously into Mendelssohn\u2019s Wedding March, which ended the ceremony.<\/p>\n<ul><li><strong><a class=\""standard-card-new__article-title\" qa-card-link=\"\" href=\""https:\/\/www.classical-music.com\/features\/articles\/7-notable-masters-of-the-queens-kings-music\/"\">7 notable Masters of the Queen\u2019s\/King\u2019s Music<\/a><\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul><p>\u00a0<\/p>\n<h2><strong>Crimond<\/strong><\/h2>\n<iframe title=\""The\" lord=\"\" my=\"\" shepherd=\"\" i=\"\" not=\"\" want=\"\" psalm=\"\" hymn=\"\" tune=\"\" crimond=\"\" width=\""200"\" height=\""113"\" src=\""https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/PUAj1NLWrsM?feature=oembed"\" frameborder=\""0"\" allow=\""accelerometer;\" autoplay=\"\" clipboard-write=\"\" encrypted-media=\"\" gyroscope=\"\" picture-in-picture=\"\" allowfullscreen=\"\"\/>\n<p><strong><a href=\""https:\/\/www.classical-music.com\/features\/articles\/what-are-the-lyrics-to-the-hymn-lord-is-my-shepherd\/"\">\u2018The Lord is my Shepherd<\/a><\/strong>\u2019 was sung to the tune of Crimond at Princess Elizabeth\u2019s wedding to Prince Philip. She had been taught a descant by a lady-in-waiting Lady Margaret Egerton but the music for it could not be found, so she and Egerton sang it to William McKie to transcribe.<\/p>\n<p>\u00a0<\/p>\n<h2><strong>McKie \u2013 We wait for thy loving Kindness<\/strong><\/h2>\n<iframe title=\""We\" wait=\"\" for=\"\" thy=\"\" loving=\"\" kindness=\"\" william=\"\" mckie=\"\" john=\"\" rutter=\"\" the=\"\" cambridge=\"\" singers=\"\" width=\""200"\" height=\""113"\" src=\""https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/WtEHTKg1Hlc?feature=oembed"\" frameborder=\""0"\" allow=\""accelerometer;\" autoplay=\"\" clipboard-write=\"\" encrypted-media=\"\" gyroscope=\"\" picture-in-picture=\"\" allowfullscreen=\"\"\/>\n<p>McKie also contributed one of his own compositions to the proceedings. \u2018We wait for thy loving Kindness\u2019 is a beautifully simple anthem, a welcome reflective relief perhaps from the pomp that surrounds such royal occasions.<\/p>\n<p>\u00a0<\/p>\n<h2><strong>Hymn \u2013 Praise, my soul, the King of Heaven<\/strong><\/h2>\n<iframe title=\""Praise,\" my=\"\" soul=\"\" the=\"\" king=\"\" of=\"\" heaven=\"\" ::=\"\" choir=\"\" westminster=\"\" abbey=\"\" width=\""200"\" height=\""150"\" src=\""https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/sx1eMwlDFb8?feature=oembed"\" frameborder=\""0"\" allow=\""accelerometer;\" autoplay=\"\" clipboard-write=\"\" encrypted-media=\"\" gyroscope=\"\" picture-in-picture=\"\" allowfullscreen=\"\"\/>\n<p>Based on Psalm 103, the hymn \u2018<strong><a href=\""http:\/\/Praise,%20my%20soul,%20the%20King%20of%20Heaven"\">Praise, my soul, the King of Heaven<\/a>\u2018\u00a0<\/strong>has long been a favourite of the Royal Family, in particular Queen Elizabeth II and her father King George VI. It also featured at the wedding of Elizabeth and Prince Philip in 1947.<\/p>\n<p>\u00a0<\/p>\n<h2><strong>Regimental March Milanollo<\/strong><\/h2>\n<iframe title=\""Milanollo\" quick=\"\" march=\"\" of=\"\" the=\"\" coldstream=\"\" guards=\"\" width=\""200"\" height=\""113"\" src=\""https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/MUli7OkUq3o?feature=oembed"\" frameborder=\""0"\" allow=\""accelerometer;\" autoplay=\"\" clipboard-write=\"\" encrypted-media=\"\" gyroscope=\"\" picture-in-picture=\"\" allowfullscreen=\"\"\/>\n<p>Another firm <strong>favourite<\/strong> of the Queen, this march was written by 19th-century German composer Johann Valentin Hamm for the Italian violinist virtuoso sisters and child prodigies Teresa and Maria Milanollo. It was later adopted as a regimental march for the Coldstream Guards, and consequently also by other regiments including the Life Guards.<\/p>\n<p>\u00a0<\/p>\n<h2><strong>Britten\u2019s God Save the Queen arr.<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p>The origin of the tune of \u2018<strong><a href=\""https:\/\/www.classical-music.com\/features\/works\/god-save-the-queen-lyrics\/"\">God Save the Queen<\/a><\/strong>\u2019 is unknown, but its first known hearing was in 1745. It is a tune that has been used by about 140 composers in their works, with Beethoven even composing a set of seven piano variations around the theme. Britten arranged it in 1961 for the Leeds Festival, and his version is played annually at the <strong><a href=\""https:\/\/www.classical-music.com\/features\/articles\/everything-you-need-to-know-about-the-last-night-of-the-proms\/"\">Last Night of the Proms<\/a><\/strong>.<\/p>\n<iframe title=\""The\" national=\"\" anthem=\"\" of=\"\" the=\"\" united=\"\" kingdom=\"\" last=\"\" night=\"\" proms=\"\" width=\""200"\" height=\""113"\" src=\""https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/mV1-OkHQ9KQ?feature=oembed"\" frameborder=\""0"\" allow=\""accelerometer;\" autoplay=\"\" clipboard-write=\"\" encrypted-media=\"\" gyroscope=\"\" picture-in-picture=\"\" allowfullscreen=\"\"\/>\n<p>\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>\u00a0<\/p><\/body><\/html>\n<hr class=\"no-tts wp-block-separator\"\/>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>By BBC Music Magazine Published: Monday, 30 May 2022 at 12:00 am Throughout the centuries, monarchs have made their mark on our musical history. From royal commissions, including those for coronations (such as Handel\u2019s Zadok the Priest, written for George II in 1727), weddings and funerals (including Purcell\u2019s Music for the Funeral of Queen Mary), […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":24,"featured_media":15864,"template":"","categories":[1,17],"acf":{"readingTimeMinutes":"5"},"uagb_featured_image_src":{"full":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/37\/2022\/05\/her-majestys-music.jpg",625,350,false],"thumbnail":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/37\/2022\/05\/her-majestys-music-150x150.jpg",150,150,true],"medium":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/37\/2022\/05\/her-majestys-music-300x168.jpg",300,168,true],"medium_large":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/37\/2022\/05\/her-majestys-music.jpg",625,350,false],"large":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/37\/2022\/05\/her-majestys-music.jpg",625,350,false],"1536x1536":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/37\/2022\/05\/her-majestys-music.jpg",625,350,false],"2048x2048":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/37\/2022\/05\/her-majestys-music.jpg",625,350,false]},"uagb_author_info":{"display_name":"importmanagerhub@sprylab.com","author_link":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcmusicmagazine\/author\/importmanagerhubsprylab-com\/"},"uagb_comment_info":0,"uagb_excerpt":"By BBC Music Magazine Published: Monday, 30 May 2022 at 12:00 am Throughout the centuries, monarchs have made their mark on our musical history. From royal commissions, including those for coronations (such as Handel\u2019s Zadok the Priest, written for George II in 1727), weddings and funerals (including Purcell\u2019s Music for the Funeral of Queen Mary),…","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcmusicmagazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/rss_feed\/15863"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcmusicmagazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/rss_feed"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcmusicmagazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/rss_feed"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcmusicmagazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/24"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcmusicmagazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/15864"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcmusicmagazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=15863"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcmusicmagazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=15863"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}