{"id":7722,"date":"2021-12-21T16:20:18","date_gmt":"2021-12-21T15:20:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.classical-music.com\/?p=161683"},"modified":"2021-12-21T16:36:09","modified_gmt":"2021-12-21T15:36:09","slug":"four-pieces-of-music-especially-composed-for-reigning-monarchs","status":"publish","type":"rss_feed","link":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcmusicmagazine\/rss_feed\/four-pieces-of-music-especially-composed-for-reigning-monarchs\/","title":{"rendered":"Four pieces of music especially composed for reigning monarchs"},"content":{"rendered":"

<\/p>

By BBC Music Magazine\n \t\t<\/p>

Published: Tuesday, 21 December 2021 at 12:00 am<\/p>

\n\n

The Triumphs of Oriana<\/i> (1601)<\/span><\/h3>\n\n<p class=\""p2"\"><span class=\""s2"\">In 1601, Thomas Morley got 22 of his fellow composers, including Thomas Weelkes, Thomas Tomkins and Ellis Gibbons, to write a madrigal for a new collection. Each of the 25 madrigals (Morley and Gibbons wrote two each) was to contain the line \u2018Thus sang the shepherds and nymphs of Diana: long live fair Oriana\u2019. Oriana, it\u2019s believed, referred to Elizabeth I. The exercise was repeated by Master of the Queen\u2019s Music Sir Walter Parratt in 1899, whose tribute to Queen Victoria contained the work of 13 composers, including Elgar, Stanford and Parry.<\/span><\/p>\n<h3 class=\""p1"\"><span class=\""s1"\">Purcell\u2019s <i>They that go down to the sea in ships<\/i> (1685)<\/span><\/h3>\n<iframe title=\""Henry\" purcell=\"\" they=\"\" that=\"\" go=\"\" down=\"\" to=\"\" the=\"\" sea=\"\" in=\"\" ships=\"\" width=\""200"\" height=\""150"\" src=\""https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/ssyPAUfj2V0?feature=oembed"\" frameborder=\""0"\" allow=\""accelerometer;\" autoplay=\"\" clipboard-write=\"\" encrypted-media=\"\" gyroscope=\"\" picture-in-picture=\"\" allowfullscreen=\"\"\/>\n<p class=\""p2"\"><span class=\""s1"\">When John Gostling, a leading bass of his day, was invited to join Charles II for a trip on the latter\u2019s yacht \u2018Fubbs\u2019, he clearly wasn\u2019t prepared for the severe storm that blew up mid-voyage. We don\u2019t know whether the King and his entourage really were in danger \u2013 but so relieved was Gostling to set foot on dry land, that he commissioned <strong><a href=\""https:\/\/www.classical-music.com\/composers\/henry-purcell\/"\">Henry Purcell<\/a> <\/strong>to set a selection of suitably maritime psalm verses in celebration of their collective safety.<\/span><\/p>\n<h3 class=\""p1"\"><span class=\""s1"\">Elgar\u2019s <i>Coronation Ode<\/i> (1902)<\/span><\/h3>\n<iframe title=\""Elgar\" coronation=\"\" ode=\"\" crown=\"\" the=\"\" king=\"\" width=\""200"\" height=\""113"\" src=\""https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/Cw6_NjPP4vE?feature=oembed"\" frameborder=\""0"\" allow=\""accelerometer;\" autoplay=\"\" clipboard-write=\"\" encrypted-media=\"\" gyroscope=\"\" picture-in-picture=\"\" allowfullscreen=\"\"\/>\n<p class=\""p2"\"><span class=\""s1"\">It was for Queen Victoria\u2019s heir, Edward VII, that the Covent Garden Grand Opera Syndicate commissioned Elgar to write a six-part <i>Coronation Ode<\/i> for soloists, chorus and orchestra, intended to be performed on the eve of the big day itself. The new King suggested that Elgar\u2019s librettist AC Benson might like to add words for the <i>Ode<\/i>\u2019s rousing final part \u2013 and so came to being \u2018Land of Hope and Glory\u2019.<\/span><\/p>\n<h3 class=\""p1"\"><span class=\""s1"\"><i>A Garland for the Queen<\/i> (1953)<\/span><\/h3>\n<iframe title=\""A\" garland=\"\" for=\"\" the=\"\" queen:=\"\" aubade=\"\" width=\""200"\" height=\""150"\" src=\""https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/hFq0p91WQfY?feature=oembed"\" frameborder=\""0"\" allow=\""accelerometer;\" autoplay=\"\" clipboard-write=\"\" encrypted-media=\"\" gyroscope=\"\" picture-in-picture=\"\" allowfullscreen=\"\"\/>\n<p class=\""p2"\"><span class=\""s1"\">A 20th-century equivalent of <i>The Triumphs of Oriana<\/i><span class=\""Apple-converted-space"\">\u00a0 <\/span>arrived in 1953, when ten British composers set works by ten contemporary British poets to celebrate the coronation of Elizabeth\u00a0II. The resulting collaborations saw <strong><a href=\""https:\/\/www.classical-music.com\/composers\/ralph-vaughan-williams\/"\">Vaughan Williams<\/a><\/strong> setting \u2018Silence and Music\u2019 by his new wife, Ursula Wood, Howells bringing his inimitable touch to Walter de la Mare\u2019s \u2018Inheritance\u2019 and Finzi (above) wallowing in the joys of Edmund Blunden\u2019s \u2018White-Flowering Days\u2019.<\/span><\/p>\n<section class=\""highlight\"><div class=\""highlight__content\" editor-content=\"\"> <ul><li><strong><a href=\""https:\/\/www.classical-music.com\/features\/articles\/what-has-the-queen-done-for-classical-music\/"\">What has the Queen done for classical music?<\/a><\/strong><\/li>\n<li><strong><a href=\""https:\/\/www.classical-music.com\/features\/articles\/the-queens-funeral-what-music-is-likely-to-be-played-at-the-funeral-of-queen-elizabeth-ii\/"\">The Queen\u2019s Funeral: what music is likely to be played at the funeral of Queen Elizabeth II?<\/a><\/strong><\/li>\n<li><strong><a href=\""https:\/\/www.classical-music.com\/features\/articles\/royal-weddings-best-classical-music-choices\/"\">Royal Weddings: The best classical music choices<\/a><\/strong><\/li>\n<li><strong><a href=\""https:\/\/www.classical-music.com\/features\/articles\/musical-life-king-henry-viii\/"\">The musical life of King Henry VIII<\/a><\/strong><\/li>\n<li><strong><a href=\""https:\/\/www.classical-music.com\/features\/articles\/four-composers-court-louis-xiv\/"\">Four composers at the court of Louis XIV<\/a><\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul><p> <\/p><\/div> <\/section><p><strong>Top image by Getty Images<\/strong><\/p><\/body><\/html>\n<hr class=\"no-tts wp-block-separator\"\/>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>By BBC Music Magazine Published: Tuesday, 21 December 2021 at 12:00 am The Triumphs of Oriana (1601) In 1601, Thomas Morley got 22 of his fellow composers, including Thomas Weelkes, Thomas Tomkins and Ellis Gibbons, to write a madrigal for a new collection. Each of the 25 madrigals (Morley and Gibbons wrote two each) was […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":24,"featured_media":7723,"template":"","categories":[1],"acf":{"readingTimeMinutes":"2"},"uagb_featured_image_src":{"full":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/37\/2021\/12\/four-pieces-of-music-especially-composed-for-reigning-monarchs.jpg",1200,900,false],"thumbnail":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/37\/2021\/12\/four-pieces-of-music-especially-composed-for-reigning-monarchs-150x150.jpg",150,150,true],"medium":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/37\/2021\/12\/four-pieces-of-music-especially-composed-for-reigning-monarchs-300x225.jpg",300,225,true],"medium_large":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/37\/2021\/12\/four-pieces-of-music-especially-composed-for-reigning-monarchs-768x576.jpg",768,576,true],"large":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/37\/2021\/12\/four-pieces-of-music-especially-composed-for-reigning-monarchs-1024x768.jpg",800,600,true],"1536x1536":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/37\/2021\/12\/four-pieces-of-music-especially-composed-for-reigning-monarchs.jpg",1200,900,false],"2048x2048":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/37\/2021\/12\/four-pieces-of-music-especially-composed-for-reigning-monarchs.jpg",1200,900,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: Tuesday, 21 December 2021 at 12:00 am The Triumphs of Oriana (1601) In 1601, Thomas Morley got 22 of his fellow composers, including Thomas Weelkes, Thomas Tomkins and Ellis Gibbons, to write a madrigal for a new collection. Each of the 25 madrigals (Morley and Gibbons wrote two each) was…","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcmusicmagazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/rss_feed\/7722"}],"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\/7723"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcmusicmagazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=7722"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcmusicmagazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=7722"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}