FILE – Britain’s Prince Charles meets Andrew Lloyd Webber during a visit to the Royal Albert Hall to discuss arts and creativity at school, in London, Wednesday September 5, 2018. Andrew Lloyd Webber, the composer Englishman who created the scores for blockbuster musicals such as ‘Cats’, ‘The Phantom of the Opera’ and ‘Evita’, wrote the coronation anthem of King Charles III.
Eddie Mulholland/AP
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Eddie Mulholland/AP
FILE – Britain’s Prince Charles meets Andrew Lloyd Webber during a visit to the Royal Albert Hall to discuss arts and creativity at school, in London, Wednesday September 5, 2018. Andrew Lloyd Webber, the composer Englishman who created the scores for blockbuster musicals such as ‘Cats’, ‘The Phantom of the Opera’ and ‘Evita’, wrote the coronation anthem of King Charles III.
Eddie Mulholland/AP
LONDON — Andrew Lloyd Webber, the English composer who created the scores for hit musicals such as ‘Cats’, ‘The Phantom of the Opera’ and ‘Evita’, wrote the coronation anthem of King Charles III, by adapting a piece of church music that encourages singers to make a “joyful noise”.
Webber’s work is one of a dozen new pieces commissioned by Charles for the grand occasion which will take place on May 6 at Westminster Abbey. It includes lyrics adapted from Psalm 98 and is composed specifically for the Abbey Choir and Organ.
“I hope my anthem reflects this joyful occasion,” Webber said in a statement released by Buckingham Palace.
The program for the king’s coronation ceremony includes older music and new compositions as the palace seeks to blend traditional and modern elements that reflect the realities of modern Britain. New pieces have been composed by artists with roots in the four constituent nations of the UK, as well as the Commonwealth and foreign countries that have sent so many to its shores.
The service will include works by William Byrd (1543-1623), George Frideric Handel (1685-1759), Edward Elgar (1857-1934), Henry Walford Davies (1869-1941), William Walton (1902-1983), Hubert Parry (1848–1918) and Ralph Vaughan Williams (1872–1958), whose music has featured in previous coronations, as well as a piece by contemporary Welsh composer Karl Jenkins.
There will also be new works by Sarah Class, Nigel Hess, Paul Mealor, Tarik O’Regan, Roxanna Panufnik, Shirley J. Thompson, Judith Weir, Roderick Williams and Debbie Wiseman.
“The decision to combine the old and the new reflects the cultural breadth of the times we live in,” said Andrew Nethsingha, organist and choirmaster at Westminster Abbey.
“Coronations have taken place at Westminster Abbey since 1066. It has been a privilege to collaborate with Her Majesty in choosing fine musicians and accessible and communicative music for this great occasion,” Nethsingha said.
In all, six orchestral commissions, five choral commissions and one organ commission – covering classical, sacred, film, television and musical genres – were created for the coronation.
The program will also include personal touches, including a musical tribute to Charles’ late father, Prince Philip, born a Greek prince. The new monarch has requested Greek Orthodox music, which will be performed by the Byzantine Chant Ensemble.
While details on some items are being kept under wraps, one anthem is sure to be part of the service: Handel’s “Zadok the Priest.”
The anthem, with its robust chorus of “God Save the King”, has been played at every coronation since it was commissioned for the coronation of King George II in 1727.
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