Composer: Benjamin Britten, William Byrd, Orlando Gibbons, George Frideric Handel, Cecilia McDowall, Henry Purcell, Thomas Tallis, Michael Kemp Tippett
Performer: David Clegg, Angus Davidson, Jonathan Arnold, Ben Davies, Kirsty Hopkins, Jeremy Budd, George Pooley
Orchestra: The Sixteen Orchestra
Conductor: Harry Christophers
Format: FLAC (tracks)
Label: Coro
Catalogue: COR16196
Release: 2023
Size: 316 MB
Recovery: +3%
Scan: yes
01. Handel: Coronation Anthem No. 1, HWV258 ‘Zadok the Priest’
02. Byrd: O Lord, make thy servant Elizabeth
Britten: Choral Dances from Gloriana, Op. 53
03. Fourth Dance – Country Girls
04. Fifth Dance – Rustics and Fishermen
05. Sixth Dance – Final Dance of Homage
06. Gibbons: Great King of Gods
Purcell: O sing unto the Lord, Z44
07. Symphony – O Sing Unto The Lord
08. Sing Unto The Lord and Praise His Name
09. McDowall: O Lord, Make Thy Servant Elizabeth
10. Tippett: Dance, Clarion Air
11. Byrd: The sweet and merry month of May
12. anon.: This day day dawes
13. Britten: Jubilate Deo in E flat major (1934)
14. Purcell: Welcome, vicegerent of the mighty king, Z340
15. Tallis: Miserere nostri, motet for 7 voices, P. 207
Handel: Coronation Anthem No. 3, HWV260 ‘The King Shall Rejoice’
16. The Kings Shall Rejoice
17. Exceeding Glad Shall He Be
18. Glory and Worship
19. Alleluia
20. Tallis: Sing and glorify heaven’s high majesty
Coronation – Music for Royal Occasions spans 500 years of royal music – for celebration, for prayer and for commemoration – varying in scale from private devotion to full state coronation. The collection, featuring Tallis, Byrd, Gibbons, Purcell, Tippett and Britten, looks forward to the coronation of Charles III, and back to the ancient rituals of royal ceremonial. It also presents a new work, commissioned by the Genesis Foundation, from celebrated composer Cecilia McDowall commemorating the life of Queen Elizabeth II and celebrating her remarkable reign. Of course no such collection would be complete without examples from the four anthems Handel wrote for the coronation of George II at Westminster Abbey in 1727, of which Zadok the Priest has been performed at the coronation of every British monarch since. Much has changed since their first performance almost 300 years ago. Yet their dramatic impact and grandeur, underlined by mighty choral acclamations and regal trumpets and drums, remains supremely fit for the coronation of a new king.