This course was run at the City Lit on Saturday 20th October 2012, looking at the four coronations in the twentieth century and the music performed at them to celebrate the Queen’s Jubilee.
The four coronations between 1902 and 1953 came at interesting times and produced new music that reflected those times. We shall look at the context and listen to some music from each one.
Edward VII’s coronation came at the beginning of a new century after his mother’s long reign and seemed to herald a new era of optimism which we now call the Edwardian period; when George V was crowned the country was going through a constitutional crisis and the early warnings of the war were felt; George VI was crowned following the scandal of his brother’s abdication when the country was already traumatised by the Depression; Elizabeth II was young and seen as a symbol of a new Elizabethan era as the country had just emerged from rationing necessitated by war. Each coronation helped the country to celebrate and the music was a combination of continuity using old favourites and new works celebrating new talent.
The course covered the four coronations concerned giving background to the monarchs being crowned, an outline of the service, an examination of the regalia and robes and listening to extracts of the music. The most famous works are the anthem by Parry “I was glad” for Edward VII’s coronation, Stanford’s “Gloria” for George V, Walton’s marches “Crown Imperial” and “Orb and Sceptre” for the coronations of George VI and Elizabeth II respectively and various arrangements by Vaughan Williams and others. We also listened to some of the music written especially to celebrate the coronations but performed at events outside the coronation service itself.
Below are copies of the hadouts from the course.
Guide to the Coronation Service
Music played at the C20th Coronations
In addition the following documents I created for my own use might also be of interest.
Notes on the less well known Composers
Some anecdotes from the Coronations
I have also added a pdf of the slides I used for Edward VII. I can send the others if you are interested.
Any questions on this course can be sent to me using the contact on my website.