From Limelight magazine, Feb 20. Not a lot of traditional English folksong here.....: "Buckingham Palace has announced that 12 newly commissioned pieces of music will be performed at The Coronation of Their Majesties The King and The Queen Consort at Westminster Abbey on Saturday 6 May. King Charles “has personally commissioned the new music and shaped and selected the musical programme for the Service,” read the statement. The Master of the Choristers at Westminster Abbey, Andrew Nethsingha, will oversee all musical arrangements and direct the music for the ceremony. Sir Antonio Pappano, Music Director for London’s Royal Opera House, will be conducting the Coronation Orchestra, made up of “a bespoke collection of musicians drawn from orchestras of The former Prince of Wales’ Patronages including the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra.” The 12 pieces of music will consist of six orchestral commissions, five choral commissions and one organ commission. It represents a marked contrast with the music of the Coronation of Queen Elizabeth II in 1953, which favoured established works by composers including Purcell, Walton, Holst and Elgar. Among the new works for the upcoming Coronation will be a new Coronation Anthem by Andrew Lloyd Webber, a new Coronation March by Patrick Doyle (composer of the film scores for Sense and Sensibility, Hamlet and Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire) and a new commission for solo organ by Iain Farrington based on musical themes from Commonwealth countries. These will sit alongside new works by Sarah Class, Nigel Hess, Paul Mealor, Tarik O’Regan, Roxanna Panufnik, Shirley J Thompson, Judith Weir, Roderick Williams and Debbie Wiseman. Soloists performing at Westminster Abbey will include the Welsh bass-baritone Bryn Terfel, the South African soprano Pretty Yende and British baritone Roderick Williams. The Westminster organ will be played by the Abbey’s Sub-Organist, Peter Holder, and Assistant Organist, Matthew Jorysz. The service will be sung by The Choir of Westminster Abbey and The Choir of His Majesty’s Chapel Royal, St James’s Palace, joined by girl choristers from the Chapel Choir of Methodist College, Belfast and from Truro Cathedral Choir. The service will also include Greek Orthodox music by the Byzantine Chant Ensemble in homage to the late Duke of Edinburgh. A gospel choir, The Ascension Choir, will also perform, and The King’s Scholars of Westminster School will proclaim the traditional “Vivat” acclamations. Before the service itself, Sir John Eliot Gardiner will conduct The Monteverdi Choir and English Baroque soloists in an opening programme of choral music expected to include works by Byrd, Handel, Elgar, Hubert Parry and Sir Karl Jenkins. After the Coronation ceremony on Saturday, a Coronation Concert will be staged on Sunday and broadcast live at Windsor Castle by the BBC. The show’s headliners have yet to be announced but confirmed is The Coronation Choir, a diverse group created from the Britain’s many community choirs including Refugee choirs, NHS choirs, LGBTQ+ singing groups and deaf signing choirs. The Coronation Choir will appear alongside The Virtual Choir, made up of singers from across the Commonwealth, for a special performance on the night." (Does Queen have to change its name to "King" now?)
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