Coronation anthem ‘is made for churches’
King wanted composition to be hummable and stand test of time, says Lloyd Webber
LORD LLOYD-WEBBER has said that he hopes the Coronation anthem he has composed for the King is sung in churches across the land.
Speaking ahead of its inaugural performance at Westminster Abbey tomorrow, the composer told The Daily Telegraph that the King insisted the piece, Make a Joyful Noise, be “hummable” and cheerful.
The anthem, based on verses from Psalm 98, will be performed during the Coronation as the Queen is enthroned.
Lord Lloyd-webber disclosed that the King expressed a hope that the music would stand the test of time.
“He wants the anthem sung in churches,” he said.
Lord Lloyd-webber hopes that the piece will be sung on joyous occasions such as weddings or christenings. It will be released as a single to raise money for the Royal British Legion and Age UK after it is heard at the Coronation.
The composer’s comments came as preparations for the Coronation reached their final stages. Having attended the final dress rehearsals, the King will today host heads of state and world leaders who have been arriving in London.
He will be joined by several other senior members of the Royal family for a special lunch hosted for Commonwealth realm prime ministers and governors-general at Buckingham Palace.
The King, who is head of the Commonwealth, will then attend a Commonwealth heads of government meeting and garden reception at London’s Marlborough House.
Before he retires for an early night, His Majesty will be joined by the Queen and senior members of his family at a reception for foreign royalty and dignitaries at the palace.
Among those expected to arrive in London is Olena Zelenska, who will attend the Coronation in place of her husband, Volodymyr Zelensky, the Ukrainian president. The Duke of Sussex is expected to arrive in London ahead of the ceremony, having recently held peace talks with his father.
However, relations between the Duke and the rest of the family, particularly the Prince of Wales, remain fraught. Yesterday, Lord Soames, a close friend of the King, described the Duke’s behaviour as a “terrible blow” to the monarch.
He described the Duke’s decision to write a memoir, in which he made a series of intimate family revelations, as “most tragic” and the “cruellest” behaviour a son can show to his father.
The Duke will head back home to California within 24 hours of arriving, and he will not attend any other Coronation-related events.
As final rehearsals took place at Westminster Abbey yesterday, it emerged that some of the wording in the service had been clarified following a backlash over the decision to ask members of the public to pledge allegiance to the King.
It is understood that a new form of words has been added into the service to emphasise that it is an invitation and not an instruction.
The Met Office has forecast a cloudy, wet day across large parts of the UK tomorrow, with rain falling in London at around lunchtime.
But Buckingham Palace insisted that gloomy forecasts would not dampen spirits, vowing that “the show will go on”. If the weather allows, the newest fleet of royal aircraft will make its debut in the Coronation flypast.
As the King and Queen take their places on the Buckingham Palace balcony to watch the six-minute flypast at 2.15pm tomorrow, the Envoy IV CC Mk1 aircraft will take up the rear as it flies over The Mall and the palace.
Members of the Armed Forces, frontline emergency service workers and people actively contributing to the ceremony will be among the 400,000 people to receive a Coronation Medal, the design of which will be unveiled today.
Meanwhile, the colourful floral arrangements that will decorate the
‘I just loved the idea that we should end with trumpets’
Abbey have been chosen to “reflect the real characters” of the King and Queen.
Lord Lloyd-webber told The Telegraph that he and the King had bonded over the “unfashionable causes” they had in common, such as a desire for more young people to learn to play the organ, while their wives shared a love of horses.
He said the King approached him to write the anthem at a dinner a few months ago.
He said: “I said of course I’d be completely honoured. Then we went into a major discussion about the importance of [Hubert] Parry and I reminded him of work he didn’t know, Balfour Gardiner’s Evening Hymn.”
Lord Lloyd-webber said the King had been “really keen” to look at the words of Solomon. But having concluded that they “weren’t quite right” for the occasion, he suggested they look at Psalms.
“I found O Sing Unto the Lord A New Song, which is 98, which Solomon probably wrote. I saw ‘make a joyful noise’, and I changed it around, because I just loved the idea of the end – that we should end with trumpets,” he added.
“Something that Charles greatly wants people to understand is that he doesn’t want people to think he’s the ‘lord’. He’s King, but he has a higher moral responsibility.”
Reports: Pages 1-7