Concert

Music for the Monarchy, a choral concert by leading London chamber choir Canticum celebrates music with royal connections through the centuries. British music has always been integral to the image and power of our monarchy. The concert starts and finishes with two rousing coronation anthems. Handel’s Zadok the Priest, composed for the coronation of George II in 1727, has been sung at every British coronation since, during the anointing of the sovereign. Sir Hubert Parry’s uplifting anthem, I was glad, a coronation tradition since its composition in 1902, ends the concert. The programme also features music composed by Masters of the King’s and Queen’s Music, from William Boyce in the eighteenth century, to Edward Elgar and Henry Walford Davies in the twentieth century, and other music associated with royal occasions, by composers from Purcell to Vaughan Williams.

Canticum, conducted by Mark Forkgen, is a highly-regarded London chamber choir, known for its versatility. Its repertoire ranges from the Renaissance to contemporary works, many of which have been written for the choir. Canticum’s performances and recordings have been widely praised by the BBC and national newspapers.