Friday 3 June 2011

Anniversary of the Coronation


Today marks the fifty-eighth anniversary of the Coronation of the Queen in Westminster Abbey, the great church where more recently her grandson married Catherine Middleton. 

Pretty magnificent footage from the BBC via YouTube of the day itself and the intricacies of the ceremony is shown below. The latter half is in colour.


For those interested, in Britain, Her Majesty's full official title is Her Majesty Elizabeth the Second, by the Grace of God, of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, and of Her other Realms and Territories, Queen, Head of the Commonwealth, Defender of the Faith.

Upon becoming Sovereign, the Queen and her advisers decided that in reference and deference to the many other countries over which she was now Head of State, she would bear an individual title within those countries, representing her position as Head of the Commonwealth. This means that today, Her Majesty is also the Queen of Canada (in French, her full title is Sa Majesté Elizabeth Deux, par la grâce de Dieu Reine du Royaume-Uni, du Canada et de ses autres royaumes et territoires, Chef du Commonwealth, Défenseur de la Foi), Duke of Normandy (Guernsey and Jersey), Lord of Mann (the Isle of Mann), Queen of Barbados, Queen of Jamaica, Queen of The Commonwealth of The Bahamas, Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland and of Grenada, Queen of Saint Lucia, Queen of Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Queen of Australia, Queen of New Zealand, Queen of Papau New Guinea, Queen of the Solomon Islands, Queen of Tuvalu, Queen of Antigua and Barbuda, Queen of Belize and Queen of Saint Christopher and Nevis ("St Kitts.")

1 comment:

  1. Thanks for posting this. How wonderful it must have been to experience that day!

    I do wish that unabridged footage of the entire ceremony, with ALL the music, were available, but as far as I can tell it is not. I think even at the time what people saw in cinemas was edited and abridged--meaning that the music and the picture do not always match.

    In case you're interested and don't have all this information at hand, here is the complete programme of choral music--I have both a 1953 souvenir programme and a modern facsimile of the music & liturgy with the scores of all the pieces. I love how the service combined classics with new commissions from the most eminent British and Commonwealth composers of the time--many of which I've sung.

    II. The Entrance Into the Church
    Psalm CXXII, 1-3, 6, 7
    I Was Glad, Charles Hubert Hastings Parry (1848-1918)

    VI. The Beginning of the Communion Service
    The Introit: Psalm LXXXIV, 9, 10
    Behold, O God Our Defender, Herbert Howells (1892-1983)
    The Gradual: Psalm CXLI, 2
    Let My Prayer Come Up, William H Harris (1883-1973)

    VII. The Anointing
    I Kings I, 39, 40
    Zadok the Priest, George Frideric Handel (1685-1759)

    XI. The Putting On of the Crown
    Be Strong and of Good Courage, George Dyson (1883-1964)

    XIV. The Homage
    Rejoice in the Lord Alway, John Redford (d 1547)
    O Clap Your Hands, Orlando Gibbons (1583-1625)
    I Will Not Leave You Comfortless, William Byrd (1543-1623)
    O Lord Our Governor, Healy Willan (1880-1968)
    Thou Wilt Keep Him in Perfect Peace, Samuel Sebastian Wesley (1810-76)

    XV. The Communion
    All People That On Earth Do Dwell, arr. Ralph Vaughan Williams
    Sanctus
    Sanctus from Mass in G Minor, Ralph Vaughan Williams (1872-1958)

    Psalm XXXIV, 8
    O Taste and See, Ralph Vaughan Williams

    Gloria in Excelsis
    Gloria from Communion Service in B-flat, C V Stanford (1852-1924)

    XVI.
    Te Deum Laudamus
    Coronation Te Deum, William Walton (1902-1983)

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