anon.: God Save The Queen

Recorded at Henry Wood Hall, London on 7 & 8 March 2012.

The London Philharmonic Orchestra takes part in the Thames Diamond Jubilee Pageant on 3 June as part of the 1000 boat flotilla celebrating the Queen’s 60th anniversary. Its musicians will play works chosen for their association with British history and London landmarks, recorded here to capture the spirit of the occasion and to serve as a memento of a unique day.

Highlights of the music include Percy Grainger’s Country Gardens, Jupiter from Gustav Holst’s The Planets, Thomas Arne’s Rule, Britannia!, the James Bond Theme, The Dam Busters by Eric Coates and two works by Elgar – Nimrod from Enigma Variations and Pomp & Circumstance March No. 1. The CD closes out with a performance of the National Anthem.

The potential of music as a means of adding dignity and grandeur to state occasions has surely been lost on a few rulers in history. Portraits of antique kings and queens are more often admired (or the reverse) for their artistic qualities, as opposed to the enhancement in the status of their subjects they were originally intended to confer. Similarly, the appeal of ceremonial music from former ages is for modern listeners primarily aesthetic.

This 75-minute collection brings together music heard at a staggering variety of British royal occasions. Zadok the Priest has been included in every coronation service held in that building ever since the coronation of King George II and Queen Caroline in Westminster Abbey on 11 October 1727. There is music for the coronation of King James II in 1685 (Purcell’s I was glad), and a later setting of the same verses by Parry for the coronation of Edward VII in Westminster Abbey on 9 August 1902.

Of course, there’s music for Queen Elizabeth II – Walton’s Coronation Te Deum and Orb and Sceptre for the coronation on 2 June 1953 and Bliss’s march Welcome the Queen, which commemorated the return of the monarch from her Commonwealth tour in 1954.

The British national anthem hardly needs an introduction. Benjamin Britten’s distinctive arrangement was first performed in Leeds on 7 October 1961 and has been heard countless times since.

'The Royal Wedding - The Official Album' is a unique memento of the most significant and anticipated event in Britain's modern history. Featuring every aspect of this incredible occasion, the album will include the music - old and new - the readings and blessings, and of course the exchange of vows between Prince William and Catherine Middleton - as they happen in the historic Abbey on the day itself. It will be the only official, sanctioned recording of The Royal Wedding. The music is provided by The Choir of Westminster Abbey, the London Chamber Orchestra, the State Trumpeters and the Trumpeters of the Central Band of the RAF.

A collection of music by great British composers, including Elgar - Land of Hope and Glory, Enigma Variations; Holst – The Planets; Walton – Crown Imperial; Orb & Sceptre and Parry – Jerusalem. Full of highly recognisable themes, this album captures and celebrates the great British spirit.

Released in time for the Royal Wedding of Prince William to Katherine Middleton, which takes place on the 29th April 2011. With street parties up and down the isle and a national bank holiday, the biggest Royal event since the Marriage of Prince Charles to Princess Diana is set to be celebrated in style.

Christmas Eve 1974 was a nightmare for the inhabitants of Darwin (in Australia’s Northern Territory) when it was destroyed by a violent cyclone. A Darwin Appeal Fund was launched and a month later, on 25 January 1975, Richard Bonynge conducted a fund-raising concert at the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden. The idea was that of Joan Sutherland’s – who participated together with a cast of Australian, New Zealand and British operatic luminaries – and the LP receives its complete CD release for the first time. A newly-written introduction by Richard Bonynge is included.

A unique release filling out Britten's voluble performances of the Brandenburg Concertos with the English Chamber Orchestra with the very rare LP issued by Decca of the 1953 Aldeburgh Festival Opening Concert. It contains the much sought-after Sellinger's Round (Variations on an Elizabethan Theme) conducted by Britten, as well as odes and anthems by Purcell and Arne, featuring Alfred Deller and Sir Peter Pears, conducted by Imogen Holst. The disc ends with four 'bonus tracks' that comprised a Decca EP: Sir Adrian Boult conducting Bach's Air from the Orchestral Suite No. 3 and Bantock's arrangement of 'Sheep may safely graze' plus Britten conducting Clarke's Trumpet Voluntary and his own, very beautiful arrangement of God Save the Queen. A true collector's item!

Harry Mortimer’s name is synonymous with the brass band movement and he was hugely responsible for bringing its music to a larger audience. He achieved this, in particular, through the many concerts and tours he made with his massed bands. Tragically, there are very few Mortimer CDs available today and this Heritage release, featuring three of his ensembles, attempts to redress the balance.