How to prepare a musical feast fit for a King

Years ago, as a penniless young musician, I sometimes played the organ at weddings and learned a bitter lesson: the congregation hadn’t come for the music. I was used to concert audiences who listened attentively and rewarded pleasure received with appreciation given, and it came as a shock to discover that wedding congregations chattered or nipped out for a ciggie during our lovingly rehearsed anthems, failed to join in the hymns and allowed their infants to howl – though once I had become a parent I grew more forgiving of this. Words of appreciation afterwards were rare. Thus I resign myself to expect scant public attention to be paid to the feast of music that will accompany the coronation service on 6 May.

For those who have ears to hear it, however, it will be a cornucopia of delights, with no fewer than 12 new commissioned pieces, plenty of traditional favourites, and a wealth of expert performers to give their all. We are not the churchgoing nation we were in 1953, nor do our schools educate us in what I dislike having to call ‘classical music’, but we still have a unique network of more than 50 cathedrals, all with their resident choirs who maintain and build on an internationally revered tradition of choral singing. The coronation will be a rare opportunity for a massive audience to eavesdrop on what two of these crack choirs (supplemented by excellent choirs from Truro and Belfast) routinely accomplish week in, week out, and it’s not to be missed. We will also have a handpicked orchestra and an ace team of military musicians, with the wonderful Westminster Abbey and Chapel Royal choirs at the heart of it. Don’t let the music wash over you, really do listen, and you will be uplifted.