The King Shall Rejoice

William Boyce - Coronation Anthem "The King Shall Rejoice"

For the coronation of King George III (1761)

The Choir of New College Oxford
The Academy of Ancient Music
Edward Higginbottom

When Boyce was first approached about composing an anthem for the Coronation of George III, he was asked to set the text "Zadok the priest" which he declined 'alledging that it would be presumption in him to attempt it after Mr. Handel; his excuse was accepted and he made one to other words, which was performed.' [1]. The extent of Boyce's reverence for Handel led him to perform "Zadok the Priest" at the coronation in addition to his own anthems, a practice which has been continued ever since. The 'other text' Boyce had no qualms about, despite an abridged version also having been set by Handel, perhaps because he was asked to set a similar text for the wedding of King George III to Charlotte of Mecklenburg-Strelitz, which took place two weeks before the coronation. In fact, the first 82 bars (and 122 in total) [2] are reworked from the opening chorus for the wedding anthem. The other more obvious reason for his lack of trepidation is the different way Boyce and Handel approached the text. Gone is the airy and spacious feel of the 1727 anthem with its jaunty, almost irreverent rhythms. Boyce gives us pure grandeur, lofty and sincere, demonstrating the full maturity of the high English Baroque tradition. With Handel's death two years prior, and the arrival of (JC) Bach and Abel in London, its death knell had already been rung, but Boyce gives it one final triumphant breath.

Yet amid the pomp, we see Boyce's incredible subtlety which, still never fails to astound modern scholars considering he was all but deaf from his early twenties [1]. Tiny details like the isolated repeated semiquavers in the violin, which just add a bounce to propel the music forward, or a hint of a passing modulation through the subdominant to relax the mood display this. Interestingly, the lines of the first section are not arbitrarily set to unrelated music as was typical with anthems of this kind. Instead Boyce employs a consistant structure, a form of ritornelle interspersed with fugal textures as the episodic material. Each time the ritornello "theme" returns it is subtlely altered, until we reach the text "Thou shall set a crown" where it has been transformed into a full orchestral fanfare, replete with three trumpet parts and drums.

Immediately Boyce departs from this mood to one of intimacy and heartfelt pathos with "His honour is great in thy salvation", the simplicity and intensity of which shows us the composer as modernist, but also as one with reverence for the past. The contrapuntal lines and solemn intensity recall Purcell's anthems and even hint at the style of the early English polyphonists. The final section brings us back to the mood of joyful celebration with a well worked out fugue featuring interplay between all the orchestral and choral parts in a blaze of sound. The final "Alleluia" cadence involves some technically advanced harmony. Following a secondary dominant chord we hear a plagal cadence, with the upper part moving up to the leading note of the scale, resulting in a highly dissonant augmented fourth against the root of the chord. This is a device sometimes employed by Locke; however in the stricter harmonic language of the late Baroque, having shaken off the last remnants of Renaissance harmony, such a bizarre cadence would barely be within the bounds of reason. A bold stroke to end a coronation anthem with indeed.

References:

[1] G. Beechey, W. Boyce and J. Hawkins, 'Memoirs of Dr. William Boyce', The Musical Quarterly, Vol. 57, No. 1, (Jan., 1971), pp. 87-106
[2] M. Range, 'William Boyce's anthem for the wedding of King George III', Musical Times, Summer 2006, (2006). FindArticles.com. 13 Sep. 2008. http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qa3870/is_200607/ai_n16523433

Category:

Music

Tags:

• William
• Boyce
• Coronation
• Anthem
• The
• King
• Shall
• Rejoice

[woofulus]

Actually, I was thinking of Yokai's comment. If I had to identify the coronation, I'd guess James II in 1686. I'm just grateful to Crazy Cello for putting this wonderful music up. Do you know whether any more of Boyce's coronation anthems have been recorded recently?

[TheCrazyCello]

@woofulus The other music Boyce wrote for the ceremony is recorded on the same CD as this piece. He augmented his anthems by including Handel's setting of Zadok the Priest from KG2's coronation. The music he wrote for the wedding has not been recorded yet but the score has had a recent publication.

[woofulus]

George IV reigned 1820-30-- Boyce died in 1778, so the picture is the wrong one if it's him.

[TheCrazyCello]

@woofulus Yeah. I know. If you read what I said, I couldn't find one for KG3. It's a picture of a coronation with some coronation music. Problem?

[YokaiTetsuiga]

I am curious what is the picture used in this music? whos coronation is it?

[TheCrazyCello]

@YokaiTetsuiga KGIV I think, don't know the artist. I couldn't find one of KGIII's Coronation.

[66MM]

A masterpiece.....no others word can express it.

[lordeverglot]

excellent God save the Queen!

[woofulus]

Could someone tell me what the name of the CD is on which I could find this music? I have checked amazon.ca but can find nothing like it under Boyce.

[theEmperorsTarot]

@Johnnocp It is for george IV though, they probably got a wig on him for the occasion :P

[98abhay]

@YokaiTetsuiga in my opinion it is king james I's or Charles I or II's

[oonchee]

sorry for spelling.....i meant solemn!!!!

[oonchee]

@saluteforever this is an anthem not a hymn!!!!!..........and its definately not soelmn!!!!....more majestic than anything else!!!!!!!

[saluteforever]

I descovered this masterpiece only last month and it's a pity because I have always loved English monarchy it's wonderful hymn it's so solemn as the other Coronation hymn"Zadok the Priest" that Ialso descovered this year Compliments both to Handel and William Boyce!!!