Classical music has all the time flourished in England’s inexperienced and nice land. From the baroque period, via classicism, romanticism, and modernism, English composers have developed a particular musical voice; one that’s uniquely and recognizably ‘British’. There’s no higher approach to rejoice St George’s Day than by delving into the wealthy traditions of British musical heritage with this hand-picked playlist that includes the crown jewels of patriotic items. Scroll down to find our number of the very best classical music for St George’s Day that includes ten important items.
10: Stanford: Songs of the Fleet
Charles Villiers Stanford was a stalwart determine within the British musical panorama through the so-called ‘English Musical Renaissance’ initially of the 20th century. He grew to become the primary Professor of Composition on the Royal Faculty of Music in London in 1883 and Professor of Music at Cambridge in 1887. His Songs of the Fleet (1904) are an attractive cycle of 5 songs for baritone, accompanied by refrain and orchestra. From the triumphant, ‘Crusing at Daybreak’ to the playful fourth motion ‘The Little Admiral’, Stanford’s musical voice emanates full-blooded heat and pleasure in Britain’s naval heritage.
9: Purcell: ‘After I Am Laid In Earth’ from Dido and Aeneas
It’s truthful to say that British classical music wouldn’t be the place it’s as we speak with out Purcell: his identify is consecrated within the classical canon as one of many all-time greats. He additionally cultivated an inherently ‘English’ type of baroque counterpoint, as exemplified by the seminal ‘When I’m Laid in Earth’ from the opera Dido and Aeneas. This aria is inextricably linked with remembrance and is extensively carried out in England to mark the anniversary of World Battle II. A shocking, poignant piece of classical music for St George’s Day.
8: Handel: Zadok the Priest
Initially composed for the coronation of King George II in 1727, Handel’s Zadok the Priest is sure up with British patriotism, the monarchy, and all issues pomp and ceremony. The opening bars are merely iconic: flowing strings construct suspense and anticipation, culminating in that well-known, dramatic entry of the choir. Every thing about this piece exudes grandeur on an superior scale, from the enlarged performing forces to the profundity of the textual content and the anthemic reprise. Fairly actually match for King (or Queen) and the epitome of fine old school royal pomp and ceremony.
7: Holst: ‘Jupiter’ from The Planets Suite
One other key determine in British modernist scene, Gustav Holst curated a compositional type that’s audibly ‘English’. The crowning jewel in his well-known Planets Suite is undoubtedly ‘Jupiter’. Daring, characterful oom-pah themes, a beefed-up brass part, and heat dancing strings breathe life into Holst’s personification of the Pink Large. ‘Jupiter’ is without doubt one of the finest items of classical music for St George’s Day for 2 causes. Not solely is that this an instance of high-quality English craftsmanship, it additionally lends its rousing tune to the poignant hymn, ‘I Vow to Thee My Nation’, set to phrases from Sir Cecil Spring Rice’s poem.
6: Vaughan Williams: English People Music Suite
One other identify synonymous with British classical music is that of Ralph Vaughan Williams, who spearheaded neo-nationalist musical idiom in Britain. Eschewing the musical pomp and ceremony, Vaughan William’s distinctive type paints pastoral, idyllic landscapes and delightful countryside. The English People Music Suite (1934), among the finest items of classical music for St George’s Day, is a celebration of the British musical people custom, with an emphasis on genuine people tunes, modal harmonies, earthy timbres and lilting triple metres. Assured to get these toes tapping!
5: Delius: North Nation Sketches
Frederick Delius continued long-held romantic and neo-romantic developments in Britain. His North Nation Sketches was impressed by the landscapes of Yorkshire, the place of the composer’s beginning, all through the varied and altering seasons. The primary two actions, representing autumn and winter, set up bleak, desolate, naked countryside. Steadily, shadowy feeling begins to soften away, unfurling and blossoming right into a extra buoyant ‘Dance’ and a extra optimistic, sunny finale, ‘March of Spring’. Delius paints essentially the most good bucolic musical footage, contrasting sweeping romantic lyricism with darker earthy hues and characterful melodic gestures.
4: Britten: Battle Requiem
In some methods, Britten stands aside from up to date developments in British music and pursued his personal, particular person path. His Battle Requiem, first carried out in 1962, is a requiem like no different: settings of 9 poems by the warfare poet Wilfred Owen are woven into the construction of a standard Latin mass. Britten himself was a acutely aware objector to the warfare and his angst permeates this work, felt keenly in tumultuous moments such because the angular, jarring ‘Dies Irae’ and ‘Be Slowly Lifted Up’. The ultimate motion ‘Let Us Sleep Now’ reconciles these darker hues with a lighter, peaceable second of remembrance.
3: Parry: I Was Glad
Contemplating the celebrity of a few of his work, Hubert Parry’s identify is surprisingly little-known. As a part of his intensive contribution to the again catalogue of Anglican church music, he’s the composer that gave us the wonderful hymn Jerusalem, for instance. The anthem that makes our St George’s Day playlist, nevertheless, is that lesser-known diamond, I Was Glad, a choral introit with glittering royal connections. Like Handel’s Zadok, I Was Glad was initially written to be sung on the coronation of the British monarch. It was additionally Kate Middleton’s bridal entrance music when she married Prince William at Westminster Abbey in 2011.
2: Elgar: Pomp and Circumstance March No.1
A doyen of British music, Elgar is commonly credited with placing English music again on the map: not since Henry Purcell, who died in 1675, had a British composer claimed such worldwide recognition. Our number of the very best classical music for St George’s Day wouldn’t be full, after all, with out Pomp and Circumstance March No.1. This piece oozes Britishness and ceremonial splendour and can endlessly be nice music for fireworks. In case this piece didn’t really feel patriotic sufficient, lyrics had been later added by A. C. Benson, giving us the rousing anthem ‘Land of Hope and Glory’.
1: Vaughan Williams: The Lark Ascending
Simply topping our listing of the very best classical music for St George’s Day is the mighty Vaughan Williams together with his elegant orchestral work, The Lark Ascending. This masterpiece, written after he returned from warfare, relies on a poem of the identical identify by George Meredith. Vaughan Williams immerses the listener in a pastoral idyll with twittering birds and dazzling daylight, with a compositional type rooted in traditions of folks music however quintessentially Vaughan Williams. The Lark Ascending was lately voted the best piece of classical music in Basic FM’s Corridor of Fame 2022, the world’s largest ballot of classical music tastes, in Vaughan Williams’ a hundred and fiftieth birthday yr.