BBC London. 06 May 2023. Twelve new pieces were commissioned for the service and used alongside older works, including several used at previous coronations. Six of the new commissions were performed by the orchestra before the service — those by Judith Weir; Karl Jenkins; a vocal piece by Sarah Class performed by Pretty Yende; Nigel Hess, Roderick Williams, and Shirley J. Thompson; Iain Farrington; and a new march by Patrick Doyle. New compositions by Roxanna Panufnik, Tarik O’Regan, and Andrew Lloyd Webber were part of the service, and Debbie Wiseman composed two related pieces, one of which was performed by the Ascension Choir. Existing works by William Byrd, George Frideric Handel, Edward Elgar, Walford Davies, William Walton, Hubert Parry, and Ralph Vaughan Williams were included, as they had been at previous coronations. Six pieces were performed in new arrangements by John Rutter.
In tribute to the King’s 64-year tenure as Prince of Wales the Kyrie was set in Welsh by Paul Mealor and was sung by Sir Bryn Terfel. A Greek Orthodox chant was included in the service in tribute to the King’s father, Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh.
The director of music for the coronation was Andrew Nethsingha, the organist and master of the choristers at the abbey.[58] Before the service John Eliot Gardiner conducted the Monteverdi Choir and English Baroque Soloists. The main choir was a combination of the choirs of Westminster Abbey, the Chapel Royal, the Monteverdi Choir, and girl choristers from Methodist College Belfast and Truro Cathedral. The orchestra players were drawn from the Philharmonia Orchestra, Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, BBC National Orchestra of Wales, Regina Symphony Orchestra, English Chamber Orchestra, Scottish Chamber Orchestra, Royal Opera House Orchestra and Welsh National Opera Orchestra, which are all patronised by Charles. The orchestra, situated in the organ loft, was conducted by Antonio Pappano and led by Vasko Vasilev. The State Trumpeters of the Household Cavalry and the Fanfare Trumpeters of the Royal Air Force played the fanfares.
All eight of the massed bands in the coronation procession played the same music, keeping time with each other with the help of a radio broadcast click track – the first time such technology has been used on such a large-scale ceremonial event; previously bands would march to different pieces of music starting at different times. The tempo set was 108 beats per minute, slowed down from the regulation 116 beats per minute because of the size of the bands.
