St Margaret's Church Prestwich

Here is the second in our series of posts about coronation anthems.

Parry wrote this setting of Psalm 122 for the coronation of King Edward VII in 1902 and revised it for King George V in 1911. It has been used at the coronation of every British monarch ever since. Prior to that, “Laetatus sum” (I was Glad) had been set to music over the centuries by Purcell, Boyce and Attwood, and this psalm has been used at the monarch’s entrance to his/her coronation since King Charles I in 1626. This means the text to this anthem has a longer pedigree (in coronation terms) than the arguably better known “Zadok the Priest”. The text is:

¹I was glad when they said unto me : We will go into the house of the Lord.

²Our feet shall stand in thy gates : O Jerusalem.

³Jerusalem is built as a city : that is at unity in itself.

⁴For thither the tribes go up, even the tribes of the Lord : to testify unto Israel, to give thanks unto the Name of the Lord.

⁵For there is the seat of judgement : even the seat of the house of David.

⁶O pray for the peace of Jerusalem : they shall prosper that love thee.

⁷Peace be within thy walls : and plenteousness within thy palaces.

⁸For my brethren and companions’ sakes : I will wish thee prosperity.

⁹Yea, because of the house of the Lord our God : I will seek to do thee good.

The first time I remember singing this anthem was with the Halle Choir Academy about ten years ago. It was spine tingling. I can’t describe the feeling of being one of 60 voices singing loud and proud in 4-part harmony, just for the thrill of it. Don’t let an inability to read music be a barrier: choral singing is for everyone!

“I was Glad” has been sung at many other notable occasions, including the weddings of Prince William and Catherine Middleton in 2011, and of (then) Prince Charles and Diana Spencer in 1981.

At the coronation of King Charles III, this anthem was sung as he entered Westminster Abbey, presumably glad to be entering the house of the Lord. It is only at coronations though that we hear the middle section of “vivats” sung by the Monarch’s Scholars of Westminster School to greet the new king or queen. These are composed afresh for each coronation, and this time they were “Vivat Regina Camilla!” and “Vivat Rex Carolus!”: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6Mx0nEGyt4w Why greet Camilla before the King? Protocol. Just like in our weekly church services, the most senior person present processes last. In this case, that would be the king.

Eagle-eyed watchers of the above clip will note that the Prince and Princess of Wales entered behind the king. That’s because they were late leaving the house that morning (apparently delayed by their children), therefore they arrived late at the abbey, and there simply wasn’t any slack in the schedule to wait while they took their places ahead of the king and his consort. Kids, eh?

Carol P