En route to the car and the supermarket, I overheard part of the TV broadcast of the crowning, being watched by VR who is far less of a curmudgeon than I am. A magnificent baritone voice, against an equally magnificent choir. "I know that voice," I told myself. Opened the living-room door and there he was, Sir Bryn Terfel, arguably Britain's greatest classical singer putting his heart into something new yet melodious.
In fact, Coronation Kyrie, written for the event by Paul Mealor: "... a blend between Gregorian and Welsh Penillion singing... coloured by harmonies of the great Welsh tunes (Aberystwyth, Cwm Rhondda, Ar Lan Y Môr)... a cry from the deep soul of the hills and valleys of Wales for hope, peace, love, and friendship.”
When I returned, the choir were just finishing Handel's Zadok The Priest. Both reaching out to me rather more than The Stone of Scone.
The NYTimes had a lovely short video of the crown being place on the King. It's a very big crown. Lots of cheering followed.
ReplyDeleteNewRobin13: Yeah, but I can't help remembering he was annointed with oil before the crown was placed. And the crown has a furry bit which must have got sticky.
DeleteHe continued to wear it (in public, at least) when he got back to Bucks. P. and stood on the balcony to receive three cheers from the military who'd marched with him as he rode in a hideously ornate carriage from the Abbey to the palace.
Later there was an aerial flypast (much reduced because of low cloud) and I discovered one of the enormous disadvantages of wearing a crown. The rest of the family on the balcony looked up at the passing helicopters but he daren't; had he done so the crown would have fallen off.
Okay, now you've made it interesting to me.
ReplyDeleteColette: So here's what you do. Search YouTube for Bryn Terfel singing All Through The Night. He's Welsh, the song's Welsh and he sings it in Welsh. Ever since I started singing lessons in 2018 ATTN has been my favourite warm-up song. More recently I've transcribed the Welsh lyric into phonetic English and that's the way I sing it. If I ever get around to posting my version on Tone Deaf you''ll be able to compare us. Not that there's any real competition. Note Bryn is now Sir Bryn to mark his international successes as a singer.
ReplyDeleteNEWS LATEST. Forget all that. Simply search Coronation Kyrie on YouTube and you can see/hear the short clip of Sir Bryn singing in Westminster Abbey.
it might have been nice to hear that but I would have prefered a concert rather than a coronation.
ReplyDeleteellen abbott: Easier still - they're both available on YouTube.
ReplyDeleteI liked hearing my Mom's Welsh Songs, she was the only one of her whole Family who didn't have a fabulous Singing Voice tho'. As for the Coronation, with having Maternal Relatives still in Wales, and knowing the hardships right now the British Economy is facing... it was rather like holding a Feast beside a Food Bank... very Marie Antoinette... and look what happened to her...
ReplyDeleteBohemian: As I mentioned, the BBC reported there was little interest in the coronation in the USA and I'd have been very surprised if there had been. Unfortunately there's a good deal of interest here in events in the USA since they could very well affect us directly. I'm referring to the possibility of Trump winning a second term and then proclaiming himself president for life.
ReplyDelete