At the heart of the music are arrangements of Burial Sentences, which will be sung to the same settings by William Croft and Henry Purcell that have been sung at every royal funeral since that of Queen Caroline, wife of George II in 1737. Before that, as As the 2,000 guests wait for the procession to arrive from Westminster Hall, two Westminster Abbey organists will play an unusually all-British set. Alongside works by Elgar Parry and Stanford will be pieces by two recent Masters of the Queen’s Music, Malcolm Williamson and Peter Maxwell Davies. As always there will be hymns for the congregation and psalms sung by the two choirs of Westminster Abbey and the Chapel Royal. Among the hymns are one of the Queen’s favorites, “The Lord’s my Shepherd, I’ll not Want,” and “The Day Thou Gavest Lord is Ended,” a hymn usually sung at Evensong in a beautifully resigned tone that will be just for the occasion. Adding to this sentiment will be CHH Parry’s hymn My Soul there is a Country, based on words by John Donne.

Understated, simple eloquence

The two unknowns nestled between these familiar things are two new pieces, both by Scottish composers. One is a setting of well-known verses from Psalm 42 by Judith Weir, who has been Master of the Queen’s Music since 2014. She tells us that “Words and music speak first of great sorrow and the soul’s thirst for assurance God’s. but as the psalm progresses, the mood becomes calmer and more determined, culminating in the consolation, with the words ‘Trust in God.’ music festivals, and it’s a fair bet that her new psalm will have a similar understated, simple eloquence.
James MacMillan’s new hymn is more surprising given that MacMillan is now perhaps the best-known Catholic composer in the world, and this is a funeral for the Defender of the Anglican Faith. But he is also a staunch supporter of the Union, as well as a masterful composer of small-scale religious choral pieces, and the setting of a mystical poem by Henry Vaughan is bound to be masterful. The Committal Service at St George’s Chapel Windsor will be more modest, with no new pieces and only one choir participating, but more international with music by JS Bach and Charles-Marie Widor. There is a modest acknowledgment of diversity, with instrumental pieces by Ethel Smythe and the black composer Samuel Coleridge-Taylor, and echoes of past royal funerals and a salute to a faithful servant. The Queen’s piano teacher William Harris appears twice, as composer of an organ piece and a motet, and the Russian Kontakion of the Departed, a favorite of Queen Victoria and last performed at Queen Alexandra’s funeral in 1925, will be sung. Last Post , the National Anthem and Bach’s final Prelude and Fugue in C minor will end a series of musical interceptions that, like the Queen herself, are never wrong.

Music for the State Funeral at Westminster Abbey

The service is sung by the Choir of Westminster Abbey and the Choir of the Chapel Royal, St James’s Palace, (Joseph McHardy, Director of Music) conducted by James O’Donnell, Organist and Master of the Choristers, Westminster Abbey.

Music before the service

Matthew Jorysz, Assistant Organist, Westminster Abbey, plays: Fantasy in four parts Orlando Gibbons (1583–1625) Romanza (Symphony No. 5 in D) Ralph Vaughan Williams (1872–1958) Leave My House Peter Maxwell Davies (1934–2016) Meditation on “Brother James’s Air” Harold Darke (1888–1976) Prelude to ‘Ecce jam noctis’ Op 157 no 3 Healey Willan (1880–1968) Psalm Prelude Set 1 no 2 Herbert Howells (1892–1983) In the Country Op 194 no 2 Charles Villiers Stanford (1852–1924) Fantasy on “O Paradise” Malcolm Williamson (1931–2003) Elegy Op 58 Edward Elgar (1857–1934) The Sub-Organist plays: Andante espressivo (Sonata in G Op 28) Edward Elgar Sighs Op 70 Edward Elgar

Music after the service:

Allegro Majestic (Sonata in G Op 28) Edward Elgar

Music for the Committal at St George’s Chapel, Windsor Castle

Music before the service

Mr Luke Bond, Assistant Director of Music, will play: Adorn Yourself, O Dear Soul (BWV 654), Johann Sebastian Bach (1685–1750) OTraurigkeit, O Herzeleid, Dame Ethel Smyth (1858–1944) The Testament of Master Tallis, Herbert Howells (1892–1983) Psalm Prelude Set 1, No. 1, Herbert Howells (1892–1983) Psalm Prelude Set 1, No. 2, Herbert Howells (1892–1983) Melody (Three Pieces), Samuel Coleridge-Taylor (1875–1912) Andante Sostenuto (Gothic Symphony, Op. 70), Charles-Marie Widor (1844–1937) The Tree of Peace, Judith Weir (born 1954) Nimrod (Variations On An Original Theme, Op.36), Sir Edward Elgar (1857–1934) Prelude, Sir William H. Harris (1883–1973) Sheep May Safely Graze (BWV 208), Johann Sebastian Bach (1685–1750) Rhosymedre Ralph, Vaughan Williams (1872-1958)