BBC - David Starkey's Music and Monarchy (2013) Part 1 Crown and Choir

David Starkey's Music and Monarchy

Historian David Starkey presents this documentary exploring the role Britain's kings and queens have played in shaping the nation's music. In much the same way as artists from other fields, musicians were often reliant on royal houses for patronage - with the vast resources possessed by the rulers of the nation often necessary to fund or stage the most ambitious projects. Starkey explores the influence of such patronage on the growth of music in Britain, tracing how even composers such as Purcell, Handel and Elgar were influenced by royal requirements, and the political significance of much of the resulting music.

Part 1: Crown and Choir

Dr David Starkey reveals how the story of British music was shaped by its monarchy. In this first episode he begins with kings who were also composers - Henry V and Henry VIII - and the golden age of English music they presided over. He discovers how the military and religious ambitions of England's monarchy made its music the envy of Europe - and then brought it to the brink of destruction - and why British music still owes a huge debt to Queen Elizabeth I.

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