BBC - David Starkey's Music and Monarchy (2013) Part 4 Reinventions

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 4: Reinventions

Dr David Starkey's exploration of how the monarchy shaped Britain's music concludes with the 19th and 20th centuries, when the crown rediscovered the power of pageantry and ceremony and when native music experienced a renaissance. David discovers the royal origins of such classics as Edward Elgar's 'Land of Hope and Glory', Hubert Parry's 'I Was Glad' and William Walton's 'Crown Imperial', as well as finding out how the twentieth century's coronations - culminating in the crowning of Elizabeth II - cemented the repertory of royal classics in the hearts of the British people. He hears music written by Queen Victoria's beloved Albert, Prince Consort, played for him in Buckingham Palace on a lavish golden piano which was bought by Victoria and Albert themselves. There are also specially recorded performances from St Paul's Cathedral Choir and Westminster Abbey and of works by Felix Mendelssohn, Arthur Sullivan, Charles Villiers Stanford, and Ralph Vaughan Williams, as well as Hubert Parry's classic 'Jerusalem'.

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