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''Crown Imperial'' is an orchestral
march March is the third month of the year in both the Julian and Gregorian calendars. It is the second of seven months to have a length of 31 days. In the Northern Hemisphere, the meteorological beginning of spring occurs on the first day of March ...
by
William Walton Sir William Turner Walton (29 March 19028 March 1983) was an English composer. During a sixty-year career, he wrote music in several classical genres and styles, from film scores to opera. His best-known works include ''Façade'', the cantat ...
, commissioned for the
coronation of King George VI The coronation of George VI and his wife, Elizabeth, as King and Queen of the United Kingdom and the Dominions of the British Commonwealth, and as Emperor and Empress of India took place at Westminster Abbey, London, on Wednesday 12 May 1937. ...
in
Westminster Abbey Westminster Abbey, formally titled the Collegiate Church of Saint Peter at Westminster, is an historic, mainly Gothic church in the City of Westminster, London, England, just to the west of the Palace of Westminster. It is one of the Unite ...
in 1937. It is in the ''
Pomp and Circumstance The ''Pomp and Circumstance Marches'' (full title ''Pomp and Circumstance Military Marches''), Op. 39, are a series of five (or six) marches for orchestra composed by Sir Edward Elgar. The first four were published between 1901 and 1907 ...
'' tradition, with a brisk opening contrasting with a broad middle section, leading to a resounding conclusion. The work has been heard at subsequent state occasions in the Abbey: the
coronation of Queen Elizabeth II The coronation of Elizabeth II took place on 2 June 1953 at Westminster Abbey in London. She acceded to the throne at the age of 25 upon the death of her father, George VI, on 6 February 1952, being proclaimed queen by her privy and executive ...
in 1953 and the wedding of Prince William in 2011. It has been recorded in its original orchestral form and in arrangements for organ,
military band A military band is a group of personnel that performs musical duties for military functions, usually for the armed forces. A typical military band consists mostly of wind and percussion instruments. The conductor of a band commonly bears the ti ...
and brass band.


Background and first performances

In the 1920s
William Walton Sir William Turner Walton (29 March 19028 March 1983) was an English composer. During a sixty-year career, he wrote music in several classical genres and styles, from film scores to opera. His best-known works include ''Façade'', the cantat ...
had been regarded by many as an avant-garde composer, but by the mid-1930s he was seen as in the broad English musical tradition. On the accession of Edward VIII in 1936 the
BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board exam. ...
...
wanted to commission a coronation march in the genre of
Elgar Sir Edward William Elgar, 1st Baronet, (; 2 June 1857 – 23 February 1934) was an English composer, many of whose works have entered the British and international classical concert repertoire. Among his best-known compositions are orchestr ...
's ''
Pomp and Circumstance The ''Pomp and Circumstance Marches'' (full title ''Pomp and Circumstance Military Marches''), Op. 39, are a series of five (or six) marches for orchestra composed by Sir Edward Elgar. The first four were published between 1901 and 1907 ...
'' set. Elgar had died in 1934, and his successor as Britain's best-known composer, Ralph Vaughan Williams, was not given to writing such music. Kenneth Wright of the BBC's music department wrote to his colleague
Julian Herbage Julian Livingstone Herbage (10 September 1904– 15 January 1976) was a British musicologist, broadcaster and member of the BBC music department. He is known for his scholarly edition of the score of Handel's ''Messiah'' (1935), for his role in pl ...
in November 1936: By the time the BBC formally commissioned Walton, in March 1937, King Edward had
abdicated Abdication is the act of formally relinquishing monarchical authority. Abdications have played various roles in the succession procedures of monarchies. While some cultures have viewed abdication as an extreme abandonment of duty, in other societ ...
and the forthcoming coronation was that of his brother and successor,
George VI George VI (Albert Frederick Arthur George; 14 December 1895 – 6 February 1952) was King of the United Kingdom and the Dominions of the British Commonwealth from 11 December 1936 until his death in 1952. He was also the last Emperor of I ...
.Kennedy, p. 93 Walton, usually a slow and painstaking worker, wrote ''Crown Imperial'' in less than a fortnight. The title may have been drawn from
William Dunbar William Dunbar (born 1459 or 1460 – died by 1530) was a Scottish makar, or court poet, active in the late fifteenth and early sixteenth centuries. He was closely associated with the court of King James IV and produced a large body of work i ...
's poem "In Honour of the City of London", which Walton set as a cantata of the same name in 1937; it included the line ‘In beawtie beryng the crone imperial". Walton put those words as a superscription at the head of the march, but he said the inspiration for his title was a speech in
Shakespeare William Shakespeare ( 26 April 1564 – 23 April 1616) was an English playwright, poet and actor. He is widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's natio ...
's ''
Henry V Henry V may refer to: People * Henry V, Duke of Bavaria (died 1026) * Henry V, Holy Roman Emperor (1081/86–1125) * Henry V, Duke of Carinthia (died 1161) * Henry V, Count Palatine of the Rhine (c. 1173–1227) * Henry V, Count of Luxembourg (1 ...
'': I am a king that find thee, and I know 'Tis not the balm, the sceptre and the ball, The sword, the mace, the crown imperial, The intertissued robe of gold and pearl, The farced title running 'fore the king, The throne he sits on, nor the tide of pomp That beats upon the high shore of this world, No, not all these, thrice-gorgeous ceremony, Not all these, laid in bed majestical, Can sleep so soundly as the wretched slave. He later drew on the same speech for the title of his 1953 coronation march, amending ''Sceptre and Ball'' to '' Orb and Sceptre''. Before its first public hearing the march was performed on 16 April 1937 in
HMV Sunrise Records and Entertainment, trading as HMV (for His Master's Voice), is a British music and entertainment retailer, currently operating exclusively in the United Kingdom. The first HMV-branded store was opened by the Gramophone Company ...
's recording studio.
Sir Adrian Boult Sir Adrian Cedric Boult, CH (; 8 April 1889 – 22 February 1983) was an English conductor. Brought up in a prosperous mercantile family, he followed musical studies in England and at Leipzig, Germany, with early conducting work in London ...
conducted the
BBC Symphony Orchestra The BBC Symphony Orchestra (BBC SO) is a British orchestra based in London. Founded in 1930, it was the first permanent salaried orchestra in London, and is the only one of the city's five major symphony orchestras not to be self-governing. T ...
. Boult and the BBC orchestra broadcast a live performance from the concert hall of Broadcasting House on 9 May."Symphony Concert"
''Radio Times'', 9 May 1937, p. 32; and "Broadcasting", ''The Times'', 8 May 1937, p. 9 The march was performed at the coronation on 12 May 1937, by the "Coronation Orchestra", an ''ad hoc'' ensemble of Britain's top orchestral players, conducted by Boult. ''Crown Imperial'' was part of the musical programme preceding the service, and was played during the procession of Queen Mary, the dowager queen, into the Abbey.


Structure

''Crown Imperial'' is scored for an orchestra of three flutes (third doubling piccolo), two oboes, cor anglais, two clarinets, bass clarinet, two bassoons, contrabassoon – four horns, three trumpets, three trombones, tuba – timpani, two percussion (bass drum, side drum, tenor drum, cymbals, triangle, glockenspiel, tubular bell, large gong) – harp – organ (optional) – strings."Crown Imperial"
The Walton Trust. Retrieved 9 July 2021 Walton revised the work in 1963 and made substantial cuts. The work is in an ABABC form. It opens in C major with a brisk, rhythmically pointed theme, marked ''allegro reale'' (regal). The following trio section, in A-flat major, is a broad
cantabile In music, ''cantabile'' , an Italian word, means literally "singable" or "songlike". In instrumental music, it is a particular style of playing designed to imitate the human voice. For 18th-century composers, ''cantabile'' is often synonymous wit ...
Elgarian theme introduced by clarinets, cor anglais and violas with the other strings providing the accompaniment. Then both march and trio reappear in C again and come to a climax in what the critic Neil Tierney describes as "a conclusion of breathtaking magnificence".


Critical reception

Some critics viewed ''Crown Imperial'' as evidence that Walton had abandoned
modernism Modernism is both a philosophy, philosophical and arts movement that arose from broad transformations in Western world, Western society during the late 19th and early 20th centuries. The movement reflected a desire for the creation of new fo ...
. A reviewer in ''
The Musical Times ''The Musical Times'' is an academic journal of classical music edited and produced in the United Kingdom and currently the oldest such journal still being published in the country. It was originally created by Joseph Mainzer in 1842 as ''Mainzer ...
'' called it "frankly a pastiche on a well-known model of ternary pomp and circumstance, with the regulation strut and swagger, plenty of plain diatonics, and a nobilmente tune in the middle". The reviewer judged it "unrepresentative of the composer, except as an example of competence" and "unlikely to survive". To some it was "Pomp and Circumstance March No 6". In ''
Grove's Dictionary of Music and Musicians ''The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians'' is an encyclopedic dictionary of music and musicians. Along with the German-language ''Die Musik in Geschichte und Gegenwart'', it is one of the largest reference works on the history and theo ...
'' Byron Adams describes the march in Walton's 1931 cantata ''
Belshazzar's Feast Belshazzar's feast, or the story of the writing on the wall (chapter 5 in the Book of Daniel), tells how Belshazzar holds a great feast and drinks from the vessels that had been looted in the destruction of the First Temple. A hand appears and ...
'' as a parody of Elgar, but he finds ''Crown Imperial'' "a less equivocal homage to Elgar ... the finest and most infectious of Walton’s essays in that genre" In a 1984 study of Walton and his music, Neil Tierney calls the work a masterpiece that perfectly conjures up the grandeur and dignity of the Coronation ceremonial – "music which, opulent and grandiloquent like Elgar’s ''Pomp and Circumstance'' nationalism, proved worthy of a glorious occasion".


Arrangements

''Crown Imperial'' has been arranged for organ by Herbert Murrill;
Christopher Palmer Christopher Francis Palmer (9 September 194622 January 1995) was an English composer, arranger and orchestrator; biographer of composers, champion of lesser-known composers and writer on film music and other musical subjects; record producer; and ...
prepared a version for solo organ, brass, timpani and percussion (with harp ''ad lib''), specifically for the Laurence Olivier Memorial Service in October 1989. An arrangement by W. J. Duthoit for
military band A military band is a group of personnel that performs musical duties for military functions, usually for the armed forces. A typical military band consists mostly of wind and percussion instruments. The conductor of a band commonly bears the ti ...
was published in 1937. Other arrangements include one for solo piano by Walton (1937), and one for piano duet (1949) by Murrill. There is also a vocal adaptation by Arthur Sandford with words by
Doris Arnold Doris Grace Arnold (4 November 1904 – 5 October 1969) was a BBC Radio presenter and producer, and a pianist. Born in Wimbledon, Surrey, in 1904, Arnold joined the BBC in 1929, as a typist. She first appeared on air as a stand-in for a piani ...
"That we may never fail" (1948), commissioned by the BBC for a gala variety concert in honour of the silver wedding of George VI and his wife.


Later history

The march was played, as was a new work by Walton – '' Orb and Sceptre'' – at the
coronation of Queen Elizabeth II The coronation of Elizabeth II took place on 2 June 1953 at Westminster Abbey in London. She acceded to the throne at the age of 25 upon the death of her father, George VI, on 6 February 1952, being proclaimed queen by her privy and executive ...
in 1953. ''Crown Imperial'' was performed more recently as a recessional piece at the
wedding of Prince William and Catherine Middleton The wedding of Prince William and Catherine Middleton took place on Friday, 29 April 2011 at Westminster Abbey in London, England. The groom was second in the line of succession to the British throne. The couple had been in a relationship si ...
on 29 April 2011. The composer's autograph manuscript score is located at the
Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library The Beinecke Rare Book & Manuscript Library () is the rare book library and literary archive of the Yale University Library in New Haven, Connecticut. It is one of the largest buildings in the world dedicated to rare books and manuscripts. Es ...
at
Yale University Yale University is a Private university, private research university in New Haven, Connecticut. Established in 1701 as the Collegiate School, it is the List of Colonial Colleges, third-oldest institution of higher education in the United Sta ...
."Crown Imperial"
The Walton Trust. Retrieved 9 July 2021 The march is traditionally played each year as part of the university's commencement exercises."Three Hundred Twenty-First Commencement Program"
Yale University. Retrieved 23 March 2022


Recordings

*
BBC Symphony Orchestra The BBC Symphony Orchestra (BBC SO) is a British orchestra based in London. Founded in 1930, it was the first permanent salaried orchestra in London, and is the only one of the city's five major symphony orchestras not to be self-governing. T ...
,
Sir Adrian Boult Sir Adrian Cedric Boult, CH (; 8 April 1889 – 22 February 1983) was an English conductor. Brought up in a prosperous mercantile family, he followed musical studies in England and at Leipzig, Germany, with early conducting work in London ...
,1937 *
Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra Royal Liverpool Philharmonic is a music organisation based in Liverpool, England, that manages a professional symphony orchestra, a concert venue, and extensive programmes of learning through music. Its orchestra, the Royal Liverpool Philharmon ...
,
Sir Charles Groves Sir Charles Barnard Groves CBE (10 March 191520 June 1992) was an English conductor. He was known for the breadth of his repertoire and for encouraging contemporary composers and young conductors. After accompanying positions and conducting v ...
, 1969 * Hallé Orchestra, and Band of the Royal Military School of Music, Kneller Hall,
Sir John Barbirolli Sir John Barbirolli ( Giovanni Battista Barbirolli; 2 December 189929 July 1970) was a British conductor and cellist. He is remembered above all as conductor of the Hallé Orchestra in Manchester, which he helped save from dissolution in 194 ...
, 1969 *
City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra The City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra (CBSO) is a British orchestra based in Birmingham, England. It is the resident orchestra at Symphony Hall: a B:Music Venue in Birmingham, which has been its principal performance venue since 1991. Its a ...
, Louis Frémaux, 1976 *Cambridge Cooperative Band, Arthur Wills organ rr. Wills David Read, 1982 * Philharmonia Orchestra,
Sir David Willcocks Sir David Valentine Willcocks, (30 December 1919 – 17 September 2015) was a British choral conductor, organist, composer and music administrator. He was particularly well known for his association with the Choir of King's College, Cambrid ...
, 1991 *
Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra The Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra (BSO) is an English orchestra, founded in 1893 and originally based in Bournemouth. With a remit to serve the South and South West of England, the BSO is administratively based in the adjacent town of Poole, s ...
,
Andrew Litton Andrew Litton (born May 16, 1959, New York City) is an American orchestral conductor. Litton is a graduate of The Fieldston School. He studied piano with Nadia Reisenberg and conducting with Sixten Ehrling at the Juilliard School of Music in New Y ...
, 1995 *
Black Dyke Mills Band Black Dyke Band, formerly John Foster & Son Black Dyke Mills Band, is one of the oldest and best-known brass bands in the world. It originated as multiple community bands founded by John Foster at his family's textile mill in Queensbury, West ...
rr. Wright James Watson, 1995 *Robert Gower (organ) rr. Murrill 1996 * London Philharmonic Orchestra,
Sir Roger Norrington Sir Roger Arthur Carver Norrington (born 16 March 1934) is an English conductor. He is known for historically informed performances of Baroque, Classical and Romantic music. In November 2021 Norrington announced his retirement. Life No ...
, 2000 *
English Northern Philharmonia The Orchestra of Opera North (or English Northern Philharmonia as recording name) is the orchestra that plays for the Opera North. It was founded as the English Northern Philharmonia, and changed its name during the period when Steven Sloane was O ...
,
Paul Daniel Paul Daniel (born 5 July 1958) is an English conductor. Biography Early life Daniel was born in Birmingham. As a boy, he sang in the choir of Coventry Cathedral, where he received musical training; then studied music at King's College, Cambr ...
, 2001 *Band of the Scots Guards rr. Duthoit Major R. J. Owen, 2002 ::Source: Walton Trust.


Notes, references and sources


Notes


References


Sources

* * * * {{Authority control Compositions by William Walton March music 1937 compositions Music for orchestra and organ Compositions in C major Coronation of George VI and Elizabeth