The King Shall Rejoice

I watched some of the Coronation today with Dawn and enjoyed the music.

You can see the full list of music here on the Classicfm site. I loved the Rutter arrangement of Parry's I Was Glad, but my favourite was the ‘Agnus Dei’ by Tarik O’Regan.

Of course the music included Zadok the Priest, which is one of the Coronation anthems by Handel for the Coronation of George II in 1727. It also included a version of The King Shall Rejoice by William Boyce originally composed for the coronation of George III in 1761.... ...which reminded me...

The best of the 4 Handle Coronation Anthems is, I think, The King Shall Rejoice. A year or so ago I came across this super recording of it by the American professional choir Seraphic Fire.

I particularly like the bouncy rhythms of the first movement and the lilting almost 1 in a bar feel to the second movement, Exceeding glad shall he be. Handel as it should be performed!