Zadok the Priest - Handel Electrifies the Coronation!

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Жыл бұрын

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"Handel is the greatest composer who ever lived. I would uncover my head and kneel down at his tomb." - Ludwig van Beethoven in 1824
Handel’s Zadok the Priest was composed for the coronation of George II in Westminster Abbey in 1727 and has been performed in every British coronation since that date. The first performance was something of a disaster: having forgotten to sing another piece, the choir sang the anthem at the wrong point in the service, and another performance during the service was described as ending “in confusion”.
The reason for Zadok the Priest’s enduring popularity probably has something to do with its marvelous blend of musical elements: the unexpected hush of the opening, the stately tread of the music, its style derived from keyboard improvisation, with its softly expressive string arpeggios, taking the listener on a journey of inexorable but slightly unexpected harmonic shifts, building in intensity until the choir and trumpets finally burst out in regal splendor. The music that follows (rather like monarchy itself) is glittering and festive but less interesting than the build-up to its arrival.
The tiny recorded excerpts of Zadok the Priest used in this video come from a spectacular live performance that took place in 2009 (in the Market church in Halle, where Handel was baptized in 1685). The English Concert and the Händelfestspielorchester Halle were conducted by Howard Arman. You can hear the complete performance on KZfaq here: • Handel: Zadok the Prie...
You may also be interested to see Handel's music enhancing the ritual theatre of the coronation service in this footage of King Charles III's coronation in Westminster Abbey on 6th May, 2023:
• Zadok the Priest - Kin...
A more sedate version of the anthem, with a larger choir and orchestra, more in line with the performance practice of the early 1950s, can be heard in this famous footage of the coronation of Queen Elizabeth II (also in Westminster Abbey) in 1953: • Zadok The Priest - Que...
Edited by Ian Coulter ( www.iancoultermusic.com )
Produced and directed by Ian Coulter & Matthew King

Пікірлер: 759

@gerryszymanski8468 Жыл бұрын

When it first started to sound at the Coronation, I will admit that chills ran up my spine.

@jupitersailing 11 ай бұрын

The Coronation Anthem Zadok The Priest seems to encapsulate the feel and pride of a state occasion, which, through a change of monarch will mean new money, new stamps, a new 'King'; or 'Queen' on post boxes and so many aspects of life in Britain and in her loyal protectorates around the world. This is a huge occasion for us all to enjoy, and the regal, stately Zadok The Priest speaks of it back down through the ages. I absolutely, unreservedly LOVE it. This is the vital anointing theme, guaranteed to make your hair follicles stiffen. This gentleman's examination of it helps to illustrate the point, and I think I'm on about my tenth viewing of this video.

@trs4437 Жыл бұрын

I used to crank “Zadok the Priest” in the car when my son was a young boy. He couldn’t get enough of the explosive entry of the choir. Fun times with baroque.

@hanginlaundry360 Жыл бұрын

What a fortunate little boy! ❤❤❤

@MrJonnerrs 11 ай бұрын

If it ain't baroque don't fix it :)

@marilynwentworth6973 10 ай бұрын

Lovely memory!

@chrisengland5523 8 ай бұрын

I have a CD of it by John Eliot Gardiner and I took it with me to a music group that I belong to. The organiser put it on, then once it had started turned the volume up to the 'normal' level that we use to listen to everything with. The thing about this particular recoding is that the first part is VERY quiet, but the volume was turned up high, so everyone could hear it well. Then the second part exploded with the full choir etc. ... I was waiting for this ... "Oh, my God!" He rushed to turn it back down, while I sat there laughing.

@xenosmoke8915 Жыл бұрын

I’m British and I can confirm His Majesty only attended the ceremony so he could hear Zadok The Priest.

@ktwashere5637 Жыл бұрын

its not quite the only reason I watched the entire 2 hour ceremony but not far off.

@FabFay62 Жыл бұрын

Hysterical!

@karlstewart2220 Жыл бұрын

What a twatty comment

@ninathesman4084 Жыл бұрын

Agreed, I know I could hardly wait for it myself 😊

@ericwortman3180 Жыл бұрын

It's a great piece! It's electric every time I hear it.

@andyflack7940 Жыл бұрын

I’m not a royalist but I watched this particular part of the coronation to hear Zadoc the Priest in the intended context. It is supremely powerful and electrifying, as if at the very moment the choir comes in that God too has entered the room. Given the implied divinity of the ceremony I can only imagine that’s what Handel was shooting for.

@ScienceChap Жыл бұрын

You don't need to be a royalist to enjoy beautiful and powerful music.

@SBiswas1967 Жыл бұрын

you dont need to be a royalist to enjoy and celebrate culture

@dmsnch Жыл бұрын

Indeed. Except that on the BBC Huw Edwards talked over the entire Prelude.

@petermarksteiner7754 Жыл бұрын

In the score, the cue for the choir to sing "Zaa-dok the Priest ..." is simply marked "loud".

@michaeltutty1540 Жыл бұрын

When I was in highschool, we performed Zadok The Priest. Our 212 voice choir produced the necessary wall of sound. It is certainly not an easy piece to perform well, but the goosebumps when you just know in your bones that you nailed it is perhaps bettered only by singing Beethoven's Hallelujah Chorus. We sang that, too. It was quite ambitious considering that there were no auditions to be able to enter the music department. If you wanted to join, in you went. Because if that, I have been on stage in both the Massey Music Hall and Roy Thompson Hall in Toronto, Ontario, Canada

@miditrax Жыл бұрын

is that ƒ or ƒƒ ? 📣

@theblackpearl8632 Жыл бұрын

@@miditrax Yup. Double ff. Not loud FFS!

@HerbertDuckshort Жыл бұрын

I would love to have met him. GF Handel was renowned for his ….forthright manner? His motto could gave been “No messin’ about”.

@kingeddiam2543 Жыл бұрын

Well things were less standardised and handel spoke english so it makes sense

@Desmaad Жыл бұрын

One of my favourite uses of "Zadok the Priest" is the scene in "The Madness of King George" when they manhandle the King to strap him into a wooden chair. The irony of using a coronation anthem to mark the restraining of a man with mental illness is delicious!

@themusicprofessor Жыл бұрын

Yes. It's a brilliantly 'dissonant' use of the music, and all the more poignant because George III's favourite composer was Handel.

@izenkixiron5173 Жыл бұрын

Thank you for letting us know of this scene! I just watched it, and oh dear, it's delightful (well acted, too).

@owensims7491 Жыл бұрын

*King George* : I am the King of England! *Dr Willis* : No sir! You are the patient!

@williamsackelariou1860 Жыл бұрын

It is because those 3 Georges where incredible bastards Read history of imperial and colonial England

@louise_rose Жыл бұрын

Agree! and watching that scene on tv a few years ago, when the intro to Zadok began playing in the background (as they were beginning to wrestle with the king), I knew what was coming and the twisted irony of it!

@1258-Eckhart Жыл бұрын

I'm just so thankful that I got to hear this piece in its intended context. It's a truly magnificent piece of music and was today sung brilliantly by the very choir it was written for. Such privilege.

@chong2389 Жыл бұрын

It shall remain a cherished memory along with twice visiting Westminster Abbey and seeing the life size bust of Handel at the Huntingdon Library Museum in California.

@LucileCoccinelle Жыл бұрын

that's exactly how i feel. it gave me goosebumps!

@musiclover148 Жыл бұрын

Ditto. Very moving.

@Ellie49 Жыл бұрын

Wow!

@altosanon Жыл бұрын

Exactly what I felt. I have heard this so many times in recordings and performance and I suddenly realised this is what is was actually written for

@JSB2500 Жыл бұрын

Hello Music Professor. "That chord change" changed my life! Here's how. I'm 55. Back in 1979 I was 11 and went, by choice, to St Alban's School in the UK. For various reasons, I didn't much like the school to start with, not least because my maths teacher said he thought it was a good idea to count on one's fingers. We used to sing in St Alban's Cathedral twice a week, under Andrew Parnell. We learned and sung "Zadok the Priest" soon after I started. When I heard THAT chord - 03:13 in your video - and the subsequent ones you talk about - my "music eyes" opened wide. I was genuinely excited. "Wow! Maybe this school will be cool after all!" I thought, happily. That was during rehearsal on the piano. When I heard it on the organ in the cathedral, I was even more excited. I can remember both moments clearly, over 40 years later. I didn't play any instrument then. However, I went on to learn the organ, age 14. Understanding how that Zadok opening working was a top priority for me!! I made a 5 octave electronic keyboard and sat in my bedroom working out how it works. From age 16, I played the organ in the cathedral twice a week. Happy days indeed! I never got to perform Zadok there, but I did elsewhere. I still play the organ, and now three other instruments too. I'm told I play the organ well - maybe see Bach BWV 542 on my channel. **And a huge drive to learn to play came from hearing the Zadok intro that you talk about in this video.** So thank you. I enjoyed your video very much. 😃 And I ended up enjoying my school very much too! 😄 BTW, I think your demos on a piano rather than harpsichord sound fine. I think you've mic'd it very well. Thanks again. 🙂

@themusicprofessor Жыл бұрын

Thank you for your comments and your fascinating story. Great music always has an impact!

@billbusen Жыл бұрын

Very similar experience in the Moline Boy's Choir, including obsessing over learning the introduction. Including being a piano major down the line. I imagine that Handel was the first piano teacher of a large number of boy sopranos.

@stufour Жыл бұрын

Thanks for sharing that. I love how clear those moments still are for you.

@JSB2500 Жыл бұрын

I just made this recording of the first section. I made it for a KZfaq 1 minute Short, so I've cut three measures from the intro to make that work. I forgot to do a full version without the cut. (I had lots of trouble with video cameras stopping and video files getting corrupted - far harder than playing the music! 😄). As an experiment I double pedalled the bass line with the bottom note sustained, so it's incredibly heavy! 🤭 kzfaq.info/get/bejne/ga2HedqAu8DJlWQ.html

@lorifrank430 Жыл бұрын

i never wqs any good at theory but when i hear that chord change i feel it in stomach and think mayb Jesus is coming back right then the anticipation is so insanely glorious

@truckerfromreno Жыл бұрын

I have never been so moved by a piece of music as I was by Zadok the Priest at the Coronation. It was breathtaking. The moment of the anointing is truly special.

@scienceevolves4417 Жыл бұрын

May the kingdom continue, and the protesting mob descend into the void of history 😊

@Hugh7777 Жыл бұрын

It can't last much longer. "Sceptre and crown will tumble down and in the dust be equal made With the common scythe and spade." The hypocrisy of the church, founded on divorce, that drove a king from the throne rather than crown a divorced woman as queen only 87 years ago, now crowning one (albeit very casually and hastily), is just one of the gaping cracks in today's monarchy.

@Hugh7777 Жыл бұрын

Zadok the Priest is wonderful music, but the idea that magical oil from Jerusalem dabbed on Charles links him with a 2500 year back king or makes him special in any way should be laughed to scorn, not treated with reverence.

@a.t.c.3862 Жыл бұрын

@@Hugh7777 And yet, it will endure. 😊

@Soffity Жыл бұрын

@@Hugh7777 they also crowned a divorced king, who committed adultery, was very cruel to his first wife and has fingers in many nefarious pies and the rest. Hope my country divorces itself form the monarchy of England very, very soon. However the music is fantastic.

@AndromedaCripps Жыл бұрын

Been excited all week for the coronation precisely because of how much I love THIS PIECE!!

@lazaglider Жыл бұрын

The moment did not disappoint!

@leonieallan9804 Жыл бұрын

It was absolutely magnificent, the highlight of the coronation, imagine being there in the Abbey, I love Handel’s music, an incredible genius

@AbdelOveAllhan Жыл бұрын

And once again, Handel anoints the new monarch of England. So in reality, Handel reigns supreme.

@fsinjin60 Жыл бұрын

Almost all the music was by court and Anglican church composers over the centuries with Rutter doing rutterish arrangements,

@samrodian919 Жыл бұрын

@@fsinjin60 I don't know, John Rutter is a good musician............ for a Cambridge chemistry professor! (Actually I like his music especially his Christmas carols which I've been singing for years)

@fsinjin60 Жыл бұрын

@@samrodian919 I did not say bad, just very Rutter-like. It works great in his carols and other religious works; it was terrible for Beatles songs

@kathleenmorris9309 Жыл бұрын

No.. Jesus reigns Supreme.. Charles denounced Christ.. 1 world religion. His day of judgment is coming.

@cwhig Жыл бұрын

Precisely. No Handel, no monarchy, in my view.

@thucydidescallas525 Жыл бұрын

This was the best part of the coronation. It was so glorious.

@rachelbarlow9382 4 күн бұрын

I think people forget the wonderful Parry anthem ('I was glad') in the coronation service and the amazing daylight on the 3rd sung note ('glad') - so simple and yet so stunning!

@germansnowman Жыл бұрын

That unexpected minor chord always gives me goosebumps.

@cwhig Жыл бұрын

Handel's contributions to the British monarchy are incalculable. This is a very astute discussion of the elements that elevate the moment of anointment to a truly sublime phenomenon.

@tobias_v_p9935 Жыл бұрын

I adored it to hear Zadok The Priest for the only moment is was actually made for!

@loganfruchtman953 Жыл бұрын

Safe to say Handel created the beat drop

@brontologos Жыл бұрын

He also invented the middle eight . Most of his arias have an A- A - B - A melody structure as many popular songs have today.

@wurlitzer895 Жыл бұрын

Handel was a genius! The building up of the musical tension that explodes with the choir's declamation of 'Zadok the Priest and Nathan the Prophet' never, ever fails to thrill. I always ensure that my blood pressure medication is within easy reach.... I very much enjoyed your analysis, Professor. Thank you!! Regards, Peter A :) :) :)

@themusicprofessor Жыл бұрын

Thank you so much. Yes, keep the medication close at hand!

@wurlitzer895 Жыл бұрын

@@themusicprofessor Hahaha!! All good wishes. Peter A :) :) :)

@parkemessier6128 Жыл бұрын

It never fails to make me cry.

@emb74 Жыл бұрын

I think this piece probably has the best two minutes of the beginning of a piece and the Rachmaninov 3rd piano concerto has the best last two minutes!

@wurlitzer895 Жыл бұрын

@@emb74 Dvorak's violin concerto has a fabulous ending - as does Franck's symphony in D minor!!!! I love a good ending!!:) :) :)

@GMN360 Жыл бұрын

Zadok the priest and the anointing of the King were my “looking forward to moments” of the coronation. Neither let me down after 70 years of waiting for the special day!

@benbunyip Жыл бұрын

For me, the highlight of the coronation. Splendid!

@TERRYBIGGENDEN Жыл бұрын

Totally agree. It's one of the great strokes of musical and spiritual genius ever. :-)

@TERRYBIGGENDEN Жыл бұрын

I sang it int he choir of St Andrews Sydney when a boy, upon the Queen's visit to Australia. It reduces me to tears whenever I hear it. That introduction is-something totally ethereal. No-one can ever teach a composer how to conjure music lie this-it's a mystery.:-)

@neorich59 Жыл бұрын

The intro, is one of the great build ups in Classical Music. But, what does my head in is the brutality of the V7 chord in 4th inversion on the word "Prop-het." I never tire of it. Spine tingling stuff!

@neorich59 Жыл бұрын

Apologies. 3rd inversión! 😉

@coloneljessop 7 ай бұрын

No doubt one of if not the greatest intro in music in my humble opinion. The sense of anticipation never fails to get my adrenaline into overdrive.

@deborahmarshall4216 Жыл бұрын

I had the enormous privilege of singing this piece in performance for the first time in the Royal Albert Hall last Saturday evening. That first choir note was one of the most electrifying moments of my 60 years! It brings me out in goosebumps just thinking about it. (Unfortunately I sing alto, and spent most of the rest of the piece repeating the note 'A'. Ah well.)

@avryllsixtus3429 Жыл бұрын

I sang it as a younish girl in the Royal Choral Society which was a great experience....twas the start of my singing and teaching career. The RCS on Good Friday is the only society which stages Handel's Messiah in its entirety..about six hours..just love the grandness of Handel.....

@MsSteelphoenix Жыл бұрын

Ah, the eternal problem of being an alto 😂

@maxjohn6012 Жыл бұрын

I was a chorister at Norwich Cathedral when I was a kid, and this was *always* our absolute favourite piece to sing :) It's sooo much fun!

@athenastewart9167 Жыл бұрын

He was always my favorite to sing, too! I mean, Bach and Mozart are wonderful, of course, but Handel? He is a delight!

@andreacantieri3364 Жыл бұрын

The first time I saw and played this piece's sheet music I thought: "how the hell did he think about switching to E minor?"...I am glad to see I was not the only one reacting that way.

@imho2278 Жыл бұрын

It's a bit of a Radiohead thing too....

@andrewcrossley2448 Жыл бұрын

Thanks for this. I’ll never forget playing it with a large orchestra and choir 50 years ago as a young violinist. Majestic..as it was in the Abbey. I watched the service with my 87 year old dad and when they started Zadok he piped out…now there’s real music. Bit of a put down on all the new pieces….

@fionamacleod30 Жыл бұрын

Thank you for this video! I am new to your channel and only found you because I was so moved by Zadok the priest when I heard it at King Charles coronation on Saturday. What I also found made this piece work so well at this stage of the coronation was the theatrical element that took place at this point in the ceremony. King Charles had all his Kingly robes taken off, the screens were taken out in preparation for his anointment, beautifully choreographed by the soldiers, and at the moment when the choir came in, Charles was down to his trousers and loose shirt, looking no more like a king, just a common man going before God. It was such an amazing moment that I started to cry. I would love to know who directed and choreographed the day with all that music and ceremony. It was a masterpiece from start to finish.

@tomn6921 Жыл бұрын

In 1977 Sir Huw Weldon co-wrote and presented a 10-part series on BBC TV called Royal Heritage. I'm certain that it used Zadok the Priest as it's opening title music. I was 12 years old with no musical training. And this amazing music, sempre crescendo, was a total revelation to me. So much so that I sat one evening close up to the television with a microphone in one hand and a portable tape cassette recorder in the other, determined to record it in case I never heard it again.

@themusicprofessor Жыл бұрын

That's amazing, and I'll tell you a strange coincidence: I first heard Zadok the Priest on the same programme, and had the same reaction - although I wasn't enterprising enough to try to record it.

@JosephSchmidtfan Жыл бұрын

I also watched the Royal Heritage programs and can confirm that Zadok the Priest was used as the title music.

@elainethemusician3310 Жыл бұрын

I was 12 in 1977, Silver Jubilee year, too and Zadok the Priest is what I remember from this series more than anything else. It was also the first time I heard this magnificent music. As a music student, several years later, our choir sang The King Shall Rejoice, which is the second of the four Coronation anthems. It is wonderful too.

@avryllsixtus3429 Жыл бұрын

Gosh I remember that series and Huw Weldon..his like will never be seen or heard again....

@emb74 Жыл бұрын

I love this piece. I have just a little musical training (a few years of piano lessons and many years playing) and I have always “felt” what you just put into words and explained for me!! It was wonderfully done at the coronation yesterday. When the choir came in I think it must have shaken the rafters! One person who was there commented that even though he knew what was coming he still jumped.

@marcus8258 Жыл бұрын

This piece is so awe inspiring. Handel was an uber genius!

@hamwhacker Жыл бұрын

Thank you for this. I played this piece (on the violin with 2 other violins) to my neighbours at our Jubilee Street Party. I can’t tell you what it really felt like, so uplifting and emotional even in our smaller initiate setting.

@conforzo Жыл бұрын

I think it's worth mentioning how bassline is everything in baroque music. Partimento schemata

@tommccanna7036 Жыл бұрын

It would have helped if the Music Professor had shown it in his music examples.

@johncorrall1739 Жыл бұрын

Most of us plebs have no idea why it is we find this masterpiece so incredibly moving. We just do,great art,for all of your wonderful and insightful analysis,moves the fucking shit out of us and it’s beauty appeals to to our souls. I enjoyed your vid,great stuff.

@themusicprofessor Жыл бұрын

Thank you!

@stevenuttley Жыл бұрын

But we're the ones that really matter. Without an audience these pieces would not be legendary and it's the power to move so may for so long that makes this piece so great.

@RichardTaylor1630 Жыл бұрын

Please clean up your language. This isa public site. Thank you.

@Goldstone93 Ай бұрын

I felt every word of that and agree entirely

@ross.venner Жыл бұрын

The very first choral work I performed. Portsmouth Cathedral c1965. My year, and perhaps others were dragooned to perform it. Most were sniggering and resentful, but I was entranced. I have loved choral music ever since. Thank you.

@christopherchessum8941 Жыл бұрын

Thank you for that very interesting analysis of Zadok the Priest. A truly majestic work by Handel.

@timhaigh2557 Жыл бұрын

Fascinating thank you, I wondered how the piece enraptured me even though I've heard it before. It was performed superbly at the Coronation of Charles III.

@arcturus4067 Жыл бұрын

Thanks for this explanation. This unexpected chord progression is the mark of creative genius. The kind of stuff that divides the good from the great.

@millennial8441 8 ай бұрын

These chord modulations from the beginning section that Haendel came up with are so iconic! This is why baroque music is so "angular" and not "round" like Cassical or Romantic ones: when you are expecting for one thing then occurs exactly the awkward (and brilliant!) opposite thing.

@musiclover148 Жыл бұрын

For the fascinating background story to this anthem's text, read 1 Kings, chapter one in the Old Testament. Unlike Saturday's meticulously planned ceremony, Solomon's coronation was an emergency, impromptu affair, made urgent by the rebellion of David's other son, Adonijah, who tried to usurp the throne. This one, exciting chapter contains the whole story, including the parts played by Zadok, Nathan, Bathsheba and others. Another difference: Charles did not have the honor of riding his father's personal mule to the service.

@Dee-JayW Жыл бұрын

Myths are NOT part of this at all.

@mllesamedi84 Жыл бұрын

@DeeJay What do you mean by "myth"? This peace (as the coronazione itself) Is deeply rooted in Religion!

@themusicprofessor Жыл бұрын

I suspect that the late Prince Philip's mule wasn't available for the occasion!

@peterwilkins7013 Жыл бұрын

@@Dee-JayW assuming that you mean that Zadok, Solomon etc are myths, then your comment is illogical. Are you saying that Handle's Zadok the Priest has nothing to do with the Biblical Zadok the priest?

@Dee-JayW Жыл бұрын

@@peterwilkins7013 Handel's Zadok is based on a book of myths. Gorgeous music, Handel and Bach are my favourites!

@chrisvowell2890 Жыл бұрын

As someone who'se only musical skill is playing cassettes or a CD, you've explained beautifully why this piece is so strangely inspiring! I was lucky enough to watch Queen Elizabeth's coronation on a small black and white TV in '53 and, even then, I was attracted to it and have loved hearing it ever since. You've now explained why. Well done! Subscribed.

@JackCliffordWilliams 10 ай бұрын

It's such an emotional journey!

@brummieinbristol522 Жыл бұрын

I love how 'Zadoc' gets more exciting every time you hear it. the opening bars build up with a growing sense of anticipation to the explosion from the choir and orchestra x

@albertusmagnus5829 Жыл бұрын

I learned this wonderful piece of music as a choir boy at Manchester Grammar School in the early 70s and 50 years later I remember every word and note it imprinted on my brain as a work of genius - quality lasts through the ages ...

@Vangough792 Жыл бұрын

Thanks for breaking it down. It’s a magnificent piece

@mateuszandrzejewski3616 Жыл бұрын

An unexpected moments within expected frames are hallmarks of greatest composers.

@arcturus4067 Жыл бұрын

Well put!

@trudifield7621 Жыл бұрын

Thanks Matthew for your enlightening information on this fabulous piece of music.

@themusicprofessor Жыл бұрын

Thank you Trudi!

@edith2535 2 сағат бұрын

Fantastic!!!!!

@mr-wx3lv Жыл бұрын

It is an extraordinary piece, especially as you explained it. Handel is a true musical genius. In many ways, ahead of his time..

@angierucinski5694 Жыл бұрын

I have loved this piece of music since I was a little girl and I am so glad I have finally heard it in its proper context and setting.

@SophieLeung-du9we Жыл бұрын

One of my favourite pieces by Handel, thx very much!🙏🏻 Zadok the Priest is really thrilling, people just anticipate the first 3 words being sung 😃

@SocksWithSandals Жыл бұрын

Beautifully described

@hoangkimviet8545 Жыл бұрын

And Handel also electrifies the football, or soccer!

@themusicprofessor Жыл бұрын

That is indeed correct! Perhaps some of my remarks about royalty at the end of the video apply to football too (dives for cover...)

@anthtan Жыл бұрын

THE CHAMPIONS!

@ernest_asa_iii Жыл бұрын

Forza Milan! 🔴⚫🎉 Zadok the priest is just majestic!

@williamsackelariou1860 Жыл бұрын

Thank you for sharing your knowledge

@pangalactictuber 3 ай бұрын

Not only is this piece a revelation to listen to, it also happens to be really, really fun to sing.

@williamevans9426 Жыл бұрын

I love this piece - one of my favourite short works, in fact, and I agree that the opening is the most interesting section. Many thanks for explaining how it 'works', so-to-speak!

@AndrewWilsonStooshie 9 күн бұрын

I remember back in the late 1980s, when I was in my late teens, the World Council of churches decided to hold their decennial meeting in Scotland, Their opening service was at Holyrood cathedral in Stirling where James VI/I had been crowned and other such historical events had happened. They gathered together all the local choirs and orchestras in the church with the Organ (with its capped 32' stop!!) and we performed Zadok the Priest. Even though I say so myself, it was astounding. I don't think anyone will ever hear it quite like that again particularly in that situation. We started off really quietly and gently with that relentless rhythm in the cellos and built up and up until the entry of the choir when we made this phenomenal sound which continued to the end of the piece. The final echo danced around the cathedral for what seemed like forever. However, the priest had this tiny, little, monotone voice (imagine John Major with a Scottish accent) and after all the noise his tiny voice said "we welcome you to the church of the Holyrood" in what sounded almost like a mouse's voice. It felt like such a let-down after such magnificent music.

@opussy Жыл бұрын

Standing on the north side of Brook Street and looking at the buildings opposite one observes two adjoining houses both with blue plaques. On the right at number 25 a plaque inscribed to Handel and on the left a plaque inscribed to Hendrix. We know that Hendrix listened to Handel and I like to imagine Handel being intrigued by his neighbour's music. I find that fairly electrifying.

@themusicprofessor Жыл бұрын

Yes - I've long been fascinated by the Handel-Hendrix conjunction. Subject for a video perhaps..!

@brucass93 Жыл бұрын

Thank you do much for this. Yes the opening is mystical

@jpwalch Жыл бұрын

Thank you for the musical explanation of this famous opening. I have always found it to be incredibly magnetic, but never understood what made it so.

@WaterlooExpat Жыл бұрын

When I visited London, for the first time, Westminster Abbey was on my "must visit" list. The grave of George Frederick Handel was the only memorial, of all the important people buried at the Abbey, that I intentionally sought out. Although I walked over the graves of many individuals, without a concern that I might be showing disrespect, I intentionally approached the grave of Handel with the utmost of care. I dared not set foot upon it. This video suggests the reasons why; I was in the presence of the final resting place of a musical genius who enriched the lives of countless people for centuries after his life ended.

@matthewscott7198 Жыл бұрын

If you want to get into deferred cadences at the Coronation, look at the end of Parry's 'I was glad', with its mind-bending setting of the somewhat unremarkable text "peace be within thy walls and plenteousness within thy palaces." I'm not sure I've ever encountered more tension in what really boils down to a V-I cadence.

@theblackpearl8632 Жыл бұрын

You Sir are a genius. A privilege to have watched this video.

@themusicprofessor Жыл бұрын

Thank you!

@c-historia Жыл бұрын

awesome music! 👑

@saibhandari Жыл бұрын

Brilliant as always!

@madonnahood3381 Жыл бұрын

A magnificent piece. HANDEL was one of the greatest.

@robertbamford8266 Жыл бұрын

Brilliant analysis. Thank you.

@gopher7691 Жыл бұрын

Thank you for this fascinating. The other anthems he wrote are beautiful too. I love “My Heart is Indicting”. I wish they had played all of them

@westminster860 Жыл бұрын

A long time favorite piece. And a great little talk about it. ❤

@helendeacon7637 Жыл бұрын

Always breathtaking! Interesting to know it was messed up at the very beginning. Hasn't it come through magnificently since then? Wonderfully stirring! Thank you for this lovely video.

@spikeo12 10 ай бұрын

Love the piece, and your information!

@antonydennant3584 Жыл бұрын

Absolutely brilliantly dissected, Mr King!

@carlstenger5893 Жыл бұрын

Great video! Thanks.

@topotheleague Жыл бұрын

I'm a football fan. Ive always loved the champions league and especially its anthem. I heard it was based on zadok a few years ago and it was a nice introduction into classical music. I found this video fascinating! The majesty and and excitement of the champions league anthem really inspired me as a kid, and it's so cool to know zadok's history. It really was a majestic and regal piece of music. Thanks :)

@TheNDMChannel Жыл бұрын

Thank you - this has been an incredibly fascinating.

@prototropo 7 ай бұрын

Yes! That progression is never not astonishing. It's tonic is DM, which aims for a typical V of V, but is prepared by a somewhat irregular triadic harmony--II minor 7--that's ordinarily a rascally IV intended to slip obediently to V7, but instead tricks us through an intrigue by lowering the sixth so we have what would ordinarily be a V of V, no big deal, but instead another II minor 7--of IV! This then routes to V, and becomes the new temporary tonic, repeating the intro on A, with the same wonderful detour as before. It's simple but exotic, one of the least complicated yet most remarkable moments in all of music--using the submediant twice, instead of a IV and a V, as the functional V of IV, then V of V, respectively.

@kaloarepo288 Жыл бұрын

Handel of course ,who became a British institution, is buried in Westminster Abbey in poet's corner and I wonder how his ghost reacted when they were playing his song! I liked that piece by William Boyce as well that had a very Handelian ring to it -there was also a short symphony by Boyce at the Prince Harry/Meghan Markle wedding in Windsor.I presume Boyce was greatly influenced by Handel.

@themusicprofessor Жыл бұрын

Boyce was indeed a talented British composer of the next generation. Handel was a major celebrity in London in the 1720s so Boyce would have grown up aware of his illustrious colleague, and I believe they were friends later on. Handel's influence on his music is unmistakeable, but then Handel's influence extended well beyond Boyce: a century later, Beethoven's 'Consecration of the House' overture of 1824 was written as a sort of homage to Handel.

@musiclover148 Жыл бұрын

@@themusicprofessor Beethoven on his deathbed called Handel, "the ablest of composers."

@jaakkomantyjarvi7515 Жыл бұрын

@@themusicprofessor Also, Mozart re-orchestrated 'Messiah' and quoted 'And with his stripes' in the Kyrie fugue in his 'Requiem'.

@bobroberts6155 Жыл бұрын

William Boyce (as Master of the King’s Music) reputedly refused to compose a new setting of Zadok the Priest for the coronation of George III, declaring that Handel’s setting was unsurpassable.

@kaloarepo288 Жыл бұрын

@@jaakkomantyjarvi7515 I think Mozart also reorchestrated Handel's short English language opera "Acis and Galathea" which is a work by Handel I absolutely love.

@louise_rose Жыл бұрын

Lovely analysis! I've known this choral piece since I was like eight years old - it was on a baroque music sampler album from Archiv we had at home since before I was born (still in the family collection) together with recordings of Bach, Vivaldi, Rameau and others - and I knew it was going to show up at the coronation yesterday of course, but never seen it analyzed like this. The majestic feel of the slowly marching, mounting strings and choir is very clear when you listen to it, but apart from his method of juxtaposing slow and fast sections I hadn't thought much about how Handel achieves this glorious effect.

@janicesmyth1713 Жыл бұрын

Wonderful to have explained I love it even more.

@lynnedwards1727 Жыл бұрын

Very informative, thank you!

@nelsonfilho6587 Жыл бұрын

Thanks a lot! Hugs from Brasil!

@tonithomas393 Жыл бұрын

Thank you so much. You described exactly how that piece makes me feel.

@ivanpeterjorns954 Жыл бұрын

Excellent, thanks

@loc1k Жыл бұрын

Wonderful commentary!

@muddy250 5 ай бұрын

It really is an incredible piece, I never tire of listening to it.

@slavamosm5477 6 ай бұрын

Bravo!Good job!

@user-om5co3nd8u 10 ай бұрын

Great lesson!

@Trimethopimp Жыл бұрын

This is one of those rare pieces of music that really does give you butterflies, and has become so symbolic of the coronation that the ceremony is almost impossible to imagine without it. I learned the tenor line just so i could sing along with that opening! I can't help but feel it's a shame it was written about the anointment, as let's be honest it would have made bloody good tv if the Archbishop of Canterbury slowly approached Charles through those opening bars, then *WHOMP* he slams the crown on his head on the 'Z' of Zadok!

@paulinetaylor451 Жыл бұрын

Thank you very much for this excellent teaching. Brilliant. I loved it at the Coronation and now I know why.

@suejackson5023 11 ай бұрын

I'm endlessly captivated by the piece.... mostly before the people rejoice, of course. A brilliant piece of writing.

@fraumahler5934 10 ай бұрын

I love these videos.

@JoanieAdamms 11 ай бұрын

Beguiling! Utterly, and such splendid Animation you accompany it with - bravo!

@peterscrafton5212 Жыл бұрын

Revealing: illuminating: stimulating. Thank you for this

@FamilyGuyVids11 10 ай бұрын

i love your videos and im learning a ton!

@phillipoos Жыл бұрын

Thank you !

@GooseGooseDuck797 Жыл бұрын

Great analysis

@jboekhoven5253 Жыл бұрын

I like your analysis very much! As a professional pianist I love music in itself, but it gets extra beauty for me when I also understand why a certain bit of music thrills or awes me.

@Mousy677 Жыл бұрын

This unlocked a delightful memory of my first proper interaction with musicology, which was my piano teacher explaining exactly what you're explaining here about Bach's C Major Prelude when I was... about 15. So very much thank you for that.