Akademie für Alte Musik Berlin: Coronation Anthems album review — lithe and fluent

Alongside familiar works by Elgar and Walton, the coronation of King Charles III will feature 12 new pieces of music, chosen under his personal supervision. Although the composers range more widely than ever, with backgrounds in classical and church music, film soundtracks and musical theatre, the idea of commissioning new music for the occasion goes back centuries.

This disc looks to the high watermark of the genre, the coronation of George II in 1727. Having passed over the most senior of his court composers, the king turned to Handel, then at his peak as an opera composer, to write four anthems for the event.

These four coronation anthems have enjoyed a popularity long beyond the day itself. The best-loved of them, Zadok the Priest, has been performed at every coronation since and all four are familiar territory for the small professional choirs that have grown up in the last 50 years.

The RIAS Kammerchor Berlin is no exception and its performances here with the Akademie für Alte Musik Berlin under Justin Doyle are lithe, fluent, expertly balanced. Others have invested the music with greater pomp, but the more modest tone here may appeal.

Alongside is William Croft’s The Lord is a Sun and a Shield, composed for the coronation of George I in 1714. With its noble grace and flourishes of trumpets, it showed Handel the way and is well worth hearing. Though not specifically coronation music, the Overture to Handel’s An Occasional Oratorio and the G Major Chaconne by John Blow complete an attractive disc.

★★★★☆

‘Coronation Anthems’ is released by Harmonia Mundi