Each element in a royal occasion like yesterday's wedding in Westminster Abbey is iconic. The music is chosen with particular care from the varied treasures of Anglican tradition to express the characters involved, their faith, and their place in the national drama.
When I worked there and we came to review the funeral service for the Queen Mother, we knew we must represent the fortitude of this remarkable Queen consort through the war. So we inserted into the prayers an ancient text to music by Sir William Harris. "Holy is the true light … lending radiance to them that endured in the heat of the conflict."
For the coronation's 50th anniversary we needed to capture the Queen's sense of self-sacrificial calling. We asked Jonathan Harvey to set the prayer "Remember, O Lord, what thou hast wrought in us and not what we deserve: and as thou hast called us to thy service, make us worthy of our calling …" His music embodied the monarch's aspiration to kingly, priestly service.
The choices yesterday were made with care and imagination.
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