Coronation Te Deum

William Walton’s setting of the Te Deum was written for the coronation of Queen Elizabeth II in 1953, and sung at the conclusion of the ceremony as the newly crowned monarch processed solemnly out of Westminster Abbey. Befitting the grandeur of the occasion, Walton scored the work for a large number of performers, including two choirs, two semi-choruses, organ, orchestra and supplementary brass ensemble. The music begins with a vaulting energy, the choir echoing the jubilant ascending motifs announced by orchestra and organ. As “cherubin and seraphin” begin their chants of adoration, Walton splits the singers to create a series of spatial and antiphonal effects, the high voices at times a distanced, ethereal presence. A dramatic brass fanfare heralds the declaration of Christ’s universal Kingship, and returns to usher in the solemn, introspective coda. There the now subdued voices entreat divine mercy, and pray that they may “never be confounded”.