Zadok the Priest
{{Short description|British coronation anthem}}
{{for|the biblical figure|Zadok}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2022}}{{Use British English|date=March 2024}}
{{italic title}}{{Listen|type=music|filename=Handel - Zadok the Priest, HWV 258 (St Matthew's Concert Choir, Giromella).oga|title=Zadok the Priest|description=Performed by St Matthew's Choir, 2013; Damien Giromella, director}}Zadok the Priest (HWV 258) is a British anthem that was composed by George Frideric Handel for the coronation of George II in 1727. Alongside The King Shall Rejoice, My Heart is Inditing, and Let Thy Hand Be Strengthened, Zadok the Priest is one of Handel's coronation anthems. One of Handel's best-known works, Zadok the Priest has been sung prior to the anointing of the sovereign at the coronation of every British monarch since its composition and has become recognised as a British patriotic anthem.{{cite news |last=Blumsom |first=Amy |date=23 October 2015 |title=Zadok the Priest: a champion's anthem |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/music/classical-music/zadok-the-priest-champtions-league-anthem/ |newspaper=The Telegraph |location=London |access-date=15 August 2016 }}[http://www.sussexchorus.org/music/HandelCoronationAnthems.pdf sussexchorus.org] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201107060535/http://www.sussexchorus.org/music/HandelCoronationAnthems.pdf |date=7 November 2020 }}, Coronation Anthems, HWV 258 - 261. Retrieved 15 August 2016.
Text
File:Salomo wordt tot koning gezalfd Verhaal van Salomo (serietitel), RP-P-1904-1431.jpg
Part of the traditional content of British coronations, the texts for all four anthems were picked by Handel—a personal selection from the most accessible account of an earlier coronation, the Coronation of James II and VII and Mary in 1685.{{cite web |title=George Frideric Handel: Coronation Anthems, HWV258-261 |url=http://www.classicalarchives.com/work/11746.html#tvf=tracks&tv=about |publisher=Classical Archives |date=2015 |access-date=18 November 2015}} The text is a translation of the traditional antiphon, Unxerunt Salomonem,Range, Matthias (2012), [https://books.google.com/books?id=_rIgAwAAQBAJ&pg=PA10 Music and Ceremonial at British Coronations: From James I to Elizabeth II], Cambridge University Press, {{ISBN|978-1-107-02344-4}} (p. 10) itself derived from the biblical account of the anointing of Solomon by the priest Zadok (1 Kings 1:38-40).
These words have been used in every English, and later British, coronation since that of King Edgar at Bath Abbey in 973.{{citation|title=Guide to the Coronation Service|url=http://www.westminster-abbey.org/our-history/royals/coronations/guide-to-the-coronation-service|access-date=2009-08-20|work=Westminster Abbey website|date=2009|publisher=Dean and Chapter of Westminster|location=London, U.K.|quote=Meanwhile the choir sings the anthem Zadok the Priest, the words of which (from the first Book of Kings) have been sung at every coronation since King Edgar's in 973. Since the coronation of George II in 1727 the setting by Handel has always been used.|archive-date=5 December 2010|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101205061127/http://www.westminster-abbey.org/our-history/royals/coronations/guide-to-the-coronation-service|url-status=dead}} An earlier setting is thought to have been written by Thomas Tomkins for the coronation of King Charles I in 1626, the text of which has survived but not the music.{{cite book |last=Range |first=Matthias |date=2012 |title=Music and Ceremonial at British Coronations: From James I to Elizabeth II |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=_rIgAwAAQBAJ&pg=PA40 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |page=40 |isbn=978-1107023444 }}
Henry Lawes wrote another for the coronation of King Charles II in 1661.Sadie, Julie Anne (1990), [https://books.google.com/books?id=Ip6voIceW0AC&pg=PA297 Companion to Baroque Music], University of California Press, {{ISBN|0-520-21414-5}} (p. 297) This was also sung at James II's in 1685, although the music may have been amended to accommodate changes to the text made by Archbishop William Sancroft.Range 2012, p.
At the coronation itself on 11 October 1727, the choir of Westminster Abbey sang Zadok the Priest in the wrong part of the service; they had earlier entirely forgotten to sing one anthem and another ended "in confusion".{{cite web |title=Lambeth Palace Library Research Guide: Sources for the Coronation – George II, MS 1079b (p. 7) |url=https://www.lambethpalacelibrary.info/wp-content/uploads/2021/06/Research-Guide-Coronations.pdf |website=Bibliotheca Lambethana}}
=Lyrics=
The lyrics of the piece are biblical, being a distillation of 1 Kings 1:34-45:
{{poemquote|
Zadok the priest and Nathan the prophet anointed Solomon king.
And all the people rejoiced and said:
God save the King! Long live the King! God save the King!
May the King live for ever. Amen. Hallelujah.{{cite web|url=https://www.westminster-abbey.org/media/4289/royal-maundy-2011-service.pdf|title=Office for the Royal Maundy|date=21 April 2011|website=Westminster Abbey|access-date=2 February 2022|archive-date=21 April 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230421195402/https://www.westminster-abbey.org/media/4289/royal-maundy-2011-service.pdf|url-status=dead}}
}}
Structure
Zadok the Priest is written for a chorus and orchestra consisting of two oboes, two bassoons, three trumpets, timpani, strings with three violin parts rather than the usual two, and continuo (SS-AA-T-BB scoring), in the key of D major. The music prepares a surprise in its orchestral introduction through the use of static layering of soft string textures followed by a sudden rousing forte tutti entrance, augmented by three trumpets.
The middle section, "And all the people rejoic'd, and said", is a dance form in 3/4 time, with the choir singing chordally and a dotted rhythm in the strings.
The final section, "God save the King", etc., is a return to common time ({{music|time|4|4}}), with the "God save the King" section heard chordally, interspersed with the Amens incorporating long semiquaver runs, taken in turn through the six voice parts (SAATBB) with the other parts singing quaver chords accompanying it. The chorus ends with a largo plagal cadence on "Alleluia".
In other contexts
Tony Britten rearranged "Zadok the Priest" in 1992, using it as the basis for the "UEFA Champions League Anthem".{{cite news |title=UEFA Champions League anthem |url=https://www.uefa.com/uefachampionsleague/news/022d-0e1636f1244a-c916aa410dad-1000--champions-league-anthem/ |access-date=12 May 2020 |website=UEFA|publisher=Union of European Football Associations}}{{cite web|url =https://www.nytimes.com/2013/05/24/sports/soccer/champions-leagues-biggest-star-may-be-its-anthem.html|title =European Soccer's Biggest Star May Be a Song|first =Sam|last =Borden|website =The New York Times|date =23 May 2013}}
The song was played during the wedding processional of Crown Prince Frederik of Denmark and Mary Donaldson. Their wedding took place on 14 May 2004 at Copenhagen Cathedral.{{Citation |title=Frederik & Mary's Royal Wedding 2004: Mary Elizabeth Donaldson Arrives |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h_yLKhKIyS0 |access-date=2023-06-06 |language=en}}
See also
References
{{reflist}}
External links
- {{IMSLP2|work=Zadok the Priest, HWV 258 (Handel, George Frideric)|cname=Zadok the Priest}}
- {{ChoralWiki|Zadok the Priest (George Frideric Handel)|Zadok the Priest|prep=of}}
{{George Frideric Handel}}
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Category:Anthems by George Frideric Handel
Category:British patriotic songs
Category:Compositions in D major
Category:Music based on the Bible
Category:Association football anthems