Picture: PRESS ASSOCIATION / Danny Lawson
God Save The Queen
In this Platinum Jubilee year, Choir of the Earth would like to present Her Majesty The Queen with a new recording of
GOD SAVE THE QUEEN
featuring everyone from around the Commonwealth and the world.
So we invite absolutely everybody from everywhere, whether a member of Choir of the Earth or not
to learn and record a new arrangement of God Save The Queen.
We shall combine all voices in the recording studio and present the result to Her Majesty The Queen.
We shall also hold a Concert Performance when we can all come together online on Thursday 2nd June 2022 to hear all our voices combined for the first time.
This is how it will work…
Sign up below (it’s free!). If you do not wish to sign up, here is the link where everything is waiting for you:
https://www.choiroftheearth.com/s/God-Save-The-Queen-Links.pdf
You will be invited to a series of free online sessions with Ralph Allwood MBE who has written a new arrangement specially for this course. You can watch these later, so there is no need to be there on time.
To accompany us, Luke Bond, Assistant Director of Music, will play the organ at St. George’s Chapel, Windsor Castle and our rehearsal tracks are sung by members of The Rodolfus Choir.
At the end of these rehearsals, you are invited to record and send your own voice to us (audio only - not video).
We shall then combine all voices in the studio to create the full choir.
We shall then play this back to you and present the finished version to Her Majesty The Queen from us all.
The live rehearsals will run from Tuesday 15th March - Sunday 20th March (see below for exact rehearsal timings).
We shall play back our performance to everyone on Thursday 2nd June 2022
We shall present our version to Her Majesty’s Private Secretary on Wednesday 1st June 2022.
About Ralph
Ralph Allwood MBE is our Course Director for this exciting project. For 26 years, he was Director of Music at Eton College and is now a freelance choral director, teacher and conductor.
Ralph is the Director of the Rodolfus Foundation and Choral Courses, which he founded in 1980.
Ralph has conducted choirs for 40 live broadcasts for BBC Radio 3. In 2017, the Archbishop of Canterbury presented him with the Thomas Cranmer Award for Music and Worship.
You can read more about Ralph here.
Donations
The course is free to all. The choir does, however, incur costs and therefore any donations would be hugely appreciated.
Rehearsal Timings
We shall send you score, rehearsal tracks and everything you need you need by email.
Our online choir rehearsals last one hour and take place as follows (all at 15:30 UK Time unless otherwise stated):
Tuesday 15th March - Launch & Full Choir
-
Wednesday 16th March - Sopranos
-
Thursday 17th March - Altos
-
Friday 18th March - Tenors
-
Sunday 20th March - Basses
-
Sunday 20th March at 17:30 - Full Choir
-
Thursday 2nd June 2022 at 17:00 - CONCERT PERFORMANCE
St. George’s Chapel
Image opposite: St. George’s Chapel, Windsor Castle. Picture by i-Images / Pool
We are honoured to have Luke Bond as our organist. Luke is the Assistant Director of Music at St George's Chapel, Windsor Castle, where he played for the wedding of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle and the funeral of Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh.
The organ is laid out as follows: the Swell division above the Choir Organ in the north case; the Solo Organ, Great Cornet and reeds above the Great Organ in the south case; the pedal stops divided between both sides; and the Screen Choir Organ in a separate case, facing east.
Windsor Castle
Windsor Castle is a principal residence of Queen Elizabeth II and the original castle was built in the 11th century after the Norman invasion of England by William the Conqueror. Since the time of Henry I (who reigned 1100–1135), it has been used by the reigning monarch and is the longest-occupied palace in Europe.
St George's Chapel was originally founded in the 14th century by King Edward III and extensively enlarged in the late 15th century. It has been the scene of many royal services, weddings and, particularly in the 19th and 20th centuries, burials.