''Zadok the Priest'' ( HWV 258) is a British anthem that was composed by

George Frideric Handel George Frideric (or Frederick) Handel ( ; baptised , ; 23 February 1685 – 14 April 1759) was a German-British Baroque composer well-known for his operas, oratorios, anthems, concerti grossi, and organ concerti. Born in Halle, Germany, H ...

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.

Text

Part of the traditional content of British

coronation A coronation ceremony marks the formal investiture of a monarch with regal power using a crown. In addition to the crowning, this ceremony may include the presentation of other items of regalia, and other rituals such as the taking of special v ...

s, 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 The Coronation of the British monarch, coronation of James II and VII and his wife Mary of Modena, Mary as List of English monarchs, King and List of English royal consorts, Queen of Kingdom of England, England, Kingdom of Scotland, Scotland and ...

in 1685. The text is a translation of the traditional

antiphon An antiphon ( Greek ἀντίφωνον, ἀντί "opposite" and φωνή "voice") is a short chant in Christian ritual, sung as a refrain. The texts of antiphons are usually taken from the Psalms or Scripture, but may also be freely compo ...

, ''Unxerunt Salomonem'', itself derived from the

biblical The Bible is a collection of religious texts that are central to Christianity and Judaism, and esteemed in other Abrahamic religions such as Islam. The Bible is an anthology (a compilation of texts of a variety of forms) biblical languages ...

account of the anointing of

Solomon Solomon (), also called Jedidiah, was the fourth monarch of the Kingdom of Israel (united monarchy), Kingdom of Israel and Judah, according to the Hebrew Bible. The successor of his father David, he is described as having been the penultimate ...

by the priest

Zadok Zadok (), also spelled Ṣadok, Ṣadoc, Zadoq, Tzadok or Tsadoq (; lit. 'righteous, justified'), was a Kohen (priest), biblically recorded to be a descendant of Eleazar the son of Aaron. He was the High Priest of Israel during the reigns of Dav ...

(

1 Kings The Book of Kings (, '' Sēfer Məlāḵīm'') is a book in the Hebrew Bible, found as two books (1–2 Kings) in the Old Testament of the Christian Bible. It concludes the Deuteronomistic history, a history of ancient Israel also including ...

1:38-40). These words have been used in every English, and later British, coronation since that of King

Edgar Edgar is a commonly used masculine English given name, from an Anglo-Saxon name ''Edgar'' (composed of ''wikt:en:ead, ead'' "rich, prosperous" and ''Gar (spear), gar'' "spear"). Like most Anglo-Saxon names, it fell out of use by the Late Midd ...

Bath Abbey The Abbey Church of Saint Peter and Saint Paul, commonly known as Bath Abbey, is a parish church of the Church of England and former Benedictines, Benedictine monastery in Bath, Somerset, Bath, Somerset, England. Founded in the 7th century, i ...

in 973. An earlier

setting Setting or Settings may refer to: * A location (geography) where something is set * Set construction in theatrical scenery * Setting (narrative), the place and time in a work of narrative, especially fiction * Setting up to fail a manipulative tec ...

is thought to have been written by

Thomas Tomkins Thomas Tomkins (1572 – 9 June 1656) was a Welsh-born composer of the late Tudor and early Stuart period. In addition to being one of the prominent members of the English Madrigal School, he was a skilled composer of keyboard and consort mu ...

for the coronation of King

Charles I Charles I may refer to: Kings and emperors * Charlemagne (742–814), numbered Charles I in the lists of Holy Roman Emperors and French kings * Charles I of Anjou (1226–1285), also king of Albania, Jerusalem, Naples and Sicily * Charles I of ...

in 1626, the text of which has survived but not the music.

Henry Lawes Henry Lawes (1596 – 1662) was the leading English songwriter of the mid-17th century. He was elder brother of fellow composer William Lawes. Life Henry Lawes (baptised 5 January 1596 – 21 October 1662),Ian Spink, "Lawes, Henry," ''Grove Mu ...

wrote another for the coronation of King Charles II in 1661. 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 William Sancroft (30 January 161724 November 1693) was the 79th Archbishop of Canterbury, and was one of the Seven Bishops imprisoned in 1688 for seditious libel against King James II, over his opposition to the king's Declaration of Indulgen ...

. At the coronation itself on 11 October 1727, the choir of

Westminster Abbey Westminster Abbey, formally titled the Collegiate Church of Saint Peter at Westminster, is an Anglican church in the City of Westminster, London, England. Since 1066, it has been the location of the coronations of 40 English and British m ...

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".

Lyrics

The lyrics of the piece are

, being a distillation of

1:34-45:

Structure

''Zadok the Priest'' is written for a

chorus Chorus may refer to: Music * Chorus (song), the part of a song that is repeated several times, usually after each verse * Chorus effect, the perception of similar sounds from multiple sources as a single, richer sound * Chorus form, song in whic ...

and

orchestra An orchestra (; ) is a large instrumental ensemble typical of classical music, which combines instruments from different families. There are typically four main sections of instruments: * String instruments, such as the violin, viola, cello, ...

consisting of two

oboe The oboe ( ) is a type of double-reed woodwind instrument. Oboes are usually made of wood, but may also be made of synthetic materials, such as plastic, resin, or hybrid composites. The most common type of oboe, the soprano oboe pitched in C, ...

s, two

bassoon The bassoon is a musical instrument in the woodwind family, which plays in the tenor and bass ranges. It is composed of six pieces, and is usually made of wood. It is known for its distinctive tone color, wide range, versatility, and virtuosity ...

s, three

trumpet The trumpet is a brass instrument commonly used in classical and jazz musical ensemble, ensembles. The trumpet group ranges from the piccolo trumpet—with the highest Register (music), register in the brass family—to the bass trumpet, pitche ...

timpani Timpani (; ) or kettledrums (also informally called timps) are musical instruments in the percussion instrument, percussion family. A type of drum categorised as a hemispherical drum, they consist of a Membranophone, membrane called a drumhead, ...

strings String or strings may refer to: *String (structure), a long flexible structure made from threads twisted together, which is used to tie, bind, or hang other objects Arts, entertainment, and media Films * ''Strings'' (1991 film), a Canadian anim ...

with three violin parts rather than the usual two, and

continuo Continuo may refer to: *Basso continuo Basso continuo parts, almost universal in the Baroque era (1600–1750), provided the harmonic structure of the music by supplying a bassline and a chord progression. The phrase is often shortened to conti ...

( SS-AA-T-BB scoring), in the key of

D major D major is a major scale based on D (musical note), D, consisting of the pitches D, E (musical note), E, F♯ (musical note), F, G (musical note), G, A (musical note), A, B (musical note), B, and C♯ (musical note), C. Its key signature has two S ...

. 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 ''Tutti'' is an Italian word literally meaning ''all'' or ''together'' and is used as a musical term, for the whole orchestra as opposed to the soloist. It is applied similarly to choral music, where the whole section or choir is called to sin ...

'' entrance, augmented by three trumpets. The middle section, "And all the people rejoic'd, and said", is a dance form in 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 A time signature (also known as meter signature, metre signature, and measure signature) is an indication in music notation that specifies how many note values of a particular type fit into each measure ( bar). The time signature indicates the ...

(), with the "God save the King" section heard chordally, interspersed with the

Amen Amen (, ; , ; , ; , ) is an Abrahamic declaration of affirmation which is first found in the Hebrew Bible, and subsequently found in the New Testament. It is used in Jewish, Christian, and Islamic practices as a concluding word, or as a respons ...

s incorporating long

semiquaver Figure 1. A 16th note with stem facing up, a 16th note with stem facing down, and a 16th rest. Figure 2. Four 16th notes beamed together. In music, a 1/16, sixteenth note ( American) or semiquaver (British) is a note played for half the du ...

runs, taken in turn through the six voice parts (SAATBB) with the other parts singing

quaver 180px, Figure 1. An eighth note with stem extending up, an eighth note with stem extending down, and an eighth rest. 180px, Figure 2. Four eighth notes beamed together. An eighth note ( American) or a quaver (British) is a musical note play ...

chords accompanying it. The chorus ends with a largo plagal

cadence In Classical music, Western musical theory, a cadence () is the end of a Phrase (music), phrase in which the melody or harmony creates a sense of full or partial resolution (music), resolution, especially in music of the 16th century onwards.Don ...

on "

Alleluia ''Hallelujah'' (; , Modern Hebrew, Modern ) is an interjection from the Hebrew language, used as an expression of gratitude to God. The term is used 24 times in the Hebrew Bible, Tanakh (in the book of Psalms), twice in deuterocanonical books, ...

In other contexts

Tony Britten Tony Britten is a British people, British musical director, composer and film maker, also known for adapting the music and writing the text of the UEFA Champions League Anthem.UEFA Champions League Anthem The UEFA Champions League Anthem, officially titled as simply the "Champions League", is the official anthem of the UEFA Champions League, written by English composer Tony Britten in 1992, and based on George Frideric Handel's ''Zadok the Priest ...

". The song was played during the wedding processional of

Crown Prince Frederik of Denmark Frederick, Crown Prince of Denmark may refer to: *Frederick, Hereditary Prince of Denmark (1753–1805), heir presumptive from 1766 to 1768 *Frederick IV of Denmark (1671–1730), King of Denmark and Norway, Crown Prince from 1671 to 1699 *Frederick ...

and

Mary Donaldson Mary (born Mary Elizabeth Donaldson; 5 February 1972) is Queen of Denmark as the wife of King Frederik X. Mary met Frederik (then Crown Prince of Denmark) while attending the 2000 Summer Olympics in Sydney. They married on 14 May 2004 at ...

. Their wedding took place on 14 May 2004 at

Copenhagen Cathedral The Church of Our Lady () is the Lutheran cathedral of Copenhagen. It is situated on the Frue Plads public square in central Copenhagen, next to the historic main building of the University of Copenhagen. The present-day version of the church was ...

References

External links