Music for the Queen Mum

Composers Datebook

Synopsis

When grandma turns 90, you can bet by her age she’s gotten just about everything imaginable as a birthday gift. That was the quandary facing the Prince of Wales in 1990, when his granny, Her Royal Majesty Queen Elizabeth of England (the mother of Queen Elizabeth II) — or “The Queen Mum” as just about everybody called her — was about to celebrate her 90th.

As Prince Charles wrote, “The idea for a concert came to me when I was trying to think of an original birthday present for my grandmother. It suddenly struck me that here was a wonderful reason for commissioning some new music to celebrate a very special occasion.”

Since Charles liked the music Scottish composer Patrick Doyle had written for Kenneth Branagh’s film of Shakespeare’s Henry V, Doyle was asked to write a song cycle. Russian cellist Mstislav Rostropovich heard about the planned birthday concert, and for his part commissioned British composer David Matthews. Swiss conductor and new music impresario Paul Sacher commissioned a third new work by British composer Patrick Gowers.

All three pieces were premiered in the ballroom of Buckingham Palace on today’s date in 1990, two days before the Queen Mum’s 90th birthday.

Music Played in Today's Program

Patrick Doyle (b. 1953): The Thistle and the Rose; Marie McLaughlin, soprano

Patrick Gowers (1936-2014): Suite for Violin; Jose Luis Garcia, violin

David Matthews (b. 1943): Romanza; Mstislav Rostropovich, cello; English Chamber Orchestra; Raymond Leppard, conductor

All three pieces on EMI 54164