Andrew Lloyd Webber Reveals King Charles “Shed A Tear” And Had “Goosebumps” When He First Heard The ‘Coronation Anthem’
deadline.comKing Charles III heaped royal praise on Andrew Lloyd Webber when he first heard the composer play a piano version of the coronation anthem, telling the peer that the music gave him “goosebumps and tears.” The anthem, titled Make A Joyful Noise, was just performed in all its glory during today’s Coronation service at Westminster Abbey, as it was broadcasted and streamed to millions around the world.
Lloyd Webber revealed the King’s thoughts to us after he’d given a hush-hush preview of the anthem’s recording. He added he felt “humbled and moved” by the monarch’s “kind words.” The musical theatre giant was specially commissioned to compose the anthem for their majesties King Charles III and Queen Camilla. “I mean, he could have said that he hated it and I would have had to have started it all over again,” Lloyd Webber joked.
There was “some evidence” of a “tear in the King’s eye” as he played Make A Joyful Noise on the piano. Let’s say it made an impact on the King,” said Lloyd Webber who was knighted by Queen Elizabeth in 1992 and ennobled as Lord Lloyd Webber five years later. “In all honesty,” said Lloyd Webber, “the King said the music gave him goosebumps and tears.” He explained how he met with the King months ago to discuss options for the historic anthem. “We chatted away and we talked about the Book of Solomon and I had an idea of using Psalm 98, the one that goes ‘Make a Joyful Noise unto the Lord, the King,’ because it has a message that’s highly appropriate.” “Once I found the text it was simple, really.
It was an easy one. Sometimes they take days and this one didn’t. I got lucky and composed it in maybe a day,” he said. “I had a slight advantage having composed an anthem or two before and my father wrote
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