Choir for the Queen
Join our Choir for the Queen
We are inviting schools across the UK and around the world to create a musical gift for Her Majesty in the Platinum Jubilee year.
Schools are invited to sing and record one of our suggested Royal pieces, or one of their favourite hymns, sharing on social media using the hashtag #ChoirfortheQueen using some specially-prepared downloadable schools' resources.
We invite your school to learn and record one of the following:
- All People That On Earth Do Dwell (Old 100th)
- 'Vivats' from CH. H Parry, I was Glad
- the National Anthem
- your own Jubilee Musical Soundscape.
To help you with this, we'll provide musical scores, lyrics and links, and backing tracks recorded on the Cathedral Organ by our Organist, William Fox.
How to take part
- Teach your children one of our royal pieces using our rehearsal videos.
- Practice singing along with our organ backing track.
- Record your choir singing along to the organ, in landscape rather than portrait, on a smartphone, and in a fixed position.
- Begin your video with the short script found on the organ backing track video - 'We are ‘x’ school in ‘x’. St Paul’s Cathedral has invited us to participate in its ‘Choir for the Queen’, and we offer this piece as a musical gift in celebration of the Jubilee.'
- Share with @StPaulsLondon on Twitter or @stpaulscathedrallondon on Instagram at any point in May or June, preferably before Friday 3rd June. When you share your video use the hashtag #ChoirForTheQueen
- Ensure you have appropriate permissions for children taking part.
- Complete our online form to tell us you’re taking part or email musicoutreach@stpaulscathedral.org.uk.
Your video may be used in media in relation to the Platinum Jubilee by the BBC or other news outlets.
Practice videos
Organ backing tracks
Key Stage 1
- Create a Jubilee Musical Soundscape of the things the Queen will hear on the way to the Cathedral on the day of her historic Platinum Jubilee as she is driven from Buckingham Palace to St Paul’s Cathedral. From cheering crowds to buses, marching bands, use your imagination and your knowledge of the sounds of the city.
- Colour in a map of the route and use your drawings to make a score of your soundscape.
- Learn a song to include in your soundscape as you greet the Queen at the steps of the Cathedral.
Key Stage 2
- Learn about music for royal occasions, especially fanfares, and how we use music and words to help us celebrate together.
- Compose your own singing fanfares based on Parry’s I Was Glad.
- Learn to sing the hymn All People That On Earth Do Dwell (Old 100th) and see how other composers have been inspired by this music, learning about the organ and how to spot musical themes.
Specially created resources will be ready to download soon.
Key Stage 3
- Learn about music for royal occasions, especially settings of the Te Deum, a hymn of praise and thanksgiving to God. Listen to how composers have set this text.
- Learn about the history of plainsong. Compose your own plainsong Te Deum to your own text, and record it if you can.
- Learn to sing Zadok the Priest (we recommend everyone have a go at the opening section, but if you are able, please learn the whole thing) and share with us on social media using #ChoirfortheQueen.
Specially created resources will be ready to download soon.
Other musical initiatives
Exciting musical initiatives from other organisations that you could enjoy include:
- The RSCM Platinum Jubilee Anthem by Thomas Hewitt Jones, In Our Service. Please use the RSCM’s hashtag #RSCMPlatinum.
- A Song for the Commonwealth is a new commission by Vincent Atueyi Chinemelu as part of the Jubilee Beacons project, encouraging choirs to sing this piece on 2nd June at 9:45pm.
