The Royal Wedding: The Official Album

Various Artists (Artist) | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (May 9, 2011)
• SPARS Code: DDD
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Decca Records
• ASIN: B004RCNPCM
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (22 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #76,496 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Track Listings

1. The Arrival of The Queen and The Duke of Edinburgh - Fanfare (Conductor: Trumpet Major Grant Sewell-Jones)

2. The Procession of The Queen - March from The Birds (Conductor: Christopher Warren-Green)

3. Prelude on Rhosymedre (Organ: Robert Quinney)

4. The Procession of The Bride (The Introit) - I Was Glad (The Choir of Her Majesty's Chapel Royal, St James's Palace & The London Chamber Orchestra)

5. Hymn - Guide Me, O Thou Great Redeemer (Cwm Rhondda) (The Choir of Her Majesty's Chapel Royal, St James's Palace; Organist: Robert Quinney; Conductor: James O'Donnell)

6. The Welcome and Introduction

7. The Marriage

8. The Vows

9. Hymn - Love Divine (Blaenwern) (The Choir of Her Majesty's Chapel Royal, St James's Palace; Organist: Robert Quinney; Conductor: James O'Donnell)

10. The Lesson - Romans 12: 1, 2, 9-18

11. The Anthem - This Is The Day Which The Lord Hath Made (The Choir of Her Majesty's Chapel Royal, St James's Palace; Organist: Robert Quinney; Conductor: James O'Donnell)

12. The Address

13. Ubi Caritas (The Choir of Her Majesty's Chapel Royal, St James's Palace; Conductor: James O'Donnell; Soloist: Thomas Fetherstonhaugh)

14. The Prayers (The Right Reverend and Right Honourable Dr. Richard Chartres KVCO, Lord Bishop of London and Dean of Her Majesty's Chapels Royal & The Archbishop Of Canterbury)

15. Jerusalem (The Choir of Her Majesty's Chapel Royal, St James's Palace; The London Chamber Orchestra; Conductor: James O'Donnell)

16. The Blessing

17. The National Anthem (The Choir Of Westminster Abbey; The London Chamber Orchestra; The Fanfare Team from the Central Band of the Royal Air Force; Conductor: James O'Donnell)

18. Blest Pair of Sirens (The Choir of Her Majesty's Chapel Royal, St James's Palace; The London Chamber Orchestra; Conductor: James O'Donnell)

19. Fanfare: Valiant & Brave (Conductor: Wing Commander Duncan Stubbs)

20. Crown Imperial (The Fanfare Team from the Central Band of the Royal Air Force; Conductor: Christopher Warren-Green)

See all 21 tracks on this disc

Editorial Reviews

Review

"The Official Album for The Royal Wedding will complement everyone's personal memories of the event. Thanks to digital technology we will be able to deliver it worldwide almost instantly - it will be the fastest we have ever released an album of this stature." -- END

"This will be the first Official Royal Wedding Album ever to enter the worldwide digital charts. It will capture a piece of history for a new generation".

SOURCE2: David Joseph, Chairman and CEO of Universal Music UK: -- Dickon Stainer, President of Decca Records:

Product Description

Recorded on April 29th, 2011, this is the official soundtrack recording to the much anticipated and heavily publicized Royal Wedding of HRH Prince William and Kate Middleton.

See all Editorial Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

13 of 15 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars A Fitting Tribute and Memory Minder May 10, 2011

By Grady Harp HALL OF FAMETOP 50 REVIEWERVINE™ VOICE

Format:Audio CD

There are few celebrations that affect the world like British Royalty festivals and April 29th, 2011 will go down as one of the more memorable ones - the Wedding of Prince William and Kate Middleton. Though there will likely be many videos released of the occasion, this collection is the music and the spoken words from the ceremony that took place in Westminster Abbey. The non-royal performers included the London Chamber Orchestra and Fanfare Team and the Choirs of Westminster Abbey and the Chapel Royal Choir - the choirs conducted by James O'Donnell and the orchestra by Christopher Warren-Green. The orchestral works were the usual for occasions such as these - the music of Sir William Walton, Sir Edward Elgar and Benjamin Britten and the choral and other chamber music included works by Sir Charles Hubert Hastings Parry, Ralph Vaughan Williams, Sir Peter Maxwell Davies and John Rutter.

A welcome addition to the 'usual players' was the presence of Paul Mealor whose 'Ubi caritas et amor' seemed the emotional highlight then as it does on this CD. But there is a lot of very beautiful choral music here (especially the Psalms settings by John Rutter). And who can resist the splendor of brass fanfares resounding throughout a cathedral? There is a decided warmth in the sound of the audience joining in the hymns sung by all concerned and in general this combination of the spoken words and the glorious British music is as grand as it gets. A worthy reminder of the elegance and gentility of the monarchy. Grady Harp, May 11.

10 of 13 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars A fantastic time capsule of the moment May 10, 2011

By Paul Allaer TOP 100 REVIEWERVINE™ VOICE

Format:Audio CD

The Royal Wedding of William and Kate only happened 11 days ago, and already here is the official soundtrack of the church ceremony. Is this the fastest soundtrack release ever of an actual event? It must be. For many who caught it live on TV (including myself), this was a wonderful event to watch, with all the pegeantry and the music. Ah yes, the music!

"The Royal Wedding: The Official Wedding" (21 tracks; 76 min.) brings the entire ceremony of the wedding at Westminster Abbey, and what a delight it is, for the music of course. The music is ear-candy from start to finish, starting with the arrival and process of the Queen. The Choir of Westminster Abbey and the Choir of Her Majesty's Chapel Royal St. James Palace shine throughout. Tracks 6 through 8 are the actual spoken welcome and wedding vows, and it's nice to have them for historical reasons, but I tend to skip them on the CD player. (There are several other spoken pieces later on, which I also tend to skip.) Special mention to track 11 "This Is the Day", which was commissioned specifically for the wedding, and sounds great. (There is another very short commissioned piece towards the end, spotlighting the 22th Squadron of the Search and Rescue Helicopters, of which William is a part). Track 15 "Jerusalem" sounds epic, and track 17 "God Save the Queen" makes my hair stand up on my arms, so emotional. The last track eventually concludes with the Westminster Abbey church bells sounding loud, just beautiful. As a further plus, the liner notes of the CD bring all of the music's lyrics, as well as the spoken moments.

In all, this is one terrific time capsule of what happened just 11 days ago. The music is top-notch from start to finish, and aside from the historical aspects of the event, the music is really the reason to buy this. I noticed that the DVD of this will be released as well, in just another 2 weeks, and I may buy that as well, as the visual splendor of the event is of course unmatched. But having the CD is more important to me as I can take this with me whenever/wherever I want, be it at home or in the car. As a complete aside, my daughter, a junior in college who is currently doing her "semester abroad" in London, camped out in front of Buckingham Palace, and caught the procession of the royals back from the church ceremony upfront. She sent me some amazing pictures from her experience, and she was thrilled by it all. Meanwhile, this album is a fantastic souvenir of a beautiful event, and did I mention the fantastic music?

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars stellar recording of an historic event May 31, 2011

By Mindful Consumer

Format:Audio CD

unable to wait for the physical release of this album, i purchased it on itunes just days after the wedding occurred. what a treat!

i found the recording quality to be superb, and was pleased that the spoken parts of the service were included as well. i have seen a couple of the other reviews which had an issue with subpar sound, however i have experienced none of this. the sound on my "copy" is perfect.

this album is just divine! from the fanfare for the queen, to the music as catherine walked down the aisle with her father, what a wonderful way to be able to relive the ceremony any time one wishes.

this, in conjunction with the stellar bbc dvd of the event, rounds out the best of the current available memorabilia for me. now if someone would just release a book with better photos of the wedding, i'd be all set!