'It's like having a child!' - University of Aberdeen professor composes music for King's Coronation
Professor Paul Mealor has composed a setting of ‘Kyrie’ for the choirs of Westminster Abbey
Last updated 29th Jan 2024
A professor at the University of Aberdeen has drawn on his "Celtic connections" to compose a historic piece for the Coronation of King Charles III.
Professor Paul Mealor has adapted 'Kyrie', a piece that traditionally opens mass and is normally sung in Greek.
Professor Mealor was specifically commissioned by the King to compose a Welsh language version of the song.
A fitting tribute
It will be the first time that Welsh has been sung at a coronation, marking the longest serving Prince of Wales.
"It is the most amazing honour to be asked not only to produce a piece of music for such an important historic occasion but to be given the opportunity to showcase our Celtic heritage", said Professor Mealor, who is also the Chair of Composition at the University of Aberdeen.
"As the longest serving Prince of Wales, this is very fitting for His Majesty. We have a King who has shown great support for a wide variety of music over many years and is a passionate advocate for music."
"I'm a proud Welshman and for the last 20 years have lived in Scotland, so Celtic culture is very important to me.
"I speak Welsh, I grew up speaking it, so to be asked to set it in one of the oldest languages in the UK for the first time is absolutely amazing for me and it was the King himself that asked me to do that."
'It's like having a child'
It's not the first time that Professor Mealor has composed music for a royal occasion.
He was commissioned by Prince William, the Duke of Cambridge (and now Prince of Wales), to compose a piece for his wedding to Princess Catherine Middleton, the Duchess of Cambridge, in 2011.
Last year, Mealor's compositions featured in national services of thanksgiving for the life of Queen Elizabeth II following her death in September.
Despite his royal experience, Professor Mealor admits that he's still anxious: "I'm a bit nervous about it be honest.
"When you write a piece of music it's like having a child. You don't quite know, first of all what it's going to do itself, and then what others are going to make of it.
"I've tried to mix the modern and the ancient, so it's trying to be a bit of both.
"Hopefully it'll touch people and hopefully it'll do what it's supposed to do, it's supposed to set the scene to bring you into the presence of God, so hopefully it'll do that."