Photo: Michael Carlo
Patrick Doyle is bringing magic to the music ofKing CharlesandQueen Camilla’s coronation.
The Oscar-nominated film composer behind scores forHarry Potter and the Goblet of Fire,Cinderella, Thorand more was invited to write the coronation march for thecrowning ceremonyatWestminster Abbeyon Saturday. Speaking to PEOPLE about the honor and what the composition sounds like, Doyle jokes that the prestigious commission from Buckingham Palace was “the last thing in the world I ever expected” — though it’s not his first royal assignment.
Soon after, “He wrote to me again to ask me to write this piece for theQueen Mother’s 90th [birthday]. So that gave me a sense of what his taste in music was and what a sensitive person he was and very human that he felt so emotional after seeing the picture and hearing this music,” Doyle says. “So these are all the memories I bring to the process.”
A lifelong music enthusiast and champion of the arts, Charles was so hands-on with the composition for hisbeloved grandmother’smilestone birthday in 1990 that he met with Doyle twice, including an exclusive invite to his private homeHighgrovefor tea — which took a surprising turn!
“My wife drove with me to Highgrove because it was quite a distance away from London and before [satellite] navigation. Halfway through my meeting withPrince Charles, we’re having a cup of tea, he said, ‘How’s Mrs. Doyle?’ I said, ‘She’s great. She’s actually in the car,’ " the composer recalls. “He said, ‘She’s in the car? What’s she doing in the car?’ I said, ‘Well, she drove me up.’ He said, ‘Please invite her in here.’ So I said [to my wife], ‘He’s asked if you want to come in.’ " She goes, ‘No, I’m not dressed for this!’ "
Michael Carlo
Doyle’s wife Lesley decided to go inside, and the couple shared a rare respite with the future King at his cherished country home in Gloucestershire, England.
“It just showed you how human he was and how generous and polite,” the composer tells PEOPLE of Charles' warmth. “We had a lovely chat about not only the piece but about life itself. And it was great.”
Though the prolific composer has not directly connected with King Charles on the coronation march, one of the numerous themes that will ring out during the church service on May 6, he tells PEOPLE that the feedback was “very positive” after a “thrilling” dress rehearsal.
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Featuring four identifiable sections, Doyle says the march has a “triumphant opening, full of pageantry and is ceremonial. The second section sort of moves along a faster pace at the march of time and has a very strong Celtic influence, which being a Scott was a sort of natural thing that would come through in my DNA. And he loves Scotland.”
The third segment is “full of joy and fun and orchestral fireworks,” as the final fourth section is “romantic and reflective and builds to a triumphant climax,” he says.
King Charles.Hugo Burnand/Royal Household 2023/PA Wire
In writing the jubilant piece, Doyle joins a great lineage of coronation march composers including Handel, Purcell, Elgar and Walton — and the gravity of a place on that podium is not lost on him.
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The composer says that he did not directly reference previous coronation opuses while writing the “King Charles III Coronation March,” and innovatively used the tune to reflect Charles' character. He adds that the palace had three specific requests for the coronation commission.
King Charles and Queen Camilla.Hugo Burnand / Buckingham Palace
“They passed on the very clear brief that it had to be uplifting and triumphant and memorable. I should include the organ in the organ loft, and could I bear in mind that the piece be played in the future for arrangements for brass bands and wind bands all over the world?” Doyle tells PEOPLE of the royal rules.
On Saturday, the “King Charles III Coronation March” composer will take his place in the pews as one of2,200 select guestsinvited to the coronation at Westminster Abbey. There, he looks forward to hearing his hymn being written into history as part of the day.
“It’s all in the story. It’s all in the script,” Doyle says of the art of storytelling through song. “And this is also a great story. It’s a story of a historic family that goes back hundreds of years. So to be part of that journey is unbelievable.”
source: people.com
