Sarah Montague, Senior Producer, Selected Shorts
Sarah Montague is in her seventeenth year as producer of the fiction series Selected Shorts for WNYC.
Thames Diamond Jubilee Pageant: Water Music for a Queen
Friday, June 01, 2012
Head of Historic Carving Alan Lamb next to the royal cypher that will decorate the Royal Barge in which Britain's Queen Elizabeth II will travel on the River Thames during the diamond jubilee pageant.
(Carl Court/AFP/Getty)
England became a dominant power at sea during the time of the first Queen Elizabeth, so it is fitting that one of the many celebrations honoring the Diamond Jubilee of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II should be a joyous flotilla.
On Sunday, more than 1,000 vessels will process up the River Thames in London. The participating vessels will include naval yachts; working vessels such as tugs; and steam boats, river barges, passenger boats; and what the event’s official site calls “an exuberance of historic boats.”
All will be dressed in their finest with streamers and Union Jacks. They will be carrying members of the navy, royal heralds and hundreds of ordinary citizens to honor the Queen’s 60-year reign. The celebration will reflect both England’s vibrant maritime history, and the heritage of the River Thames as a witness to history and vital avenue of commerce.
Many of the ships and boats will also offer musical tributes -- from an opening by the Royal Jubilee Bells, to fanfares by the Royal Marine band, to pipe and drum ensembles, to the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra’s closing performance.
And of course, Handel’s Water Music will be featured, in a performance by the Academy of Ancient Music. The piece was written by Handel for a concert requested by King George I, and had its premiere, from a barge on the Thames, on July 17, 1717.
The river procession will take place between 2 p.m. and 6 p.m. London Time. The pageant will be televised on BBC America beginning at 8:45 a.m. EST.
Photo credit: The route of the Thames Diamond Jubilee Pageant. Copyright © 2012 Thames Diamond Jubilee Pageant.
In New York, there will be a companion event taking place on Sunday. Ten British yachts competing in the Clipper Round the World Yacht Race will participate in a parade of sail. This smaller flotilla is expected to pass the Statue of Liberty around 10.30 a.m. to coincide with the Diamond Jubilee and arrive in North Cove Marina in front of the World Financial Center at midday.
Jubilee celebrations in London culminate on Tuesday. A concert honoring Her Majesty featuring Sir Paul McCartney, Sir Tom Jones and Stevie Wonder will be televised on ABC on Tuesday beginning at 9 p.m.
See a slideshow of boats in the flotilla and the Diamond Jubilee celebration:
Comments [2]
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WQXR's music for the Diamond Jubilee shows class, BUT THE QUEEN'S OWN 1000 vessels on the Thames ACTUAL celebration WAS FREEZING COLD WITH RAIN to boot. Oh, well, they didn't mind that it rained on their parade. Having lived in London myself [on Regent Street], I can appreciate that it being so common that that weather did not "dampen" their enthusiasm for the ROYAL occasion. I am a Wagnerian heldentenor and the director of the Richard Wagner Music Drama Institute, where professional actors are trained for the Shakespeare roles and big-voiced singers are coached in the Wagner roles and voice production and dramaturgy techniques. My next concert in New York will be on Saturday, June 9th at the YOGA EXPO at the New Yorker Hotel . The title of the concert is 'BRING HIM HOME, with that song from the musical LES MISERABLES, encouraging the return of our armed forces and inspiring hope and love of country with This Land is Your Land, The House I Live In, Climb Every Mountain, You'll Never Walk Alone, When Johnnie Comes Marching Home Again, The Impossible Dream [the Quest], Granada, Wien, Wien, nur du allein, Kumbaya, Billy Bigelow's Soliloquy from Carousel, New York, New Yprk, There's No Business Like Show Business, Music of the Night, Florestan's Gott ! welch Dunkel hier !, Dein ist mein ganzes Herz, Memory from Cats, Empty Chairs at Empty Tables, Federico's Lament from L'Arlesiana and Earth Anthem.
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