Abbey 900 Years Old

Press, Volume CIV, Issue 30939, 21 December 1965, Page 2

Abbey 900 Years Old

fFrom the London correspondent of "The Prtu."J Queen Elizabeth will lay a bunch of red rosea on the altar in the Chapel of St. Edward the Confessor in Westminster Abbey before she attends the inaugural sendee for the 900th anniversary commemoration of the abbey on Tuesday. The chapel contains the shrine of the Confessor, founder of the abbey.

At the service the Queen will be accompanied by the Duke of Edinburgh, the Prince of Wales, Princess Anne, the Queen Mother and other members of the Royal Family. The Archbishops of Canterbury, York. Wales and Dublin and the Prtmus of Scotland, with representatives of other

churches in Britain and overseas, will also be there. A special feature of the inaugural service will be the music. The abbey choir of 48 voices will be joined with the New Philharmonic Orchestra.

The musical traditions of Westminster Abbey hold an important place in the history of English cathedral music. Among the great musicians of the abbey have been Henry Purcell, Orlando Gibbons and John Blow, all of whom were organists there.

Sir Arthur Bliss, Master of the Queen’s Musick, has composed for the occasion a new ceremonial prelude. This will be played on the arrival of the Queen and during her visit to the shrine of the founder in the chapel. The composer will conduct the prelude from the organ loft For the rest of the service the orchestra will be conducted by the master of the choristers and organist of

Westminster Abbey, Mr Douglas Guest While the congregation is assembling, the orchestra will play Mozart’s Haffner Symphony, two fantasies for strings by Purcell, a prelude and canzona by John Blow, and also Elgar’s elegy for strings. The anthem will be "The Spirit of the Lord" by Elgar. After the pomp and circumstance will come balloons. Shortly after the end of the inaugural service, Louise Carpenter, the five-year-old daughter of the Ven. Edward Carpenter, Archdeacon of Westminster, will release 900 of them from Dean’s Yard. Each balloon will carry a card conveying "the greetings of the Dean and Chapter of Westminster to all peoples.” At dusk, the abbey’s new floodlighting equipment will be switched on and the abbey will be seen in its full grandeur against the night sky.