Observations on the Vivats in I was glad

What an experience it was to watch I was glad at the start of the coronation—having listened to the full programme of pre-service music, it was an excellent climax and gateway into the service itself—and with the new Vivats, timed to perfection, it was thrilling.

I was looking at all the different versions of the Vivats for each of the versions since 1902, and I noticed a few things. Just in case you hadn’t noticed some of these, and are interested, here are my observations.

1. Firstly, obviously the names change (and the rhythms and melodies with it). We all know that. Here’s the full list of variants.
2. As 1953 was just a Queen (rather than Queen then King), there’s been a bit missing for the last 70 years—after the first trumpet fanfare, there was originally (and is now) a set of Vivats in G major for the Queen before the big chords which take us up a tone. I’m sure we all know that—and if we didn’t previously know that, it was pretty obvious yesterday.
   
3. In the original 1902 version, there’s an extra trumpet fanfare in A major—after the big chords and before the King Vivats.
   
4. As well as changing the choir parts to fit the new names, the orchestral parts need changing too. In the 1911 full score (full version here) you can see the 1902 notes and 1911 notes for the new longer “Rex”.
   
5. For some reason, the orchestral parts were not changed in 1953, so for 70 years we’ve been hearing a mixture of versions—with the choir singing “Vivat Regina” and the orchestra playing the rhythm of “Vivat Rex Georgius”. You can just about hear the early F sharp here (YouTube) (and I think I can hear it in the actual Coronation here (YouTube)).
6. So that means that now we have “Rex Carolus”, the orchestral parts are back in sync!
7. An interesting detail in the official vocal score for 2023 which Westminster Abbey released is that the (Rutter-arranged-from-the-full-score) piano reduction still contains the 1953 rhythm. Not sure if this is a misprint or a decision. (The original vocal scores just have a held chord.)
   
8. A bit of an odd one: in 1937, the A major Vivats start a bar earlier—interrupting the big chords. I thought it might be a misprint, but they also performed it like that (listen here (YouTube)).
   
9. Bonus facts: 2023’s Vivats were upgraded from f to ff. Until 1937, the second of each group of Vivats was typeset with a lowercase ‘v’! 2023 added ‘colla voce’ to some rests, and 1902 had a fermata on one rest.

Thanks to this page on the Oremus website for most of my research material, as well as the Archive of Recorded Church Music on YouTube.

If you spot any errors, or have any more Vivat facts, do please let me know!

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