This new compilation from The Sixteen brings together some of the finest works written for, and in celebration of, Monarchs and the Kingdom. Whether for magnificent state occasions or private devotion, the Kings and Queens of Great Britain have inspired and patronised some of our finest and most enduring music, from composers such as Turges in the 1400s and Britten in the twentieth century.

Included on this album are two of Handel’s glorious Coronation Anthems, written for the coronation of King George II, excerpts from Purcell’s music for Queen Mary, and the Sanctus from Robert Carver’s sumptuous Missa Dum Sacrum Mysterium which may well have been sung at the coronation of James V. Taking centre stage, however, is Tallis’s dazzling Sing and Glorify, the English setting of Spem in alium, which was adapted for King James I to honour his son Henry, the newly anointed Prince of Wales.

On display are centuries of superb compositions, taken from the current CORO catalogue, with the exception of one specially recorded track: William Byrd’s fabulous O Lord, make thy servant Elizabeth our Queen to rejoice in thy strength.