A STATE FUNERAL

'It is not every day that one of England's smaller cathedrals
has the opportunity to participate in bringing to our ears
such an historic occasion as this.'

BASIL RAMSEY listens to music for Lord Nelson

Unexpected is a CD reproducing the words and music for the State Funeral of Lord Nelson in St Paul's Cathedral in London on Thursday 9 January 1806. Applying a spot of thought to the matter brings enlightenment. The service was immaculate in music by celebrities of the past, and by Haydn who was still alive. It had grandeur, the celebrated prose of the Book of Common Prayer, and enormous dignity. Recent research at the Naval Museum in Portsmouth uncovered two significant documents that provide all the musical details required for this recording. Fortune indeed.

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