Prince Albert's Compositions
Queen Victoria's Consort Wrote Sacred Music
A look at Prince Albert, husband of England's Queen Victoria, and his sacred compositions.
While most people recognize Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha (1819-1861) as the husband of England's Queen Victoria, many do not know that he was a composer of sacred music, as well as being an innovator in the areas of engineering, education and architecture. A multi-talented man whose accomplishments were overshadowed by his wife's celebrity, Albert was unfortunately cut down in the prime of life by a sudden illness.
Compositions
Albert wrote many works for choir and some have been performed up to the present day. A Jubilate Deo was sung at Westminster Abbey in the 1980's. He also wrote lieder (songs) that were said to be reminiscent of Mendelssohn and Schubert. In The Collected Compositions of His Royal Highness The Prince Consort, Edited by W.G.Cusins, we find 40 works of which 30 are songs.
Felix Mendelssohn
Albert and Victoria were acquainted with Felix Mendelssohn and the composer was invited to visit the royal pair. Mendelssohn's description of the visit follows: "I begged the Prince to begin by playing something, so that I could boast of it in Germany. He played a chorale by heart, with the pedals - and so charmingly, precisely and accurately that it would have done credit to a professional....Then it was my turn, and I began with the chorus from St.Paul, "How Lovely are the Messengers." Before I had come to the end of the first verse, they both (Victoria and Albert) began singing the chorus, and Prince Albert managed the stops so cleverly for me...that I was quite enchanted."
His Te Deum in C prompted the American organist and composer Charles Callahan to say "his use of of a solo quartet and dramatic modulations mark this as a setting that is perhaps too 'rich and rare' for all but the most confirmed admirers of Victoriana."
Another work, Jubilate in A, brings praise from Callahan. "His harmonic and contrapuntal craftsmanship is similar to that of Americans of the same era, such as Charles Zeuner and John Knowles Paine....compares favorably with other Jubilates of the period."
Other sacred works by Albert are:
- Sanctus in C
- Out of the Deep
- Christmas Hymn
- Choral In F.
Perhaps these works would be of interest to present-day organists and choir directors if only for their historical qualities,although the Victorian romantic music is out of style in churches these days But if Mendelssohn said that Albert was a fine organist perhaps he was a pretty good composer, too.
Source
The Sacred Music of Prince Albert, by Charles Callahan, The American Organist, September, 1985.
