Today marks the 63rd anniversary of Queen Elizabeth II‘s coronation. Within the past year, she became the longest reigning queen in recorded history.

The coronation ceremony was quite an ordeal, to say the least, taking 16 months to plan. One of the many pieces composed for the occasion was the “Orb & Sceptre” march by William Walton.

Vivat Regina Elizabetha!

Nobody understands me …

Well, Berlioz, let’s start with your hair. With a haircut like that, nobody is going to take you seriously!

Forget my hair! The hair is nothing. What I want is for people to understand my music!

Fair enough. So, what sort of music do you have for us today?

Ah, it’s my Damnation of Faust! I just adore this book by Goethe, even though it’s by a wretched German. As soon as I read it, I knew I had to write music for it.

Sounds good! So what did you write? a Faust Symphony like Lizst? an opera like Gounod?

Of course not! It has soloists, a choir, an orchestra …

Ah, so you wrote an oratorio! You know Schumann did that too …

Absolutely not an oratorio! Nobody wants another bloody boring cantata. My audiences made that clear when they first heard my masterpiece.

An opera then?

Well, it’s … eh … sort of … a “dramatic legend.”

Ok. So it’s an oratorio.

No, it is much more than that. My roles are to be acted and lived, not merely sung.

Ok, so let’s make it an opera.

We tried that already. My music is too magnificent to be brought down to the level of mere tomfoolery on a stage with idiotic costumes. *sigh* nobody understands me …

*pause* Well then, let’s talk about ways you might improve your hairstyle.

Tax day. Need I say more?

“… in this world nothing can be said to be certain, except death and taxes.” – Benjamin Franklin

The Art Music world is mysteriously silent on the subject of taxes. Thankfully, it is far from silent on death. So, happy tax day, and enjoy the famous Funeral March from Frederic Chopin‘s 2nd piano sonata.