CORONAE (Monk)

Composer: William Henry Monk

William H. Monk (b. Brompton, London, England, 1823; d. London, 1889) is best known for his music editing of Hymns Ancient and Modern (1861, 1868; 1875, and 1889 editions). He also adapted music from plainsong and added accompaniments for Introits for Use Throughout the Year, a book issued with that famous hymnal. Beginning in his teenage years, Monk held a number of musical positions. He became choirmaster at King's College in London in 1847 and was organist and choirmaster at St. Matthias, Stoke Newington, from 1852 to 1889, where he was influenced by the Oxford Movement. At St. Matthias, Monk also began daily choral services with the choir leading the congregation in music chosen according to the church year, including psalms chanted to… Go to person page >

William H. Monk (PHH 332) composed CORONAE in 1871. The following year it was published in J Ireland Tucker's Hymnal with Tunes Old and New as a setting for Thomas Kelly's text "Look, ye saints, the sight is glorious." That text had "Crown him!" in each stanza, thus the title for this tune.

A bar form tune (AAB), CORONAE is noteworthy for the rhythmic structure of its final line. Sing stanzas 1 and 4 in unison and stanzas 2 and 3 in harmony. Apply crisp articulation on the repeated melody tones and use bold accompaniment.

--Psalter Hymnal Handbook, 1988