PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) — Shortly after the death of Queen Elizabeth II Thursday, the Philadelphia Orchestra gave a moving moment of comfort to a mournful London audience in one of the world’s most famous music theaters.
The orchestra was in London finishing up their European tour and were scheduled to perform at Royal Albert Hall for the BBC Proms, one of the world’s great international orchestra festivals.
After the news of the queen's death, the concert was canceled.
Related
However, the orchestra led by music director Yannick Nézet-Séguin honored the queen with a performance of the British National Anthem, God Save the Queen.
“It was profoundly moving. There were tears in the eyes of everyone around me,” said Philadelphia Orchestra and the Kimmel Center President and CEO Matias Tarnopolsky, who is traveling with the musicians.
“Somebody shouted ‘Thank you!’ as soon as the music stopped, and then the audience erupted in applause.”
Related
A moment of silence followed, after which the orchestra performed Elgar's "Nimrod" in tribute to the queen.
“It was really sort of a magical spirit in the house, and everyone was in awe of the historic nature of this moment,” said Tarnopolsky.
“They showed how music can build bridges between people, be a source of solace [at a] time of pain and mourning, and also be there for the moments of great moments in history.”
Related
The orchestra was set Thursday to perform Beethoven's "Eroica" Symphony, Barber's "Knoxville Summer of 1915" and Valerie Coleman's "This Is Not A Small Voice," a musical performance of a poem by Philadelphia’s former Poet Laureate Sonia Sanchez.
They were also scheduled to perform Friday night as well at Royal Albert Hall, but the BBC said that performance was canceled.
Related
Yet Tarnopolsky said the orchestra felt the magnitude of the moment, and responded with an incredibly warm gift of solace for a nation in mourning.
“I really take my hat off to the extraordinary musicians of the Philadelphia Orchestra and our music director for sharing the joy and power of music in extraordinary circumstances,” he said.
“The orchestra did Philadelphia proud.”