CHARTER FOR PEACE (for chorus and orchestra) op.480 (May 1995)

Commissioned by: The United Nations department of the British Foreign and Commonwealth Office
Instrumentation: SATB chorus 2222 2200 timp.strings, (optional 4 fanfare trumpets in Bflat)
[Key to Abbreviations]
Note on Lyrics: Text compiled from the preamble to the UN Charter with Latin declamations added by the composer
Duration: 11 mins
First Performance: June 26th 1995, Westminster Hall, The Joyful Company of Singers, City of London Sinfonia and The Trumpeters of the Welsh Guards in the presence of HM The Queen, HRH The Duke of Edinburgh and HRH The Prince of Wales, John Major and senior members of the House of Lords, The United Nations Organization, and officers of the UN.
Full score for hire
Study score for hire
Orchestral parts for hire
A video was made of the ceremony by BCA (Bonham Carter Associate)

Notes

The liaison officer for the work was Glynne Evans of the British Foreign Office, who approved the title, 'Charter for Peace' and organized the proceedings.

Howard wrote parts for 4 fanfare trumpets in B flat with the intention that Her Majesty's own state trumpeters would play them, but a complication arose when it was found that the state trumpeters would only have E flat instruments in the musicians gallery where they were positioned. The Band of the Irish Guards saved the day by volunteering to play their own B flat instruments, which came from the side rather than from behind Her Majesty The Queen, causing something of a surpise. At the end however Howard drove with three ex-heads of UNO to Buckingham Palace to meet her Majesty who said 'I liked it!'.

At the 60th anniversary in 2005 Howard revised the orchestration for standard orchestra with trumpets and horns and created a new and more thoughtful ending.

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