The two-minute piece, originally scored for an eight-voice choir, will be performed by 60 choristers with organ accompaniment.
Talking to the media, Panufnik said: “The piece starts a little mysteriously with an atmosphere of awe and wonderment that accompanies the arrival of angels. The music quickly builds and finishes ecstatically, with organ fanfares and colourful harmonies.”
Panufnik is among 12 composers who have been commissioned to write new works for the coronation. They include Judith Weir and Andrew Lloyd Weber.
Panufnik said that it all began with a phone call that she received on December 22 from Andrew Nethsingha, organist and Master of the Choristers of Westminster Abbey, who is in charge of the music for the coronation.
“His first words were: 'I spoke to the King the other day…,'" Panufnik said. "My heart stopped beating for I knew what it could mean. A commission for the coronation was both exciting and terrifying. After all, my music will be heard by millions of people."
The list of composers who had been commissioned to write music for coronation ceremonies in the past includes Handel, Byrd, Elgar and Purcell.
Born in London in 1968, Roxanna Panufnik is the daughter of Polish-born composer Andrzej Panufnik and Lady Camilla Panufnik. She studied composition at the Royal Academy of Music. Her wide-ranging output includes symphonic, chamber, vocal-instrumental and choral music. Her works have been performed across Europe, in the United States, Australia and Asia.
(mk/gs)