Whether written for the pomp and circumstance of grand occasions, the parade ground’s precision or the needs of church, concert hall or opera house, music has played a central role in shaping British identity. This release brings together an assortment of works that are among the staples of the British repertoire, from Handel’s majestic Zadok the Priest to Elgar’s yearning, melancholic Cello Concerto. They are complemented by a selection of National Gallery portraits and landscapes – quintessentially British in subject and style, created by the nation’s leading 18th- and 19th-century painters.
