A COMPOSER who wrote music for this year’s Royal Wedding is to release an album of his work.
Paul Mealor has signed to Decca Records, capping a six-month spell which has seen him plucked from obscurity to write for the wedding of Prince William and Kate Middleton, top the classical download chart and become a professor of music.
His first album for the label, A Tender Light, is out on November 7.
Dr Mealor, 35, originally from Connah’s Quay, said: “It has been amazing. It is like a rollercoaster ride, one thing after another.
“The reaction of people since Ubi Caritas was performed has been fantastic.
“The album is stunning stuff. Decca is the biggest label in the world, they have the best people.
“It was purely composition from me, no performance. I was there and able to give advice on shaping the music.”
He added: “Composers like me rarely get the opportunity to work with major recording labels.
“As a youngster growing up in North Wales, I could not have dreamed of this.”
Performers on the album include the Tenebrae Choir, the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra and teenage chorister Thomas Featherstonhaugh, who performed during the wedding.
Dr Mealor’s busy schedule does not look like slowing, with a composition of his to be performed at a Royal British Legion concert at the Royal Albert Hall on November 12.
It will be sung by the wives of servicemen posted in Afghanistan.
He said: “It was very emotional. The wives wrote the words themselves.
“When I was composing the music, they sent me their poems with their thoughts, then we put it into one poem to go with the music. During the first rehearsal, they couldn’t sing it without crying.”
A global audience of 2.5 billion tuned in to watch the Royal Wedding in April, when Dr Mealor’s piece was performed by the choir of Westminster Abbey.
Afterwards he received 15,000 emails of congratulation.
Later this year he will visit New York for a week-long series of concerts, including one at the prestigious Princeton University in New Jersey.
He said: “All the exposure came from the wedding. There has not been an event like that in broadcasting history.
“Who else gets exposure like that? For the Royal couple to choose a young, non-established composer took a great deal of courage.”
Mark Wilkinson, managing director of Decca Records, said: “Paul has already left his mark on music history through the phenomenal global response to his Royal Wedding anthem.
“We look forward to working closely with him as his career flourishes.”