Locke began his musical career as a chorister in the choir of at Exeter Cathedral under Edward Gibbons, the brother of Orlando Gibbons. At some point he converted to Roman Catholicism, although he continued to compose music for the Anglican Church, and he was appointed composer in ordinary to King Charles II in 1661. He wrote music for The Siege of Rhodes, which is considered to be the first English opera, as well as masques, music for Charles’ coronation celebration, and anthems for the Chapel Royal. He seems already to have been in Charles’s employ during the King’s exile in the Netherlands, and he became the leading stage musician during the early years of the Restoration. Locke was familiar with the French and Italian styles favored by the King, and was the primary creator of a uniquely English mixed genre called the “semi-opera,” which was later taken up by Purcell and others.
Locke’s unusual anthem Be thou exalted, Lord, with a text from Psalm 21, was written to celebrate an English naval victory in the Second Anglo-Dutch War, a conflict that arose mainly over competition between the two countries for markets in the East Indies. It was performed in Whitehall Chapel on August 14, 1666 (and it must have been written quickly, since the battle was fought on July 25 of the same year). The famed diarist Samuel Pepys, who attended the performance, called it a “special good anthem.”
The piece was designed for the architecture of the Chapel Royal at Whitehall Palace, which had been the London residence of Henry VIII. Few English composers, with the exception of Thomas Tallis (perhaps as a challenge), had ever written music in the polychoral style of the late sixteenth-century Venetian school, but because the Chapel Royal had a gallery as well as a divided architectural choir, Locke must have decided that the grandeur of the occasion warranted this unusual treatment, and the room made it possible. However, since Whitehall Palace was almost completely destroyed by fire in 1698, the original sound of Be thou exalted can no longer be perfectly reproduced.
Locke’s original performance, which featured three choirs, organ and a consort of instruments, positioned two antiphonal choirs in the opposing choir stalls on the floor of the chapel, a third choir in the gallery above, and two instrumental groups: a consort of two violins, two bass viols and two theorbos in the gallery, and a string orchestra in the chapel below. Locke’s orchestration was likely inspired by a Louis Grabu, a student of Lully who had come to Charles’ court to train an orchestra in the French style. The French influence is apparent in this piece, especially in the instrumental sections. Since our performance space lacks a gallery, we have compromised as to the positioning of the musicians, but we hope nevertheless to convey the anthem’s splendor.
Be thou exalted, Lord, in thine own strength,
So will we sing and praise thy power.
The king shall rejoice in the strength, O Lord,
Exceeding glad shall he be of thy salvation.
Thou hast given him his heart’s desire,
And hast not denied him the request of his lips,
For thou shall prevent him with the blessings of goodness
And set a crown of pure gold upon his head.
He asked life of thee,
And thou gav’st him a long life
Even for ever and ever.
His honour is great in thy salvation,
Glory and great worship shalt thou lay upon him.
And why?
Because the king puttest his trust in the Lord,
And in the mercy of the most highest,
He shall not miscarry.