Burial of the Unknown Soldier: Westminster Abbey 11 November 1920

On 10 November 1920, the body of an unknown British soldier was exhumed in Flanders and with due solemnity returned to Britain for burial the next day, when the Cenotaph in London was due to be unveiled by King George V.
The Archive of Recorded Church Music has created this montage of newsreel footage and archive photographs to tell the story. The accompanying music we have added is a 1910 recording of Handel’s “Funeral March”, played by the Band of the Coldstream Guards, together with the incredibly rare 78rpm gramophone record made inside Westminster Abbey during the Burial Service and issued by Columbia records.
These were recorded using an experimental electrical recording system - the first electrical recording using a microphone of a choir ever made. Thirty single-sided records were recorded but, as the results were rather inferior, only this doubled sided record was ever issued. The choir of Westminster Abbey is directed by Sir Sydney Nicholson.
Read more about the Guest Merriman recording by clicking the link to our website and scrolling down the page :www.recordedch...