Deo Gracias was commissioned by R. Smith & Co. as an award to the highest placed band at the 1985 British National Wind Band Festival, which was Bolton Youth Concert Band who gave the first performance on March 31st 1986.
The suite in three connected movements is based on music first written for the Royal Shakespeare Company, with the musical motif: God be Thanked (Deo Gracias), which originated from the 1975 RSC production of Henry V.
Coronation March is the first movement with a broad flowing melody, sinister and heraldic in turns, whilst the Canon in contrast reflects a harmonious peace, leading to The King’s March with its optimistic rhythm and jaunty melody.
