(Paris) La seule version chantée récente de l’hymne britannique God Save The King disponible actuellement sur les plateformes d’écoute en continu a été enregistrée en 2017 par le chanteur et professeur d’opéra français Arnaud Kientz.
Publié à 11h19
Mis à jour à 13h18
Ce baryton de 51 ans, qui avait déjà chanté l’hymne national français La Marseillaise en 2016, était en train d’enregistrer God Save The Queen un an plus tard à la demande de la maison de disque Musigram, lorsque lui vient l’idée d’entonner sa version alternative.
« Il y a aussi déjà eu un “King” […], and then we sometimes hear it in the movies. So we thought we were going to record God Save the King too”, explains the artist.
Listened to in total “500,000” times “for the moment” on various online listening platforms (Spotify, Deezer, Apple Music, etc.), its two versions, sung or instrumental, of the new British anthem are also a hit. on the video social network TikTok. In a few days, they were picked up more than 1000 times by users.
A sudden enthusiasm, boosted by press articles including one from the British newspaper The Guardianwhich Arnaud Kientz did not expect: “It’s rather amusing”, he says, delighted to have reached a younger audience.
” It is a pleasure. It allows them to hear a voice that they are not used to” listening, and “the lyrical genre needs young people”, he adds with a smile.
The baritone had only recorded the first verse of the anthem, “the best known, as for the Marseillaise”, he specifies.
For the moment, only the French version and a 1932 recording by Maurice Winnick are available for commercial use by God Save the King.
Since the death of Queen Elizabeth II, some record companies have also begun to rename instrumental versions of the anthem.
The BBC has invited Scottish mezzo-soprano Katherine Jenkins to record the anthem with the correct lyrics, but this version has not been released.