More than a third of the world’s population heard Paul Mealor’s choral concerto Ubi Caritas when it was chosen by the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge to be performed at the Royal Wedding. As he comes to Kent to see it performed again, Chris Price spoke to him.

Sitting in his university office, royal wedding composer Dr Paul Mealor is awash with exam papers.

“Everyone wants everything marked by yesterday” he chuckles, in that soothing voice which becomes so many men of faith. It would be easy to forget that just a few months back, his music was performed to 2.5 billion people.

His choral concert Ubi Caritas was the serene part of the royal wedding. The moment of calm after the pomp and ceremony and 'I-dos.’ It was performed by the Westminster Abbey and Windsor choirs at the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge’s request.

A relative newcomer until 2003, Paul’s work has made him the hot property of British classical music. All the more reason to see him when it is performed in Kent this weekend.

“The response has been fantastic” said Paul, 35. “After the royal wedding I came back to 15,000 emails.”

The story began when the Welshman wrote a piece for the John Armitage Memorial Trust nine years ago, an organisation set up to nurture, promote and perform new music in the UK. The piece was accepted and performed, beginning a long association with the trust, known as JAM.

Last year he composed Now Sleeps the Crimson Petal, a choral work to accompany the Lord Alfred Tennyson poem.

Then things started to happen when it was performed on JAM’s October tour of Scotland.

“By some mystical means the royal couple got to hear it” said Paul, still sounding as bewildered as when he first heard the news. “Someone must have recorded it and sent it to them.

“I was contacted by Clarence House to say they wanted it included in the wedding ceremony. They said Catherine had fallen in love with it.”

Paul was told he would have to make changes to his original composition.

More pretentious artists would have been offended but Paul’s discretion proves why he was such a wise choice.

“They said the words to the Tennyson poem were not appropriate for a wedding ceremony. The poem presents two lilies as infatuated with each other. It is quite sensual and not right for a church service. So they asked me to alter the words.

“Luckily I had already started thinking about that and was already composing Ubi Caritas. The royal couple were very serious about the music. They wanted big loud pieces like I Was Glad by Sir Hubert Parry but they also wanted a moment of calm. A moment of peace to reflect on the bishop’s words. They came across this piece by accident and it was the sound they wanted. Then I set it to sacred words.”

Paul – who is now based at Aberdeen University – was very young when he decided to be a composer. He sang in a choir as a boy and was in a brass band. He had composition lessons from the Welsh composer William Mathias from a very early age.

“I heard all the great composers and by nine tried to write my first symphony. It was terrible but I had the urge to write. I always wanted to connect with people. A lot of my music is religious. I have a deep faith and it guides my thoughts. I have a strong impetus to compose and if I cannot do it because I am teaching I feel like I am not doing what I am supposed to be doing.”

Paul Mealor’s Ubi Caritas will be performed by JAM at St Leonard’s Church in Hythe to close the St Leonard’s Festival on Saturday, July 9. Paul will give a pre-concert talk from 6.30pm alongside Paul Patterson, whose work The Fifth Continent will also be performed.