God Save The Queen is UK's first Official Classical Singles Chart Number 1

God Save The Queen, the British National Anthem, today becomes the very first Number 1 in the UK’s all-new Official Classical Singles Chart, the Official Charts Company can reveal.

On the week of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II’s Diamond Jubilee, it appears that the classical music-buying public of the UK have been caught up in royal fever. Music fans the length and breadth of the UK have been downloading copies of the BBC Concert Orchestra’s / Barry Wordsworth’s rendition of God Save The Queen in time for the forthcoming Bank Holiday weekend royal celebrations, and in doing so have quite fittingly delivered the National Anthem as the first Number 1 in the brand new classical singles rundown.

Similarly, a further host of much-celebrated traditional tracks including Nessun Dorma (2), Jerusalem (9) Rule Britannia (10), and Katherine Jenkin’s verison of I Vow To Thee My Country (14) are all present in the chart.

Elsewhere, interestingly in the Official Classical Singles Chart there is evidence of a strong popular culture influence on the new classical singles chart. Soundtracks from Pirates Of The Caribbean Curse Of The Black Pearl (He’s A Pirate) at Number 6, the film Inception (Time) at Number 11, and Vide Cor Meum (taken from Hannibal OST) at Number 17, have all made their way into the inaugural Top 20.

Italian pianist and composer Ludovico Einaudi has no less than four entries in the Official Classical Singles Chart Top 20 – including the song I Giorni (3) that was recently championed by Radio 1’s Greg James as his ‘study break’ track after he discovered it during his exam studies at university, plus also Divenire (4), Nuvole Bianche (8) and Le Onde (16).

Gareth Malone, leader of the Military Wives Choir whose track Wherever You Are became 2011’s Christmas Number 1, the first ever classical track to top of the main Official Singles Chart, and also today claims a Number 5 in the new Official Classical Singles Chart, comments:

“I don’t think people realise just how much classical music there is in our lives, from adverts, to the scores for great films such as Jurassic Park and scores to great TV programmes like Downton Abbey. Or just music that we hear in lifts or in restaurants. There’s classical music absolutely everywhere, and you think ‘what is that piece?’, so I think it is great to have a chart that celebrates classical music in this country.”

The Official Classical Singles Chart Top 10 is as follows. Click here to see the full countdown.

© The Official Charts Company. All rights reserved.

Watch a video below of Russell Watson, Gareth Malone, Hayley Westenra and Paul Mealor talking about the launch of the UK's first ever Official Classical Singles Chart. The video also features Katherine Jenkins talking about why the Official Charts are important to classical artists, and how she felt the first time she topped the Official Classical Albums Chart.