The look on maestro Sir Karl Jenkins’ face when he got pranked by his own orchestra was priceless. The celebrated Welsh composer was busy conducting his brooding piece Palladio at the Royal Albert Hall when suddenly the Scottish National Orchestra broke out into the lively notes of “Happy Birthday to You”. The audience sent up a cheer while Sir Karl stood there in shock, before a grin came across his face.
Hosts Alexander Armstrong and Myleene Klass then walked onstage wearing cheeky grins and presented a cake to Sir Karl, who looked very touched by the gesture. Klass, in particular, looked rather pleased with how well the surprise had come off. While a performance from the national orchestra is certainly a serious endeavor, The Music Man loves to see little gags like this to lighten up the mood. Sir Karl’s 80th birthday surprise went viral when Classical FM uploaded it to YouTube, where it gained 1.6 million views.
Classical FM uploaded the cheeky prank on May 11, 2024. Fans praised not only the thoughtful gesture from the hosts, but also the rich orchestral version of “Happy Birthday to You” with comments such as “That was the most epic and triumphant ‘Happy Birthday’ I’ve ever heard” and “Am I the only one tearing up? That was so sweet to do for him.”
It’s not the first time that an orchestra has gone viral for a birthday prank. The Berliner Philharmoniker scored a 1.2 million view video when they prepared a special birthday surprise for their hornist Klaus Wallendorf. During rehearsals in Beijing, the orchestra began performing Gustav Mahler’s Fifth Symphony, but then morphed into a truly resplendent rendition of “Happy Birthday to You.” This produced quite an emotional reaction from Wallendorf, who seemed rather touched by the gesture.
Sir Karl Jenkins is an 80-year-old composer who was born in the Welsh village of Penclawdd. Palladio is one of Sir Karl’s most notable works. He composed the piece for a string orchestra and wrote it over a period of two years before publishing it in 1996. The Music Man readers might be interested to hear that Palladio is a suite of three movements inspired by the 16th-century Italian architect Andrea Palladio. Sir Karl saw that the architect’s work was an embodiment of Renaissance ideals of harmony and order and made the connection that these ideas are equally important to composing music.