If you\u2019ve witnessed a royal occasion on the television (or been lucky enough to attend one), it\u2019s likely that at least some of the music was written especially for it. And it\u2019s equally likely that some of it was composed by the Master of the Queens Music.<\/strong><\/p>\n

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Four pieces of music especially composed for kings and queens<\/a><\/strong><\/li>\n
What has the Queen done for classical music?<\/a><\/strong><\/li>\n
The Queen\u2019s Platinum Jubilee: what music is likely to be played at the Service of Thanksgiving?<\/a><\/strong><\/li>\n
The Queen\u2019s Platinum Jubilee concert: what music will be played at the party at the palace?<\/a><\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>
<\/p><\/div> <\/section>
The role, which almost exclusively given to a composer, has existed for over 400 years and while the particulars of it will have changed, the basic premise endures. The Master of the Queen\u2019s (or King\u2019s) Music is in the service of the royal household, to provide musical comment for special royal occasions, or events of national importance. Think of it as the musical equivalent of the poet laureate.<\/p>\n
Today those given the honour hold the post for ten years, though it was a life-long title for those serving in the role right up until 2004.<\/p>\n
Have there been any memorable Masters? Here\u2019s seven of the most notable\u2026<\/p>\n
Nicholas Lanier (1588-1666)<\/strong><\/h2>\n
<\/strong>A composer, singer, lutenist, scenographer and painter of French Huguenot origin, Nicholas Lanier was the first musician to hold the title of Master of the King\u2019s Music \u2013 serving both Charles I and II. He was appointed to the role in 1618, having first served as a royal lutenist and \u2013 as a connoisseur\u00a0of the arts \u2013 he was instrumental in convincing the King to bring the Flemish painter Van Dyck to England. Lanier spent the Commonwealth period living in the Netherlands, after losing his role in 1649, when Charles I was deposed, but returned to resume duties to Charles II in 1660. Highly impressed by the new Italian music he heard on his many travels, he was one of the first English composers to introduce monody and recitative to England, helping to contribute to the development of the English Baroque style.<\/p>\n
William Boyce (1711-1779)<\/strong><\/h2>\n
<\/strong>Though his music is seldom performed today, Boyce was a prolific\u00a0composer of his day, acquainted with Handel, Arne, Gluck, Bach, Abel and the young Mozart \u2013 all of whom admired his work. Brought up in London, he served as an organist at the Oxford Chapel, as a conductor at the Three Choirs Festival, and as a composer, writing music for venues including the Drury Lane Theatre and the Vauxhall Pleasure Gardens, before landing a plum job as composer to the Chapel Royal. He was appointed Master of the King\u2019s Musick in 1757. Though he later went deaf, he continued to compose, cementing a reputation as one of the foremost church music composers of his time. Following his death in 1779, the composer Charles Wesley (1757-1834) said of him, \u2018a more modest man than Dr. Boyce I have never known. I never heard him speak a vain or ill-natured word, either to exalt himself or deprecate another.\u2019<\/p>\n
Edward Elgar (1857-1934)<\/strong><\/h2>\n
<\/strong>It wasn\u2019t until Elgar was 67, in 1924, that he was appointed Master of the King\u2019s Musick, by which time he had already occupied the position in the public\u2019s mind for several years, and written most of his \u2018royal music\u2019, including the Imperial March (1897), <\/em>the first four Pomp and Circumstance Marches <\/em>(1901-1907) and the Coronation Ode <\/em>(1901). Still, he used his tenure \u2013\u00a0during which the title of the post was changed to Master of King\u2019s Music (dropping the \u2018k\u2019 from \u2018Musick\u2019) \u2013\u00a0\u00a0to write one more Pomp and Circumstance <\/em>March (1930) and his Nursery Suite <\/em>(1931), dedicated to \u2018their Royal Highnesses Princess Elizabeth and Margaret Rose.\u2019 He also made sure that the Royal Music Library was well ordered. By the time he died, ten years later, there were few who would have regarded as Elgar as anything other than \u2013 as his biographer Basil Maine put it \u2013\u00a0 \u2018first\u00a0musician of the land.\u2019<\/p>\n
Arthur Bliss (1891-1975)<\/strong><\/h2>\n
<\/strong>A pillar of British musical life, Arthur Bliss worked in the Overseas Music Service of the\u00a0BBC and was the BBC\u2019s Director of Music before being appointed Master of the Queen\u2019s Music in 1953 \u2013 the year of the Queen\u2019s Coronation. His first duty in the role was to compose the Processional for the Coronation \u2013 a daunting responsibility, but one that the composer, who wrote quickly and with facility \u2013 took in his stride. He went on to discharge his other duties with similar professionalism, producing music for state occasions ranging from the birth of a royal child to the funeral of Winston Churchill. He wrote his final cantata, Shield of Faith, celebrating 5000 years of St George\u2019s Chapel, Windsor Castle, the year before his death in 1975.<\/p>\n
Malcolm Williamson (1931-2003)<\/strong><\/h2>\n
<\/strong>Some were surprised in 1975, when\u00a0 the Australian composer Malcolm Williamson was appointed master of the Queen\u2019s music. Not only were there other more seemingly obvious candidates, among them Benjamin Britten, Michael Tippett and Malcolm Arnold, but Williamson was also the first non-Briton to hold the post. A former nightclub pianist who, in 1952, converted to Roman Catholicism, Williamson was a colourful character. In 1977 he caused controversy by failing to complete his \u2018Jubilee Symphony\u2019 for the Queen\u2019s Silver Jubilee, and he was outspoken in his criticism of his composer colleagues. As for his music: influenced as it was by everything from twelve-tone technique, to jazz and popular music, it was often criticised for its lack of discipline. Yet there was no denying the fertility of Williamson\u2019s imagination, and over the course of his tenure, he wrote several works for the Royal Family, including the Jubilee Hymn (1977)<\/em>,\u00a0his Lament in Memory of Lord Mountbatten of Burma<\/em>\u00a0(1980), his Ode for Queen Elizabeth <\/em>(1980) and his Songs for a Royal Baby <\/em>(1985).<\/p>\n
Peter Maxwell Davies (1934-2016)<\/strong><\/h2>\n
<\/strong>When Sir Peter Maxwell Davies was appointed Master in 2004 the terms of the role was changed, changing the tenure from a lifetime position to a ten-year position. Despite being a republican for most of his life, he embraced the role wholeheartedly, giving lectures decrying the decline of classical music provision in schools, and advising the Queen to create an annual Queen\u2019s medal for music, to which she agreed. In fact, he was one of the most hard-working composers of all time, producing a staggering amount of work in a variety of styles over his career , from the violently experimental Eight Songs for a Mad King<\/i> to light orchestral works, many of them drawing on the folk music of Orkney,\u00a0where he lived for the latter part of his life.<\/p>\n
Judith Weir (b1954)<\/strong><\/h2>\nWeir was announced as Master of the Queen\u2019s Music<\/a> <\/strong>in July 2014 and has two years remaining in the role. A prolific composer of opera, orchestral and choral works, she \u2013 like her predecessor Peter Maxwell Davies \u2013 has placed music education at the heart of her work in this prestigious role. Her first commission came in 2015, to mark the 500th anniversary of Hampton Court Palace<\/a><\/strong>, and her tenure has seen her compose music for Her Majesty\u2019s 90th birthday (in 2016), plus a number of works for community groups. She also composed a special commemorative piece to mark the centenary of the 1918 Armisitice. \u00a0Her successor will be announced in 2024.<\/p>\n
\u00a0<\/p><\/body><\/html>\n
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