Judith Weir
Dame Judith Weir HonFRSE | |
---|---|
Born | Cambridge, England, UK | 11 May 1954
Occupation |
|
Works | List of compositions |
21st Master of the King's Music | |
Assumed office 22 July 2014 | |
Monarchs | Elizabeth II Charles III |
Preceded by | Peter Maxwell Davies |
Website | www |
Dame Judith Weir
Life and career
Weir was born in
Weir was appointed
On 30 June 2014,
Weir is a member of the Incorporated Society of Musicians.
She was promoted
Music
Weir's musical language is fairly conservative, with a "knack of making simple musical ideas appear freshly mysterious".
The first public performance of Weir's arrangement of "
In 2023, Weir was one of twelve composers asked to write a new piece for the coronation of Charles III and Camilla.[19] Her composition for orchestra, Brighter Visions Shine Afar, was performed before the ceremony began.[20]
List of compositions
Opera and music theatre
- King Harald's Saga (1979, soprano, singing eight roles)
- The Black Spider (6 March 1985, Canterbury);[21] also exists in an expanded version for Hamburg State Opera (8 February 2009, Hamburg)
- The Consolations of Scholarship (5 May 1985, Durham, soprano, chamber ensemble)
- A Night at the Chinese Opera (8 July 1987, Cheltenham)
- HEAVEN ABLAZE in His Breast (5 October 1989, Basildon), based on E.T.A. Hoffmann's The Sandman, which won the prize for innovative work at OperaScreen in 1991.[22]
- The Vanishing Bridegroom (1990, Glasgow); also exists in a chamber version (1990)
- Scipio's Dream (24 November 1991,Metastasio
- The Skriker (27 January 1994, London) – music for Caryl Churchill's play of the same name
- Blond Eckbert (20 April 1994, London); also exists in a so-called "pocket version" (reduced to one act from two) (2006)
- Armida (2005, television broadcast for Channel Four in the United Kingdom)
- Miss Fortune (opera) (Achterbahn "rollercoaster") (21 July 2011, Bregenzer Festspiele)
Other compositions
- Music for 247 Strings (1981, violin, piano)
- Thread! (1981, narrator, chamber ensemble)
- Scotch Minstrelsy (1982, tenor or soprano, piano)
- The Art of Touching the Keyboard (1983, piano)
- Missa Del Cid (1988, SAAATTTBBB choir), originally part of BBC's Sound on Film series; later used independently in concert and on stage.[24]
- String Quartet (1990)
- Musicians Wrestle Everywhere (1994, flute, oboe, bass clarinet, horn, trombone, piano, cello, double bass)
- Forest (1995, orchestra)
- Piano Concerto (1997, piano, strings)
- Storm (1997, children's choir, SSAA choir, chamber ensemble)
- Natural History (1998, soprano, orchestra)
- Piano Trio (1998)
- We Are Shadows (1999, children's choir, SATB choir, orchestra)
- Piano Quartet (2000)
- woman.life.song (2000, premiered by Jessye Norman at Carnegie Hall, soprano, chamber ensemble)
- The welcome arrival of rain (2001–2002, orchestra)
- Tiger Under the Table (2002, chamber ensemble)
- Piano Trio Two (2003–2004)
- Winter Song (2006, orchestra)
- CONCRETE (2007, speaker, SATB choir, orchestra)
- I give you the end of a golden string (2013, strings)
- In the Land of Uz (2017, SATB choir, soprano saxophone, trumpet, tuba, organ, viola, double bass)
- Oboe Concerto (2018, oboe, orchestra)
- The Prelude (2018–2019, flute, violin, viola, cello)
- The True Light (2018, SATB choir, organ) for the First World War centenary
- By Wisdom (2018, SATB choir, organ) for the Platinum Jubilee of Elizabeth II[25]
- Music, Spread Thy Voice (2022, orchestra) for the 150th Anniversary of the Royal Orchestral Society
- Like as the hart (2022, SATB choir, organ) for the state funeral of Elizabeth II.[26]*
- Begin Afresh (2022, orchestra)
- Brighter Visions Shine Afar (2023, orchestra) for the coronation of Charles III and Camilla
Recordings
- Judith Weir: Discography
- A Night at the Chinese Opera – NMC D060
- King Harald's Saga – Cala CACD88040
- Piano Concerto; Distance and Enchantment; various other chamber works – NMC D090
- Blond Eckbert Nicholas Folwell (baritone), Blond Eckbert; Anne-Marie Owens (mezzo-soprano), Berthe; Christopher Ventris (tenor), Walther / Hugo / An Old Woman; Nerys Jones (soprano), A bird; Chorus and Orchestra of English National Opera; Sian Edwards (conductor) Collins Classics: CD14612 / NMC: NMC D106
- On Buying a Horse: The songs of Judith Weir On Buying a Horse; Ox Mountain Was Covered by Trees; Songs from the Exotic; Scotch Minstrelsy; The Voice of Desire; A Spanish Liederbooklet; King Harald's Saga; Ständchen. Ian Burnside(piano) Signum SIGCD087
- The Vanishing Bridegroom. Ailish Tynan (soprano), Anna Stéphany (soprano), Andrew Tortise (tenor), Owen Gilhooly (baritone), Jonathan Lemalu (bass-baritone), BBC Singers, BBC Symphony Orchestra; Martyn Brabbins (conductor) – NMC D196
References
Citations
- OCLC 25465899.
- ^ "Queen's new composer Judith Weir hails 'boss'". heraldscotland. 22 July 2014. Retrieved 22 July 2014.
- ^ Morrison, Richard (18 January 2008). "The wonderful Judith Weir – With a Barbican weekend devoted to her music, the composer Judith Weir is being feted as never before". The Times & Sunday Times Archives. London: Times Newspapers. Retrieved 31 January 2011.
- ^ "No. 54066". The London Gazette (1st supplement). 16 June 1995. p. 9.
- ^ Brodeur, Michael Andor (9 September 2022). "Queen had 'immensely detailed knowledge' of music, says royal composer". The Washington Post. Retrieved 20 September 2022.
- ^ Booth, Robert (29 June 2014). "Judith Weir to be appointed first female master of Queen's music". The Guardian. Retrieved 20 September 2022.
- ^ "Judith Weir appointed Master of the Queen's Music". www.musicsalesclassical. Retrieved 22 October 2018.
- ^ Tilden, Imogen (3 July 2014). "Judith Weir: the female music master with royal seal of approval". The Guardian. Retrieved 20 September 2022.
- ^ "The Ivors 2015 Winners, Ivor Novello Awards, Judith Weir". The Ivors. BASCA. 22 May 2015. Archived from the original on 3 March 2016. Retrieved 28 February 2016.
- ^ "Incorporated Society of Musicians". ISM. 4 August 2015. Retrieved 19 September 2022.
- ^ "Ms Judith Weir HonFRSE". The Royal Society of Edinburgh. Retrieved 14 March 2018.
- ^ "Royal Holloway presents Honorary Fellowships". Royal Holloway, University of London. 8 June 2023. Retrieved 30 December 2023.
- ^ "No. 64269". The London Gazette (Supplement). 30 December 2023. p. N9.
- ^ Clements, Andrew (13 March 2012). "Miss Fortune – review". The Guardian. London.
- ^ "Opera Composers: W". opera.stanford.edu. Retrieved 22 October 2018.
- ^ "Judith Weir – Armida (2005) – Music Sales Classical". www.chesternovello.com. Retrieved 22 October 2018.
- ^ "Musical Work rises from the concrete Barbican". London Evening Standard. 28 December 2007. Retrieved 18 October 2017.
- ^ "The State Funeral and Committal Service for Her Majesty The Queen". The Royal Family. 15 September 2022. Retrieved 19 September 2022.
- ^ "Andrew Lloyd Webber piece among new coronation music". BBC News. 18 February 2023. Retrieved 20 February 2023.
- ^ Royal Family, "New music commissions for the coronation service at Westminster Abbey", 17 April 2023. Retrieved 9 May 2023.
- ^ Evans, Rian (29 May 2022). "The Black Spider review – Weir's opera is ghastly gothic treat". The Guardian. Retrieved 20 September 2022.
- ^ Weir, Judith. Memoirs of an Accidental Film Artist. In: A Night in at the Opera – Media representations of Opera. Edited by Jeremy Tambling. John Libbey & Company Ltd, London, 1994, p57.
- ^ "Search – BBC Programme Index".
- ^ Weir, Judith. Memoirs of an Accidental Film Artist. In: A Night in at the Opera – Media representations of Opera. Edited by Jeremy Tambling. John Libbey & Company Ltd, London, 1994, p58.
- ^ Brodeur, Michael Andor (15 September 2022). "Queen had 'immensely detailed knowledge' of music, says royal composer". The Washington Post. Retrieved 17 December 2022.
- ^ Ashley, Tim (19 September 2022). "A ringing coda: the music at the Queen's funeral was both solemn and sublime". The Guardian. Retrieved 19 September 2022.
Sources
- Warrack, John and West, Ewan (1992), The Oxford Dictionary of Opera, 782 pages, OCLC 25409395
External links
- Achterbahn Bregenz 2011 Archived 6 March 2016 at the Wayback Machine
- Judith Weir on the British Music Collection