Master of the King's Music
Master of the King's Music (or Master of the Queen's Music, or earlier Master of the King's Musick) is a post in the
The post is broadly comparable to that of poet laureate. It is given to people eminent in the field of classical music; they have almost always been composers. Duties are not clearly stated, though it is generally expected the holder of the post will write music to commemorate important royal events, such as coronations, birthdays, anniversaries, marriages and deaths, and to accompany other ceremonial occasions. The individual may also act as the sovereign's adviser in musical matters. Since 2004 the appointment has been for a fixed term of ten years rather than for life, as previously.
The King's Musick
In the 14th century professional music-making in England was theoretically regulated by the Crown. Musicians known as the "King's Minstrels" or the "King's Musick" wore the royal livery and exercised some control of other musicians, although the musicologist Leonard Duck describes that control as "nominal".[1]
First Masters of the King's Musick
The first appointed Master of the King's Musick was the only one seriously to attempt to rule all the musicians in the kingdom as a guild. This was
The position lapsed during the period of military rule following the Civil War, but on the restoration of the monarchy in 1660 Lanier returned from exile to resume the revived post.[1] After Lanier's death in 1666, Charles II appointed a French violinist, Louis Grabu, to the post. Grabu was primarily concerned with organising the music for the court, and the Westminster musicians' guild fell into decline, coming to an end after 1697.[1] Neither Grabu nor his successor Nicholas Staggins, who served from 1674 to 1700, was a talented composer; they turned to established composers such as Henry Purcell to supply music for important occasions.[4]
18th century
Staggins was succeeded by
After Eccles's death in 1735, his post was filled by
Boyce died in 1779, and was succeeded as Master by another former pupil of Greene, John Stanley, who held the post until he died in 1786. He composed fifteen birthday and New Year odes, but none of them have survived.[4] The last Master appointed in the 18th century was Sir William Parsons. He was viewed by his contemporaries as an affable man but a musician of limited ability, although his court music cannot be assessed, having mostly been lost.[8] He is believed to be the first professional musician to have been knighted in Britain, although it was said that the honour was more for "the score of his merits than because of the merits of his scores".[9]
19th century
Parsons held the post of Master until 1817, when he was succeeded by William Shield, best known as a theatre composer: he composed or arranged music for at least thirty-six operas and seven pantomimes and ballets.[10] Shield's tenure is most notable for the abandonment of the traditional provision of court odes. By custom, the Poet Laureate of the day wrote the words for the odes, a task that the then holder, Robert Southey, found uncongenial. After the death of George III in 1820 the odes were discontinued. The post of Master of the King's Musick continued because George IV maintained the traditional small orchestra, which Shield's successor, Christian Kramer, directed. That remained the chief function of the Master through the tenures of Franz Cramer (Master 1834–48), George Frederick Anderson (Master 1848–70), and Sir William Cusins (Master 1870–93). The last of these produced a few works for royal occasions, including a jubilee cantata, "Grant the Queen a Long Life" (1887).[11]
The last Master appointed in the 19th century was
20th century
After Parratt's death in 1924, there was a body of opinion that the position of Master was an anachronism, with neither a royal band to direct nor regular royal odes to compose.
Elgar died in 1934. He was succeeded by Sir Walford Davies, organist of St George's Chapel, Windsor, who had been rumoured to be in the running for the post in 1924.[18] In a 1966 retrospective of the various Masters, Charles Cudworth wrote that Davies was "a fine musician, a good composer, and was even better-known as one of the world's first great broadcasters, so the appointment was popular."[4] When Davies died in 1941, Sir Arnold Bax replaced him, to the surprise of many in the musical world, given his strong affinities with Ireland, and no record of writing occasional music.[1] Bax did write a few pieces for royal occasions, including a march for the coronation of Elizabeth II.[19]
Bax died in 1953; many expected his successor to be
When Bliss died in 1975, Walton and others lobbied for the appointment of
21st century
After the end of Maxwell Davies' term, Judith Weir was appointed in 2014, again for a ten-year term.[25] Reporting the appointment, The Guardian said that rather than only writing pieces for royal occasions,
Weir would concentrate on supporting and speaking up for her composer colleagues, challenging the function that contemporary music fulfils in society, and embarking on a nationwide exploration of the state of music education in order to create pieces that will be useful for schoolchildren and amateur musicians.[25]
However, Weir has composed several works for state events, including The True Light for the First World War centenary in 2018, By Wisdom for the Platinum Jubilee[26] and Like as the hart for the Queen's state funeral.[27]
Office holders
Name | Year appointed | Year of death | Comments | Monarch served | Monarch's title |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Nicholas Lanier | 1625 | * | * The post was abolished in 1649 when the monarchy was overthrown, and reinstituted in 1660.[28] | Charles I | King/Queen of England |
1660 | 1666 | Charles II (d. 1685) | |||
Louis Grabu | 1666 | (after 1693) | Grabu seems to have fallen foul of the Test Act, passed in spring 1673 and enforced on 18 November, which banned all Catholics from court.[29]
| ||
Nicholas Staggins | 1674 | Staggins died on 13 June 1700.[30] | |||
1685 | James II (Glorious Revolution 1688) | ||||
1688 | 1700 | Mary II (joint monarchs; Mary d. 1694; William d. 1702)
| |||
John Eccles | 1700 | The longest-serving Master of the King's Musick (35 years) and the only one who served four monarchs. | |||
1702 | Anne (d. 1714) | ||||
– | King/Queen of Great Britain (from 1707) | ||||
1714 | George I (d. 1727) | ||||
1727 | 1735 | George II (d. 1760) | |||
Maurice Greene | 1735 | 1755 | |||
William Boyce | 1755 | ||||
1760 | 1779 | George III (d. 1820)
| |||
John Stanley | 1779 | 1786 | |||
Sir William Parsons | 1786 | ||||
– | 1817 | King/Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland (from 1801) | |||
William Shield | 1817 | ||||
1820 | 1829 | George IV (d. 1830)
| |||
Christian Kramer | 1829 | ||||
1830 | 1834 | William IV (d. 1837)
| |||
Franz Cramer | 1834 | ||||
1837 | 1848 | Victoria (d. 1901) | |||
George Frederick Anderson | 1848 | (1876) | Anderson left the post in 1870. | ||
(Sir) William Cusins | 1870 | 1893 | Knighted in 1892; the only Master of the Queen's Musick to be knighted during his term of office. | ||
Sir Walter Parratt | 1893 | ||||
1901 | Edward VII (d. 1910) | ||||
1910 | George V (d. 1936) | ||||
– | 1924 | King/Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland (from 1922) | |||
Sir Edward Elgar | 1924 | 1934 | The title of the office was changed from Master of the King's Musick to Master of the King's Music during Elgar's tenure.[3] | ||
Sir Walford Davies | 1934 | Davies was gazetted as "Master of the Music" (rather than "Musick").[31]
| |||
1936 (January) |
Edward VIII (abd. Dec 1936) | ||||
1936 (December) |
1941 | George VI (d. 1952) | |||
Sir Arnold Bax | 1942 | ||||
1952 | 1953 | Elizabeth II (d. 2022) | |||
Sir Arthur Bliss | 1953 | 1975 | |||
Malcolm Williamson | 1975 | 2003 | |||
Sir Peter Maxwell Davies | 2004 | 2016 | Davies was appointed for a ten-year term, the first not appointed for life. | ||
Dame Judith Weir | 2014 | The first female holder of the office, also appointed for a ten-year term. | |||
2022 | Charles III |
See also
Notes
- ^ a b c d e f g h Duck, Leonard. "Masters of the Sovereign's Music", The Musical Times, June 1953, pp. 255–258 (subscription required)
- ^ a b Wilson 1994, p. 186
- ^ a b c d e "Master of The Queen's Music", The British Monarchy, retrieved 26 May 2015
- ^ a b c d e f Cudworth, Charles. "Masters of the Musick", The Musical Times, August 1966, pp. 676–677 (subscription required)
- ^ Laurie, Margaret and Stoddard Lincoln. "Eccles", Grove Music Online, Oxford University Press, retrieved 27 May 2015 (subscription required)
- ^ Johnstone H. Diack. "Greene, Maurice", Grove Music Online, Oxford University Press, retrieved 27 May 2015 (subscription required)
- ^ Bartlett Ian and Robert J. Bruce. "Boyce, William", Grove Music Online, Oxford University Press, retrieved 27 May 2015 (subscription required)
- ^ Middleton, L. M. "Parsons, Sir William (1745/6–1817)", Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press 2004, retrieved 27 May 2015 (subscription or UK public library membership required)
- ^ Brown & Stratton 1897, p. 312.
- ^ Legge, R. H. "Shield, William (bap. 1748/9, d. 1829)", Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press 2004, retrieved 27 May 2015 (subscription or UK public library membership required)
- ^ Edwards, F. G, rev John Warrack. "Cusins, Sir William George (1833–1893)", Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press 2004, retrieved 27 May 2015 (subscription or UK public library membership required)
- ^ Moore 1984, pp. 347, 557.
- ^ a b "Master of the King's Musick", The Times, 5 May 1924, p. 16
- ^ Kenyon 2008, p. 18.
- ^ Moore 1990, p. 384.
- ^ Kennedy 1989a, p. 3.
- ^ a b Kenyon 2008, p. 19
- ^ "Sir Walford Davies", The Times, 10 April 1924, p. 17
- ISBN 0-7190-6143-1.
- ^ Kennedy 1989b, p. 170.
- ^ Howes, Frank, "Sir Arthur Bliss – A modern romantic", The Times, 27 April 1956, p. 3
- ^ Cole, Hugo and Andrew Burn. "Bliss, Sir Arthur." Grove Music Online, Oxford Music Online, retrieved 27 May 2011 (subscription required); Arnold-Forster, Mark. "Birthday Song", The Observer, 21 February 1960, p. 1; and Tracey, Edmund. "March of Homage set the stately tone", The Observer, 31 January 1965, p. 4
- ^ a b Kennedy 1989b, p. 264
- ^ Conway, Paul. "Malcolm Williamson", MusicWeb, retrieved 27 May 2015
- ^ a b Service, Tom. " Judith Weir prepares to be a radical master of the Queen's music", The Guardian, 21 July 2014
- ^ 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.
- ^ "MASTER OF THE QUEEN'S MUSIC". royal.gov.uk. Archived from the original on 29 September 2006. Retrieved 9 June 2008.
- ^ Spink, Ian. accessed 1 June 2015 "Grabu, Louis (fl. 1665–1694)"], Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press 2004, retrieved 27 May 2015 (subscription or UK public library membership required)
- ^ Philip H. Highfill, Kalman A. Burnim, Edward A. Langhans, A Biographical Dictionary of Actors, Volume 14, S. Siddons to Thynne
- ^ The London Gazette, 6 April 1934, p. 2217
Sources
- OCLC 220666894.
- OCLC 36262885.
- Kennedy, Michael (1989b). Portrait of Walton. Oxford: Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0-19-816705-1.
- ISBN 978-1-84706-533-9.
- ISBN 978-0-19-315447-6.
- Moore, Jerrold Northrop (1990). Edward Elgar: Letters of a Lifetime. Oxford and New York: Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0-19-315472-8.
- Wilson, Michael Ian (1994). Nicholas Lanier: Master of the King's Musick. Aldershot, UK: Scolar Press. ISBN 978-0-85967-999-2.