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Post in the British monarchy

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 Royal Household of the United Kingdom. The holder of the post originally served the monarch of England, directing the court orchestra and composing or commissioning music as required. 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.

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". Henry VI appointed a Royal Commission to regulate unlicensed minstrelsy and in 1469 Edward IV granted the royal minstrels a Guild charter. According to the charter, "no Minstrel of our Kingdom shall henceforth in any way practise or publicly exercise the art or occupation within our Kingdom aforesaid, unless he belong to the said Brotherhood or Guild". This led to legal difficulties between the royal minstrels and the City Company under the patronage of the City of London, chartered by James I in 1604 to perform in the City and three miles outside it. The King's Minstrels requested and received a charter from Charles I in 1635 to "have the survey, scrutinie, correction and government of all and singular the musicians within the kingdome of England". At that time the holder of the post took charge of the monarch's private band, a responsibility which continued until the band was dissolved in 1901 by Edward VII. He nevertheless continued his predecessors' practice of commissioning works from other composers, including Handel, who supplied the Ode for the Birthday of Queen Anne (1713). He held the post for twenty years, but his health was never robust, and he frequently called upon his former pupil William Boyce to compose music for the birthday and New Year odes written by the Poet Laureate in honour of the king. 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. 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".

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. 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). The last Master appointed in the 19th century was Sir Walter Parratt, organist of St George's Chapel, Windsor. His tenure lasted thirty one years from 1893, under the reigns of three monarchs – Queen Victoria, Edward VII and George V. In Duck's view, Parratt's role was chiefly that of musical adviser to the Crown. Among his actions in that capacity were inviting Elgar to set A. C. Benson's verses as a Coronation Ode for Edward VII in 1901, and writing an anthem for the anniversary of Queen Victoria's death in 1909. Parratt's own official compositions included a contribution to a collection of choral songs by various composers in honour of Queen Victoria and a Confortare for the coronation service of Edward VII. Elgar was not required to write any official music in his new capacity, but in 1931, he dedicated his Nursery Suite to the Duchess of York and her two daughters. He used his influence as Master to track down the original instruments of Edward VII's band, to ensure the royal music library was well ordered, and to secure recognition for other musicians, including a knighthood for Granville Bantock and the Companion of Honour for Delius. As musical aide to the king he gave advice about such topics as the foundation of a national opera company, the correct version of the national anthem to be broadcast by the BBC, and the musical events at which members of the royal family should be present. 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." Bax died in 1953; many expected his successor to be Sir William Walton, but to Walton's own relief the post went to Sir Arthur Bliss. In The Times, the critic Frank Howes commented, "The duties of a Master of the Queen's Music are what he chooses to make of them, but they include the composition of ceremonial and occasional music". Bliss, who composed quickly and with facility, was able to discharge the calls on him as Master, providing music as required for state occasions, from the birth of a child to the Queen, and the funeral of Winston Churchill, to the investiture of the Prince of Wales. When Bliss died in 1975, Walton and others lobbied for the appointment of Malcolm Arnold. There was some surprise that Bliss's actual successor was the Australian composer Malcolm Williamson; Walton attributed the appointment to the need for "cementing the cracks in the Commonwealth".

NameYear appointedYear of deathCommentsMonarch servedMonarch'stitle Nicholas Lanier 1625 * * The post was abolished in 1649 when the monarchy was overthrown, and reinstituted in 1660. 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. Nicholas Staggins 1674 Staggins died on 13 June 1700. 1685 James II (Glorious Revolution 1688) 1688 1700William III and 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. 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