Weir Judith (b 1954): the next MQM

[MrGongGong]

http://blogs.telegraph.co.uk/culture/michaelwhite/100075389/judith-weir-a-good-choice-for-master-of-the-queens-music-but-will-she-be-a-mistress/

About time we had a woman in this role

(and about time we got rid of the other woman as well ! We could have a President Weir )

[Black Swan]

I think it is great that we will have a woman in the role. I do not know her work at all. Can any forum members suggest recordings as a starting point?

[Serial_Apologist]

I agree with GG, but can't say I find her music particularly interesting.

[french frank]

Michael White seems to have the scoop. Where was it announced?

(Of course she should be Master of the Q's M: it's the title of the post, like 'Lord Mayor' &c)

[ferneyhoughgeliebte]

I agree with GG, but can't say I find her music particularly interesting.

I agree - I have fond memories of being very rude about it with Minna Keal at the 1981 Musica Nova Festival in Glasgow. I suppose it's a sort of victory for equality that she can churn out stuff as dull and vapid as the vast majority of the blokes who have held the post.

[MrGongGong]

I agree - I have fond memories of being very rude about it with Minna Keal at the 1981 Musica Nova Festival in Glasgow. I suppose it's a sort of victory for equality that she can churn out stuff as dull and vapid as the vast majority of the blokes who have held the post.

When I have met her on projects with young composers I have found her (like Max) really open, encouraging and (importantly to young female composers) inspiring.

[french frank]

I suppose it's a sort of victory for equality that she can churn out stuff as dull and vapid as the vast majority of the blokes who have held the post.

Walter Parratt (1893-1924)
Edward Elgar (1924-34)
Walford Davies (1934-41)
Arnold Bax (1942-53)
Arthur Bliss (1953-75)
Malcolm Williamson (1975-2003)
Peter Maxwell Davies (2004-present)

[LeMartinPecheur]

I think it is great that we will have a woman in the role. I do not know her work at all. Can any forum members suggest recordings as a starting point?

These are in my collection and cover the ground:

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Weir-Piano-Concerto-Orchestral-Works/dp/B0000D8IOG/ref=sr_1_4?s=music&ie=UTF8&qid=1404055435&sr=1-4&keywords=judith+weir

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Weir-Buying-Horse-Judith/dp/B000JGW97C/ref=sr_1_3?s=music&ie=UTF8&qid=1404055432&sr=1-3&keywords=judith+weir

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Judith-Weir-Welcome-Arrival-Rain/dp/B00129XQ9A/ref=sr_1_2?s=music&ie=UTF8&qid=1404055432&sr=1-2&keywords=judith+weir

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Judith-Weir/dp/B001FAFWF2/ref=sr_1_11?s=music&ie=UTF8&qid=1404055432&sr=1-11&keywords=judith+weir

Possibly her most distinctive work is King Harald's Saga, on both the opera and the songs discs. That's because it's a multi-role opera sung by one unaccompanied soprano.
I'd call her a small but reasonably distinctive voice.

Perhaps she can now do us a new Spirit of England for mega-forces for the C21? Unless it's against her religion as a Scot.

Will she still have job if Scotland votes Yes? Have they though this through??

[ferneyhoughgeliebte]

Walter Parratt (1893-1924)
Edward Elgar (1924-34)
Walford Davies (1934-41)
Arnold Bax (1942-53)
Arthur Bliss (1953-75)
Malcolm Williamson (1975-2003)
Peter Maxwell Davies (2004-present)

Is this the best we can do? If my "vast majority" are so duller and vapid that they make one want to include Walter Parratt as an exception, then the situation is dire, indeed.

[ferneyhoughgeliebte]

When I have met her on projects with young composers I have found her (like Max) really open, encouraging and (importantly to young female composers) inspiring.

Perhaps she has improved, but my own experience of her attitude to young composers was vastly different. She was sarcastic and didn't really know how to address their questions to her.

Now, if only they'd asked Nicola LeFanu ...

... would she have accepted, I wonder.

[ferneyhoughgeliebte]

Oh, siddot - I'm being a miserable bygger this afternoon. I've met many people who have expressed similar views about JW's work as MrGG makes in his #6. Mebbe she was in a bad mood when our paths crossed and she'll be brilliant in the job. I hope so and look forward to eating my words.


Her compositions still don't interest me, though.

[MrGongGong]

If it were up to me then i'd choose someone like Katharine Norman
but they don't really want someone from that world (unfortunately IMV)

[Honoured Guest]

No comment.

[Pulcinella]

The only piece by her that I think I have heard is Illuminare Jerusalem, a King's commission for their carol service. It seems to be quite well thought of, doesn't it?

[Honoured Guest]

I can imagine Judith Weir collaborating with Carol Ann Duffy, the Poet Laureate. All we need now is a new official appointment of Royal Fool to produce theatrical performance happenings (How about Katie Mitchell?) and then the triumvirate could create new pop-up operas for national occasions in royal locations, such as racecourses, rural estates, pool table bar-rooms and palaces.