Master of the Queen's Music
Holders of the post

Master of the Queen's Music

Section Title: Holders of the post
Table Section Text: None

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. ([1])	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	1700	William 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 4 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 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.

Sir Walford Davies	1934	Davies was gazetted as "Master of the Music" (rather than "Musick").

1936 (January)	Edward VIII (abd. Dec 1936)

1936 (December)	1941	George VI (d. 1952)

Sir Arnold Bax	1942

1952	1953	Elizabeth II

Sir Arthur Bliss	1953	1975

Malcolm Williamson	1975	2003

Sir Peter Maxwell Davies	2004	2016	Davies was appointed for a ten-year period, the first not to be appointed for life.

Judith Weir	2014	The first woman in this position. Weir has also been appointed for a ten-year period.

Sentence(s)

Boyce died in 1779 and was succeeded as Master by Greene, John Stanley, who held the post until he died in 1786.

final_sentence: Boyce died in 1779 and was succeeded as Master by Greene, John Stanley, who held the post until he died in 1786.