In my post of November 21, 2019, having just watched the first episode of the third season of the Netflix series “The Crown” – the one with a subplot involving Sir Anthony Blunt, Surveyor of the Queen’s Pictures – I wondered, as the timeline crept into the ‘70s and ‘80s, if writer-creator Peter Morgan might include a reference to Malcolm Williamson.
Williamson, also from the world of the arts, brought further scandal to the Royal Family as a notoriously unreliable Master of the Queen’s Music.
Since the 17th century, musicians have been appointed Master with the expectation that they would supply music for important milestones in the lives of the Royal Family and for ceremonial occasions. Past Masters of the Queen’s (or King’s) Music have included John Eccles (who served four monarchs), William Boyce, John Stanley, Sir Edward Elgar, Sir Arnold Bax, and Sir Arthur Bliss.
When Williamson, Australian by birth, was named Bliss’ successor in 1975, already there was grumbling among his peers. Sir William Walton suggested the appointment was politically motivated, a means of “cementing the cracks in the Commonwealth.” Williamson had his share of personal demons, to be sure. He was prone to anxiety and depression, and he was certainly no stranger to the bottle. In his later years, he suffered a series of strokes.
Unfortunately, he was also horrible with deadlines. He failed to complete a symphony in time for the Queen’s Golden Jubilee in 1977, and his ambitious “Mass for Christ the King,” also intended for the occasion, was delivered late. Significantly, he became the first Master in over a century not to receive a knighthood.
Following his death in 2003, the parameters of the post were revised. No longer is the appointment to be one for life, but rather for a fixed, ten-year term. The current master is Judith Weir. Weir was appointed in 2015. She is the first woman to hold the position (and yes, she is still referred to as “Master”).
Alas, having concluded Season 4, I am sorry to say, I detected no reference to Williamson in “The Crown.” Even an exasperated aside, delivered to the Queen, about another unfulfilled commission would have been welcome. But understandably the season was more concerned with the drama surrounding Diana Spencer and an uncanny performance by Gillian Anderson as Margaret Thatcher.
There was, however, a nice “Easter egg” for classical music aficionados in Episode 8, the episode in which press secretary Michael Shea is given a prominent role. Shea was also a writer of books, and the episode opens with him seated at his typewriter, tapping out the conclusion to his latest literary effort. Nearby, on a turntable, spins Peter Maxwell Davies’ “Farewell to Stromness.”
Maxwell Davies would serve as Master of the Queen’s Music from 2004 to 2014. He was the first to serve under the new guidelines. An amusing choice since, if anything, Max was an even more colorful figure than Williamson – if perhaps better about meeting deadlines.
Throw “The Crown” in a blender with “Mozart in the Jungle,” cast Malcolm McDowell as Max, and THAT would be the show I’m looking for.
Here’s hoping for a cameo in a future episode.
“Farewell to Stromness”
An arrangement of the piece was played at the wedding of Charles and Camilla in 2005.
Max’s String Quartet No. 8, with its allusions to Dowland, dedicated to the Queen on the occasion of her 80th birthday:
“Kings and Shepherds,” a carol for the Queen:
Of course, Max gained notoriety in the 1960s for works like “Eight Songs for a Mad King,” inspired by George III.
Decades later, in 2010, when the police showed up at his door after a protected swan struck a power line over his property in the Orkney Islands, Max invited them in – and offered them swan terrine.
Only mad Max would set Purcell to a foxtrot. Love the suggestions of the Victrola running down, having to be cranked up, and then the stylus swishing around at the end.
PHOTOS: Wild Williamson (left) and Mad Max in 1973
