The First Woman in 400 years to be Master of the Queens Music It is fairly certain that Judith Weir CBE at 60 will become the new Master of the Queens Music or Mistress if you prefer, appointed by the Queen, who tends to favour women in prestigious roles as in the appointment of Carol Ann Duffy as Poet Laureate. Judith Weirs delightful little piece Arise! Arise! You Slumbering Sleepers composed in 1999 is dedicated to her teacher Margaret Semple who taught me music, in the most inspiring way, when I was at school. How often do we hear how teachers from the fairly distant past inspired talented pupils to achieve greatness. These unsung heros, the majority of them women, gave their lives to their profession in a way that is sadly lacking, I feel, in todays regulated strict curriculum based education which leaves little for outstanding talent to come to the fore. Classical music is certainly one of the subjects that has suffered although there is a revival and certainly the BBC Young Musicians of the Year gives one heart. It would, though, certainly be frowned upon today if a teacher seeing a spark of genius in a pupil sought to turn it into a flame at the expense of others due to the tight teaching schedules. It is a fact though that teachers such as Margaret Semple inspired generations of children, not all to achieve greatness by any means, but to be fondly remembered for installing pride and belief in themselves.
Posted on: Sun, 29 Jun 2014 09:53:11 +0000
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