• Judith Weir
  • Music, Spread Thy Voice (2022)

  • Chester Music Ltd (World)

Commissioned by the Royal Orchestral Society. First performed on 25 June 2023 by the Royal Orchestral Society conducted by Timothy Redmond at St John's Smith Square, London.

  • 2+pic.2.2+bcl.2+cbn/4.2.2+btbn.1/timp.glock/str
  • 3 min

Programme Note

Music, Spread Thy Voice is a three-minute fanfare-overture, which spreads from the mysterious deep bass of the orchestra to a mighty conclusion.

The title quotes an aria from Handel's oratorio Solomon - "Music, spread thy voice around / Sweetly flow the lulling sound" - in which King Solomon and the Queen of Sheba agree that music is the greatest of all treasures.

Music, Spread Thy Voice is my gift to the Royal Orchestral Society in their 2022-23 season, celebrating 150 years of orchestral playing since their foundation in 1872 by Prince Alfred, the music-loving second son of Queen Victoria.

Judith Weir, Novemeber 2022