Judith Weir

I once made some transcriptions of Spanish/Arabic folk music for a theatre piece about the Crusades. One of these tunes has haunted me ever since - EL REY DE FRANCIA, sung by Sephardic Jews at the time of their exile.

The King of France is a set of variations on this tune. Although the musical processes are abstract ones, there is perhaps a hint of the tune's Spanish background in the dry, brittle textures of some of the later variations. The piece lasts about eight minutes.

The King of France was written for Susan Tomes in 1993.

© Judith Weir