Judith Weir's distinctive soundworld uses a variety of narrative devices, ranging from texts through to the colourful palette of instrumental ensembles.

One of our most distinguished composers, in July 2014 Judith Weir succeeded Sir Peter Maxwell Davies as Master of the Queen's Music. It's an honour that joins an already impressive collection of awards, which include a CBE and the Queen's Medal for Music. Born in 1954 into a musical Scottish family, Weir grew up near London. A member of the National Youth Orchestra of Great Britain, Weir studied composition with John Tavener during her school holidays. More formal studies followed at Cambridge University, including composition with Robin Holloway, and at Tanglewood summer school, where she worked with Gunther Schuller. The possessor of a rich, fertile imagination, Weir draws on a wide variety of sources, notably dark fairytales, folk stories, Chinese philosophy, Indian music and culture, distilling their essence in music of luminous clarity. Her fundamental concern is to tell stories. An articulate communicator, Weir's writing about her music encapsulates the process brilliantly. In this series, Weir offers a personal insight into some of the musical projects which have occupied her since the beginning of the noughties.

Today, Judith Weir discusses her composing method and her approach to the delicate balance between text and instrumental forces, with excerpts from her song cycle woman.life.song, a modern interpretation of a woman's life and "Missa del Cid", a work for choir with narrator, using her own adaptation of medieval texts. With Donald Macleod. Show less