It’s a post with a long history, for there were official royal composers in Tudor days. Queen Elizabeth I engaged a musician called John Bull, and one of his first jobs for her was to write an anthem for a service of thanksgiving at St. Paul’s, London, soon after the defeat of the Spanish Armada in 1588.

He worked feverishly, but was unable to complete the composition until a short time before the service. Copies of the music were hurriedly made and then rushed to the cathedral by horsemen, who handed them to the choir only a few minutes before Queen Elizabeth arrived.

The singers had no opportunity to rehearse, but as the royal procession moved along the aisle they broke into song. The anthem started with the words “God save our gracious Queen,” and thus was our national anthem heard for the first time.

For many years the Master of the King’s (or Queen’s) Music had the duty of providing royal orchestras for functions in the palaces, and membership of these musical groups was a highly coveted honour.

In the reign of Charles II the players enjoyed a number of astonishing privileges. They could not be arrested and were not required to pay taxes, while anybody who ridiculed them for any reason might be thrown into prison. A sergeant-at-arms was once jailed for calling a royal bandsman a “fiddling rogue”.