Malcolm Williamson, an Australian composer who was master of the queen's music, has died. He was 71.
Williamson died Sunday at a hospital in Cambridge, England, after a long illness, according to the British news agency Press Assn.
He was the first non-Briton to be appointed master of the queen's music. The post is the musical equivalent of poet laureate, and the incumbent is expected to write fanfares and other works for royal or state occasions.
Born in Sydney, Williamson studied at the Sydney Conservatory from age 11.
He moved to London in 1950, working as a proofreader, parish church organist and nightclub pianist. Williamson converted to Roman Catholicism in 1952 and immersed himself in the compositions of the French organist Olivier Messiaen.
