Composer James
MacMillan (b.1950) www.boosey.com/composer/james+macmillan
https://twitter.com/jamesmacm?ref_src=twsrc%5Egoogle%7Ctwcamp%5Eserp%7Ctwgr%5Eauthor
was born in Ayrshire, Scotland and studied at Edinburgh University before
undertaking further studies with John Casken at Durham University. His music is
influenced by both his Catholic faith and Scottish folk music. His compositions
include opera and music theatre, orchestral, chamber, piano and sacred choral
works.
Of his orchestral works he has now written four symphonies,
the last of which was premiered at last year’s BBC Proms www.bbc.co.uk/proms by Donald Runnicles and
the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra.
That premiere
performance of Symphony No. 4 was
recorded by the BBC and is now released by Onyx Classics www.onyxclassics.com coupled with a premiere studio recording of
MacMillan’s Violin Concerto played by
its dedicatee, Vadim Repin www.vadimrepin.com/vadim-repin.html
with
the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra www.bbc.co.uk/bbcsso
under
Donald Runnicles www.donaldrunnicles.org
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| ONYX 4157 |
MacMillan’s Violin Concerto (2009) was written for violinist Vadim
Repin and co-commissioned by the London Symphony Orchestra, the Zaterdagmatinee
(Amsterdam), the Philadelphia Orchestra and the Ensemble Orchestral de Paris.
The world première was given by Repin and the London Symphony Orchestra under
Valery Gergiev at the Barbican Centre on 12 May 2010.
In three movements, a series of incisive orchestral phrases
open I. Dance, quickly joined by a
frantic solo line as the music dances quickly forward through a longer melodic
passage for the soloist. The orchestra soon drives ahead, the soloist adding
some terrific, vibrant textures. There are more moments of introspection in the
orchestra over which the soloist wistfully adds the theme before moving through
passages of fast moving, virtuosic playing from the soloist, often rising high until
weighty incisive phrases from the orchestra arrive. The soloist continues over
a translucent orchestral background finding the most wonderful textures and
colours, phenomenally well payed by Repin. Soon percussion and orchestra bring
further strident chords before the violin leads to the coda that arrives on
orchestral chords
It is an oboe that brings the lovely melody over a gentle
orchestral layer in the opening of II. Song
around which other woodwind weave. The soloist soon enters with the most lovely
little decorations, developing a quite lovely melody with fine harmonies and
textures. The music develops through some more intense passages that reveal a
darker element. Repin provides the most wonderful textures as he takes the solo
part over an angry orchestral accompaniment. Midway there is a lovely passage
where the soloist introduces a folksy theme over delicate, translucent
orchestral accompaniment with the soloist finding so many colours and textures.
The music soon re-discovers its intense, angry feel, brass sound out over the
dramatic orchestra as the music arrives at a climax but the soloist brings back
a poetic calm revealing the most lovely textures. Later a simple tune for
piccolo arrives over a delicate orchestra to which the solo violin adds really
lovely little decorations before tailing off to conclude this quite exquisite
movement.
III. Song and Dance
opens with rhythmic vocal chanting of words ‘ Eins, zwei, drei, vier: Meine
Mutter tanz mit mir’ (One, two, three,
four: My mother is dancing with me) over a marching, hushed orchestral
layer. The soloist joins as the orchestra rises and expands, weaving around the
orchestral phrases. Again Repin is quite superb. The orchestra rises
dramatically before the soloist and orchestra speed ahead, dancing around each
other through a shimmering passage and into a crashing dramatic passage
underlined by the sound of a piano. Soon the music suddenly finds a flowing melody,
the soloist flowing around freely before brass join. The music seems poised
between drama and a lighter quality. Pounding orchestral rhythms appear for both
orchestra and soloist bringing a terrific virtuosity. Later the plainchant Dies Irae can be heard through the
texture before all fall to a hush as a single voice speaks. There is a further crashing outburst before
the soloist brings a passionate cadenza that takes us through some stunningly
played moments with finely done harmonics and dissonances. The orchestra rejoins dramatically and with
the soloist hammer the music forward to a decisive coda.
This is an impressive, quite wonderful concerto played absolutely
brilliantly here.
I managed to hear the world premiere of James MacMillan’s Symphony No. 4 (2014/15) at the 2015
Proms. This world premiere live recording of the event confirms just what a
tremendous performance Donald Runnicles and the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra
gave.
The symphony opens with a hushed delicate, luminescent
orchestra out of which brass bring a theme over a plodding bass layer. Textures
broaden with a piano adding a rhythmic line, slowly creating some wonderful
textures and ideas. The strings slowly rise in the background, finding a
terrific layering of rhythms and ideas, a myriad of colours, textures and
rhythms. The strings bring a longer
melodic, falling idea soon developing a swirl of textures, slowly rising in
energy in this brilliant passage that is occasionally reminiscence of Tippett’s
earlier string writing. Drum strokes suddenly herald a more rhythmic, forward
pushing idea that brings with it dramatic clashes.
The music slowly quietens to a gentler section that is
intruded into by the piano and various instrumental interruptions, all the
while a solo violin weaves through the varying textures. There is an almost
Ivesian overlay of disparate tunes as though in a dream. The brass rise out of
the mixed textures, woodwind cry out and tubular bells sound. The brass appear
again bringing a fanfare of ideas before drums beat a forward driving rhythm
with the strings scurrying around behind. The music increases in energy as the
piano brings rapid chords. The strings take the music into a rather quixotic
passage before the orchestra strides confidently ahead with pounding drums.
There is a rhythmic idea for strings before brass and drums thunder ahead reaching
a terrific plateau for brass and strings, melodic and epic in feel. There is a passage
of lovely string textures over the most wonderful orchestral tapestry of sound,
again with a dreamlike quality.
Midway the music falls to a halt before rising with light
rhythmic drums to drive ahead, rising to a peak on a gong stroke. The celeste
quietly plays a theme around which the orchestra gently add texture. The brass
gently sound a motif, that has a Scottish snap, over an orchestral layer that
slowly and deliberately heaves itself forward. The music rises and quickly scurries
forward. A tune appears in the cellos, surely the allusion to the Scottish
composer, Robert Carver’s (c.1485 – c.1570) ten voice mass, Dum Sacrum mysterium that the composer
tells us about. It adds a wonderfully nostalgic feel that fits perfectly,
especially as it swirls into modern harmonies and textures.
The music moves into a sonorous string passage on the theme though
there are further dramatic outbursts. In this wonderful, immensely satisfying
section the melody feels as though it has been sought throughout the whole
work. As the music continues there are moments of great beauty with MacMillan
adding subtle colour with percussion. Eventually the brass solemnly join and the
orchestra rises through some swirling passages before falling to drum and
percussion clashes that speed up with brass to push ahead through glittering
passages to a stunning coda that slowly fades.
The applause of the enthusiastic Prom audience is kept at
the end.
This is a masterly symphony showing James MacMillan at the
peak of his compositional powers. Both the studio and live recording are superb
and there are insightful booklet notes from the composer.
See also:
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