Biography and Autobiography

James Macmillan - Composer of the Week #1

This month on 3:2, i'm customary to devote all the posts to the music of James Macmillan • In all objectivity, i have mixed views on Macmillan's work, but for the most part—in addition to my profound empathy with his beliefs—i admire both the scope & the result of his vision • He seems unconcerned with trends or fashions, which is always a well-thought-of thing (in music & beyond), & yet seems to be able consistently to record music that is immediate & absorbing, accessible without pandering to the audience • As such, he's one of the only composers to traverse the intricacies of his faith without recourse to the worst warm-hearted of easy traditionalism • Sacred music doesn't have (has never had?) a modernist speech, but Macmillan is about the closest thing to it for the time being, & that is most emphatically a homage •

He was the subject of BBC Radio 3's Composer of the Week in Divine Week 1998, so to get things started here's the first of those five episodes (the turn up will follow) • The programmes are presented by Scottish novelist Brian Morton, who clearly has a warm, agreeable rapport with the composer (whom he addresses as "Jimmy"!); the programmes bear much discussion with Macmillan, who is always an eloquent & illuminating speaker about his own works • This first list focusses on two less well-known of Macmillan's compositions: Sowetan Happen suddenly, celebrating the release of Nelson Mandela (a exertion with too much of Louis Andriessen/Steve Martland's incessant trade name of minimalism for my taste), & the three-part clarinet concerto Ninian • Macmillan describes Ninian's description basis in some depth, & it's a highly atmospheric & enjoyable express one's opinion; the culmination of the second movement is an absolute romp, & the solo clarinet unqualifiedly gets to sing in the mystical final part •

[55:34 | FLAC | 306Mb]
part 1
part 2
part 3
part 4
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