Video interview with composer James MacMillan on his Artist Portrait and 50th birthday. Soundclip of St John Passion
16 LSO Season 09/10
James MacMillan:
LSO Artist Portrait
It’s a great honour to have this focus
on my music, for my 50th birthday, too.
Over the years the LSO has played and
commissioned quite a few of my most
important pieces, and it is marvellous
that it is making a survey of my work.
The LSO is marking the season with the
premiere of my Violin Concerto, to be
performed by Vadim Repin and conducted
by Valery Gergiev. I wanted to make this a
concerto that both sings and dances. I love
the human voice and I always want to draw
that out when writing especially for string
instruments. And of course as a Scot, I’ve
grown up with fi ddle music. It’s a music that
can soar, and be expressive and lyrical, and
it has also provided music for dance through
the centuries. I used to play in folk bands
when I was younger and fi ddles were always
the core part of that music. If I can plug into
that reservoir of experience and memory
in all forms of folk music, I hope to unleash
something that can affect the concerto,
that can give it a soul which both sings
and dances.
There’s another chance to hear Epiclesis,
a trumpet concerto I wrote in 1993. It’s a
more complex piece than anything I had
done up to that point; I was trying to make
sense of some of the extra musical and
even theological ideas that have always
been important to me. The trumpet part is
fi endish, and I say that as an ex-trumpeter!
I was aware of writing something that only
the best players would take on.
It’s wonderful that the Orchestra are doing
my St John Passion again, which has become
such an important piece for me. I was asked
to write a piece to mark the 80th birthday of
Sir Colin Davis, a man who has been such an
important fi gure both for this Orchestra and
this country over the decades. The premiere
was one of the most memorable occasions
of my life. It dawned on me that a signifi cant
piece for me was about to be born. I closed
my eyes to engage with what Sir Colin and
the musicians were doing, and it became
a very powerful, very spiritual experience
for me.
The LSO is really something special –
you can feel their excellence. And they have
nurtured me, whether or not they knew that’s
what they were doing. Even when some of my
music might have baffl ed them they’ve always
been absolutely committed. It’s wonderful
to have them on your side. When they feel
something has to be communicated to the
audience, they really do it!
James MacMillan concerts
1 Nov 09 Epiclesis
28 Feb 10 St John Passion
12 May 10 Violin Concerto (world premiere)
Listen to James MacMillan
St John Passion
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