James MacMillan, who studied music at Edinburgh and Durham Universities, was appointed Composer/Conductor with the BBC Philharmonic in 2000.
Compositional Technique
The 'Babel songs' in Quickening are muttered in overlapping phrases, similar to the free-rhythm chant in Britten's War Requiem, and use the Lord's Prayer in Aramaic.
Composition History
The Three Interludes are orchestral excerpts from James MacMillan's second opera, The Sacrifice, which premiered in 2007 by Welsh National Opera.
Composition History
The opera The Sacrifice is based on a story from The Mabinogion, a collection of ancient Welsh myths, about love amid strife and an act of self-sacrifice.
Compositional Technique
Quickening uses a children's chorus and chamber organ, positioned separately from other performers, an expressive effect inspired by Benjamin Britten's War Requiem.
Composition History
The cantata Quickening was originally co-commissioned by the Philadelphia Orchestra and the London Proms.
Composer's Artistic Vision
Composer James MacMillan and poet Michael Symmons Roberts embarked on the cantata Quickening because they felt there was little in culture that marked parenthood, especially fatherhood.
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