Macmillan: Why Is This Night Different? / Tuireadh / Visions of A November Spring

Featuring

Martin Burgess
Clare Hayes
Fiona Bonds
William Schofield
Robert Plane
Emperor String Quartet

James MacMillan

Did you know?

1/7

Composer Biography

James MacMillan, the composer, experienced a turning point in his creative development around late 1987, finding the roots of a truly personal musical language.

Critical Reception

Despite retaining 'difficult' modernist elements like dissonant harmonies and brutal orchestration, James MacMillan's music has been warmly received by audiences worldwide.

Composer's Artistic Vision

In Tuireadh, James MacMillan drew on his experience of Scottish folk music, particularly Gaelic folk-song and instrumental music, for expressive devices and emotionally-charged melodic ornamentation.

Performer Biography

The Emperor String Quartet, formed in 1992, was the first British quartet to win the Evian International String Quartet Competition in 1995, leading to debut recitals in Paris, Vienna, and New York.

Compositional Technique

Memento by James MacMillan was inspired by the vibrant, non-Western-sounding psalm-singing of the Hebrides islands, using gentle modal phrases in close canon.

Composition History

James MacMillan's Second String Quartet, 'Why is this night different?', takes its title from the Jewish Seder ritual, with themes inspired by the Passover story and the central role of the child.

Composition History

Tuireadh (Gaelic for 'lament') by James MacMillan was written in response to the Piper Alpha North Sea oil-rig explosion, intended as a musical complement to a memorial for the victims.