Table Of ContentAP
.h Phillip A. Cooke
Ci
ol
l
oi
kp
e
‘James MacMillan is not afraid to allow his music to scream and
rumble or suspend in mid-air from emulating a delicate piece of silk –
leaving time at the door. He trusts his instincts and he trusts those who
participate in his music. …The dedication from Phillip Cooke to produce
this major publication is much appreciated and will valuably serve so
many generations to come, allowing the life and music of this great
composer to continue impacting our lives in the most profound ways.’
Known for his orchestral, operatic
Dame Evelyn Glennie, CH
and choral works, James MacMillan
(b. 1959) appeals across the spectrum
of contemporary music making.
This book is the fi rst scholarly study of
MacMillan's life, work and aesthetic. From
his beginnings in rural Ayrshire and his
early work with Sir Peter Maxwell Davies,
through the international breakthrough
success of The Confession of Isobel
Gowdie (1990), the continuing success of
works such as the percussion concerto
Veni, Veni, Emmanuel (1992) and his corpus
of choral pieces, to his current position
as one of the most prominent British
composers of his generation, the book
scrutinises MacMillan's compositional
infl uences over time. It looks closely at his
most signifi cant works, setting them in a
wider context defi ned by contemporary
composition, culture and the arts in
general. The book also considers
PHILLIP A. COOKE is a Composer and Senior MacMillan's strong Catholic faith and how
Lecturer in Music at the University of this has infl uenced his work; his left-wing
Aberdeen. He has previously co-edited THE MUSIC OF ideals; and his on-going relationship with
The Music of Herbert Howells for Boydell. Scottish nationalism. With the support
of the composer and his publisher and
unprecedented access to interviews,
Cover image: ‘James MacMillan,
James MacMillan
compositional drafts and previously
b. 1959. Composer’, Cibachrome colour
unpublished materials, the book not only
print by Calum Colvin, 1996, National
provides an appraisal of MacMillan's work
Galleries of Scotland. © Calum Colvin.
but also insights into what it means to be
COVER DESIGN: WWW.STAY-CREATIVE.CO.UK a prominent composer and artist in the
twenty-fi rst century.
The Music of James MacMillan
000 Cooke book.indb 1 04/04/2019 09:18
000 Cooke book.indb 2 04/04/2019 09:18
The Music of James MacMillan
Phillip A. Cooke
THE BOYDELL PRESS
000 Cooke book.indb 3 04/04/2019 09:18
© Phillip A. Cooke 2019
All Rights Reserved. Except as permitted under current legislation
no part of this work may be photocopied, stored in a retrieval system,
published, performed in public, adapted, broadcast, transmitted,
recorded or reproduced in any form or by any means,
without the prior permission of the copyright owner
The right of Phillip A. Cooke to be identified as the
author of this work has been asserted in accordance with
sections 77 and 78 of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988
First published 2019
The Boydell Press, Woodbridge
ISBN 978 1 78327 370 6
The Boydell Press is an imprint of Boydell & Brewer Ltd
PO Box 9, Woodbridge, Suffolk IP12 3DF, UK
and of Boydell & Brewer Inc.
668 Mt Hope Avenue, Rochester, NY 14620–2731, USA
website: www.boydellandbrewer.com
A CIP catalogue record for this book is available
from the British Library
The publisher has no responsibility for the continued existence or accuracy of URLs
for external or third-party internet websites referred to in this book, and does not
guarantee that any content on such websites is, or will remain, accurate or appropriate
This publication is printed on acid-free paper
000 Cooke book.indb 4 04/04/2019 09:18
Contents
List of Plates vii
List of Tables ix
List of Music Examples xi
Foreword xv
Prologue xvii
Acknowledgements xxi
Permissions xxiii
1 The Keening – Cumnock, Edinburgh and Durham 1
2 The Tryst – Glasgow and the Road to Isobel Gowdie 21
3 Scots Songs – The Confession of Isobel Gowdie, Tuireadh
and Veni, Veni, Emmanuel 45
4 A Different World – Visitatio Sepulchri, Seven Last Words
from the Cross and Inés de Castro 71
5 Changed – Triduum and Quickening 97
6 Raising Sparks – ‘Scotland’s Shame’, Politics and
A Scotch Bestiary 121
7 A New Song – Mass and MacMillan’s Choral Renaissance 135
8 After Virtue – Symphony No. 3, The Sacrifice and the
St John Passion 159
9 Serenity – Violin Concerto, Clemency and the St Luke Passion 183
10 Tu es Petrus – Bellahouston Park and the Return to Cumnock 205
List of Works and Recordings 217
Bibliography 269
Index of Works by James MacMillan 279
General Index 283
000 Cooke book.indb 5 04/04/2019 09:18
000 Cooke book.indb 6 04/04/2019 09:18
Plates
1 James MacMillan (aged 7) with Sister Suzanne and Brother
John at St John’s Roman Catholic Primary School, c.1966
(unknown photographer) 4
2 James MacMillan and Jerzy Maksymiuk (Photo © C. William
Long / Boosey and Hawkes Collection / ArenaPAL, 1990) 46
3 James MacMillan (Photo © Peter Devlin / Boosey and Hawkes
Collection / ArenaPAL, 1992) 73
4 James MacMillan in rehearsal with the BBC Philharmonic
(Photo © Sisi Burn / ArenaPAL www.arenapal.com, 2001) 161
5 James MacMillan (Photo: Philip Gatward, 2012) 197
The author and publisher are grateful to all the institutions and individuals
listed for permission to reproduce the materials in which they hold copyright.
Every effort has been made to trace the copyright holders; apologies are offered
for any omission, and the publisher will be pleased to add any necessary
acknowledgement in subsequent editions.
000 Cooke book.indb 7 04/04/2019 09:18
000 Cooke book.indb 8 04/04/2019 09:18
Tables
1.1 Formal structure of The Keening 17
2.1 Formal structure of Tryst 43
3.1 Increasing use of religious themes in MacMillan’s music
after The Confession of Isobel Gowdie 55
3.2 Formal structure of Veni, Veni, Emmanuel 65
4.1 Texts used in Seven Last Words from the Cross 81
6.1 Increasing use of religious themes in MacMillan’s music
after ‘Scotland’s Shame’ 127
7.1 Contents of The Strathclyde Motets, set out as in
published scores, not chronologically 151
000 Cooke book.indb 9 04/04/2019 09:18
