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James MacMillan

  • Lent SeriesPremières

    James MacMillan – The Keening (World Première)

    by 5:4 April 13, 2022 • 05:00
    April 13, 2022 • 05:00

    The penultimate work in this year’s Lent Series is one that ended up having to wait over a quarter of a century from the date of composition to receive its first performance. James MacMillan completed his orchestral piece The Keening in 1987, while studying for his PhD at Durham University.…

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  • CommentFestivalsPremières

    Proms 2021: the premières – how you voted

    by 5:4 September 28, 2021 • 11:22
    September 28, 2021 • 11:22

    Two weeks have passed since this year’s Proms season came to an end, so it’s time to take a look at how you responded to each of the new works in the annual 5:4 Proms première polls. i want to thank all of you who voted; there was a healthy-sized…

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  • FestivalsPremières

    Proms 2021: James MacMillan – When Soft Voices Die (World Première)

    by 5:4 July 31, 2021 • 12:53
    July 31, 2021 • 12:53

    Last night the 2021 Proms season began, featuring – as has been the custom for many years – the world première of a new piece. When Soft Voices Die is a choral work by Scottish composer James MacMillan that brings together two texts by Shelley, Mutability (also known as ‘The…

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  • Premières

    James MacMillan – Symphony No. 5 ‘Le grand Inconnu’ (World Première)

    by 5:4 November 6, 2019 • 12:54
    November 6, 2019 • 12:54

    Symphonies – one minute you think that no-one’s really writing them anymore, and then suddenly three of them turn up in quick succession. Of course, in reality the apparent lack of them may well be more to do with the fact that composers today are reluctant to title a work…

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  • CommentFestivalsPremières

    Proms 2017: the premières – how you voted

    by 5:4 September 24, 2017 • 11:31
    September 24, 2017 • 11:31

    i want to say thank you to all of you who took time to vote in this year’s 5:4 Proms polls. More of you than ever expressed your views about this year’s premières: a total of 1,096 votes were cast, an increase of 17% from last year. However, the distribution…

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  • FestivalsPremières

    Proms 2017: James MacMillan – A European Requiem (European Première)

    by 5:4 August 1, 2017 • 13:40
    August 1, 2017 • 13:40

    James MacMillan’s latest religious blockbuster, A European Requiem, was given its first performance in Europe at the Proms a couple of days ago. The piece is a little over a year old (premièred in July 2016 in Oregon), and although its concert hall life has taken place in the midst…

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  • ConcertsFestivals

    Cheltenham Music Festival 2016: A New Jerusalem

    by 5:4 July 15, 2016 • 10:47
    July 15, 2016 • 10:47

    Wednesday evening in Tewkesbury Abbey, in the company of Ex Cathedra conducted by Jeffrey Skidmore, was an encounter with a particular kind of British ubiquity. The music of Hubert Parry, Herbert Howells, Judith Weir and James MacMillan were brought together in an evening focusing on “A New Jerusalem”, four composers…

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  • FestivalsPremières

    Proms 2015: Colin Matthews – String Quartet No. 5 (European Première); James MacMillan – Symphony No. 4 (World Première)

    by 5:4 August 14, 2015 • 08:00
    August 14, 2015 • 08:00

    At the start of last week, the Proms saw important premières from two veterans of new music, Colin Matthews and James MacMillan. Both composers have a demonstrative relationship with music from earlier times, producing work that often seeks to find a comfortable marriage of old and new, looking back and…

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  • FestivalsPremières

    Proms 2012: James MacMillan – Credo (World Première)

    by 5:4 August 9, 2012 • 18:54
    August 9, 2012 • 18:54

    Wednesday’s Prom concert featured a new work from James MacMillan, a setting of the Creed from the liturgy of the Mass. Composers rarely set the Creed to music, not, i think, simply because it’s such a long and convoluted text (although it is, and this may also in part account…

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  • Lent Series

    James MacMillan – St John Passion

    by 5:4 April 2, 2012 • 13:46
    April 2, 2012 • 13:46

    The next piece in my Lent series i’m including more as a curiosity than as a work i deeply admire. James MacMillan‘s St John Passion was composed in 2007 and premièred in April the following year. MacMillan structures the work in 10 movements, grouped into two parts; the first (movements…

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  • Lent SeriesPremières

    James MacMillan – Domine non secundum peccata nostra (World Première)

    by 5:4 February 22, 2012 • 18:35
    February 22, 2012 • 18:35

    Today is Ash Wednesday, the first day of Lent, and throughout the next seven weeks, among other things, i’ll be featuring a selection of pieces suitable to the season. To begin, a recording of the world première of James MacMillan‘s anthem Domine non secundum peccata nostra, given by the choir…

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  • Premières

    James MacMillan – Seraph (World Première)

    by 5:4 March 20, 2011 • 15:27
    March 20, 2011 • 15:27

    James MacMillan‘s most recent composition, Seraph, a concertino for trumpet and strings, was premièred by Alison Balsom and the Scottish Ensemble a little over a month ago, at the Wigmore Hall in London. Its bold, militaristic start immediately puts Shostakovich in mind, but this is supplemented with an obvious reference…

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  • Premières

    James MacMillan – Oboe Concerto (World Première)

    by 5:4 October 27, 2010 • 19:58
    October 27, 2010 • 19:58

    On 15 October, James MacMillan‘s Oboe Concerto received its first performance at Birmingham’s Town Hall, conducted by MacMillan himself. Taking the solo rôle was Nicholas Daniel, a performer who has brought numerous new oboe works to the world, usually at the more mainstream end of the contemporary spectrum. Structurally, at…

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  • Festivals

    Proms 2010: James MacMillan – The Sacrifice – Three Interludes (London Première)

    by 5:4 September 8, 2010 • 19:26
    September 8, 2010 • 19:26

    The Proms is now well into its final straight, and the week began with the London première of James MacMillan‘s The Sacrifice – Three Interludes. As the title suggests, MacMillan has extracted the music from his 2007 opera, The Sacrifice. First of the three is “The Parting”, which opens, disarmingly,…

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  • Premières

    James MacMillan – String Quartet No. 3 (World Première)

    by 5:4 July 31, 2008 • 16:11
    July 31, 2008 • 16:11

    James MacMillan‘s most recent work, the String Quartet No. 3, was premièred a couple of months ago by the Takacs Quartet on 21 May, at the Queen Elizabeth Hall in London. i don’t know either of MacMillan’s previous two quartets, but this new addition is a fairly ambitious work. MacMillan…

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  • Premières

    James MacMillan – Symphony No. 3 ‘Silence’ (Scottish Première)

    by 5:4 May 3, 2008 • 17:29
    May 3, 2008 • 17:29

    Here’s the Scottish première of James MacMillan’s Symphony No. 3 ‘Silence’, broadcast last Tuesday. Don’t be taken in by that subtitle; this piece does the exact opposite of “what it says on the tin”. MacMillan is more concerned with the perception – within the human experience of tragedy and cruelty…

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  • Lent SeriesSeasonal

    Silent Song: James MacMillan – Cantos Sagrados

    by 5:4 March 22, 2008 • 13:25
    March 22, 2008 • 13:25

    If Good Friday is emotionally draining, Holy Saturday feels emotionally empty, numbed and spent. i never quite know what to do with myself on this awful day; everything, somehow, feels wrong, trivial or stupid. i imagine i’m not alone in this; perhaps it’s this feeling that explains the general liturgical…

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