James MacMillan Studies

Eleven international scholars analyse key works by Sir James MacMillan, and contextualise his unique musical-theological approach.

George Parsons (Edited by), Robert Sholl (Edited by)

9781108716871, Cambridge University Press

Paperback / softback, published 10 November 2022

264 pages, 3 tables 76 music examples
24.4 x 17 x 1.4 cm, 0.464 kg

The Scottish composer Sir James MacMillan is one of the major figures of contemporary music, with a world-wide reputation for his modernist engagement with religious images and stories. Beginning with a substantial foreword from the composer himself, this collection of scholarly essays offers analytical, musicological, and theological perspectives on a selection of MacMillan's musical works. The volume includes a study of embodiment in MacMillan's music; a theological study of his St Luke Passion; an examination of the importance of lament in a selection of his works; a chapter on the centrality of musical borrowing to MacMillan's practice; a discussion of his liturgical music; and detailed analyses of other works including The World's Ransoming and the seminal Seven Last Words from the Cross. The chapters provide fresh insights on MacMillan's musical world, his compositional practice, and his relationship to modernity.

Foreword Sir James MacMillan
Introduction George Parsons and Robert Sholl
1. The struggle with conviction: a trio of string quartets Arnold Whittall
2. Conflicting modernities and a modernity of conflict in James MacMillan's The World's Ransoming George Parsons
3. In Memoriam: James MacMillan's violin concerto as modernist lament Chelle Stearns
4. Reincarnating 'The Tryst': the endurance of a simple love song Dominic Wells
5. Exquisite violence: imagery, embodiment and transformation in MacMillan Robert Sholl
6. Making the familiar as unfamiliar: MacMillan's St Luke Passion Jeremy S. Begbie
7. MacMillan's 'mission' and the Passion settings Richard E. McGregor
8. A cluster of gathering shadows: exposition and exegesis in Seven Last Words from the Cross Andrew Shenton
9. James MacMillan's The Sun Danced: Mary, miracle, and mysticism Peter Bannister
10. 'Shrouded in doubts and fears': the liturgical music of James MacMillan Phillip Cooke
11. Containing chaos? Aspects of medieval liturgy in James MacMillan's Visitatio Sepulchri Lisa Colton.

Subject Areas: Christian theology [HRCM], Religion: general [HRA], 20th century & contemporary classical music [AVGC6], Music reviews & criticism [AVC]