International Composer Festival – Concerto for Orchestra
New music by Sir James MacMillan with the Royal Stockholm Philharmonic Orchestra led by Chief Conductor Ryan Bancroft.
This year's International Composer Festival at Konserthuset Stockholm is dedicated to the Scottish composer James MacMillan. His music combines raw emotional power with spiritual focus, rooted in his Catholic faith.
MacMillan often draws inspiration from traditional Scottish music and culture, and the tone poem The Death of Oscar is based on one of the legends of the Celtic poet Ossian. These ancient stories have had a significant influence on the image of Scotland, inspiring composers such as Mendelssohn-Bartholdy when he wrote The Hebrides, and Goethe in The Sorrows of Young Werther.
The trombone concerto oscillates between darkness and light, with dance-like episodes and meditative calm. At times, it is incredibly beautiful and poignant. MacMillan composed it in memory of his granddaughter Sara Maria MacMillan, who died at the young age of five from an incurable brain disease.
James MacMillan shares his strong Catholic faith with Olivier Messiaen (1908–92), and both composers' music contains spiritually meditative elements. Messiaen's Les offrandes oubliées – The Forgotten Offerings – was his very first published orchestral piece. It is subtitled Méditation symphonique, symphonic meditation. This is music in which Messiaen gives us his own glimpse of eternity.
The Concerto for Orchestra is the Royal Stockholm Philharmonic Orchestra's co-commissioned work for the festival.
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The music
Approximate times -
James MacMillan The Death of Oscar10 min
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James MacMillan Trombone Concerto30 min
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Intermission25 min
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Olivier Messiaen Les offrandes oubliées "Méditation symphonique"11 min
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James MacMillan Concerto for Orchestra (The Royal Stockholm Philharmonic Joint Commission)25 min
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Participants
- Royal Stockholm Philharmonic Orchestra
- Ryan Bancroft conductor
- Peter Moore trombone