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Liturgy, Scripture and Resonance in the Operas of James MacMillan

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  01 January 2024

Michael Fuller
Michael Fuller*
Affiliation:
University of Edinburgh, New College, Mound Place, Edinburgh, United Kingdom, EH1 2LX
*
Michael.Fuller@ed.ac.uk
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Abstract

The Scottish Composer James MacMillan has drawn on his Roman Catholic faith in much of his musical output, and this has been a significant influence not least on the six operatic works which he has produced to date. These operas, a number of which set libretti by the poet Michael Symmons Roberts, are richly diverse in their scale and in the stories which they present; yet they share a number of themes in common. All of them juxtapose sacred and secular topics, and all are concerned with stories that are both timeless and contemporary. Particularly striking is the fact that all of them draw on liturgy or scripture to give depth and resonance to the stories they tell. These resonances apply both to the characters in the operas and to the audience watching the works in performance. These operatic works therefore have the capacity to prompt theological as well as musical and dramatic reflections in those who experience them.

Keywords

liturgyJames MacMillanoperascriptureMichael Symmons Roberts
Type
Original Article
Information
New Blackfriars , Volume 96 , Issue 1064 , July 2015 , pp. 381 - 390
Copyright
Copyright © 2015 The Dominican Council

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References

1 See, for example, McGregor, Richard, ‘“A Metaphor for the Deeper Wintriness”: Exploring James MacMillan's Musical Identity’, Tempo vol. 65 issue 257 (2011), pp. 22–39CrossRefGoogle Scholar: MacMillan, James, Johnson, Julian and Sutton, Catherine, ‘Raising Sparks: on the Music of James MacMillan’, in Tempo New Series no. 202 (1997), pp. 1–35Google Scholar.

2 MacMillan, James, ‘God, Theology and Music’, in Darlington, Stephen and Kreider, Alan (eds.), Composing Music for Worship (Norwich: Canterbury Press, 2003), p. 36Google Scholar.

3 MacMillan, James and McGregor, Richard, ‘James MacMillan: a conversation and commentary’, Musical Times vol. 151, issue 1912 (2010), p. 99Google Scholar.

4 James MacMillan, ‘God, Theology and Music’, p. 36.

5 Quoted in Hallam, Mandy, ‘Conversation with James MacMillan’, Tempo vol. 62 issue 245 (2008), p. 25CrossRefGoogle Scholar.

6 Telford, James, ‘Reconciling Opposing Forces: The Young James MacMillan – A Performance History’, Tempo vol. 65 issue 257 (2011), p. 46CrossRefGoogle Scholar.

7 Búsqueda and Visitatio Sepulchri are available on CD: Catalyst 09026 62669 2.

8 James MacMillan, ‘God, Theology and Music’, p. 39.

9 James MacMillan, ‘Composer's Notes’ on Búsqueda and Visitatio Sepulchri, http://www.boosey.com/composer/james±macmillan (accessed 18.ii.15).

10 Ibid.

11 Mandy Hallam, ‘Conversation with James MacMillan’, p. 21.

12 Inés de Castro has yet to be recorded. References to the libretto are taken from Clifford, J., Inés de Castro: Libretto (London: Boosey and Hawkes, 1996)Google Scholar.

13 Cf. Jay Allen, ‘MacMillan's Percussion’, in Scottish Opera programme for Inés de Castro (1996), pp. 18–19.

14 Quoted in David Kettle, ‘Inés de Castro’, in Scottish Opera programme for Inés de Castro (2015), p. 12.

15 Anon., ‘…The Human Drama …’, in Edinburgh International Festival programme for Inés de Castro (1996) (no page numbers).

16 David Kettle, ‘Inés de Castro’, pp. 14–15.

17 James MacMillan et al., ‘Raising Sparks: on the Music of James MacMillan’, p. 28.

18 Anon., ‘…The Human Drama …’.

19 Parthenogenesis has yet to be recorded. For the text of this work, see Roberts, Michael Symmons, ‘Libretto for Parthenogenesis’, in Begbie, Jeremy (ed.), Sounding the Depths: Theology through the Arts (London: SCM Press, 2002), pp. 41–46Google Scholar.

20 Jeremy Begbie (ed.) Sounding the Depths.

21 Michael Symmons Roberts, ‘Parthenogenesis’, in Edinburgh International Festival programme for Parthenogenesis (2001) (no page numbers).

22 Rowan Williams, ‘Making it Strange: Theology in Other('s) Words’, in Jeremy Begbie (ed.), Sounding the Depths, p. 22.

23 Ibid., p. 22.

24 Ibid., p. 24.

25 James MacMillan, J. 2002. ‘Parthenogenesis’, in Jeremy Begbie (ed.), Sounding the Depths, p. 37.

26 Michael Symmons Roberts, ‘Parthenogenesis’.

27 Welsh National Opera's original production of The Sacrifice may be heard on CD: Chandos CHAN 10572(2). References to the libretto are taken from the booklet accompanying this CD.

28 The Boston Lyric Opera production of Clemency is available on CD: BIS-2129. References to the libretto are taken from the booklet accompanying this CD.

29 Michael Symmons Roberts, ‘Introduction’, in Edinburgh International Festival programme for Clemency (2012) (no page numbers).

30 Cf. Fuller, Michael, ‘Spirituality in Post-War British Opera’, New Blackfriars vol. 75 (1994), pp. 524–533CrossRefGoogle Scholar: Fuller, Michael, ‘Living on the Edge: Renewal in Britten's The Rape of Lucretia’, Musical Times vol. 141 (2000), pp. 45–49CrossRefGoogle Scholar.