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James MacMillan (composer)
Sir James Loy MacMillan, (born 16 July 1959) is a Scottish classical composer and conductor. Early life MacMillan was born at Kilwinning, in North Ayrshire, but lived in the East Ayrshire town of Cumnock until 1977. His father is James MacMillan and his mother is Ellen MacMillan (née Loy). He studied composition at the University of Edinburgh with Rita McAllister and Kenneth Leighton, and at Durham University with John Casken, where he gained an undergraduate degree and then a PhD degree in 1987. At Durham he was a member of the College of St Hild and St Bede as an undergraduate student and the Graduate Society while studying for his PhD. He was a lecturer in music at the Victoria University of Manchester from 1986 to 1988. After his studies, MacMillan returned to Scotland, composing prolifically, and becoming Associate Composer with the Scottish Chamber Orchestra, often working on education projects. As a young man he was briefly a member of the Young Communist League. R ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Cabrillo Festival Of Contemporary Music
The Cabrillo Festival of Contemporary Music is an annual Festival dedicated to contemporary symphonic music by living composers. The music director since 2017 has been Cristian Măcelaru. According to Jesse Rosen, CEO of the League of American Orchestras, the Festival is "distinctive for being focused entirely on contemporary works." Each year, a tenured orchestra gathers in Santa Cruz, California to rehearse five programs of contemporary music, often world, US, or West Coast premieres. Most of the composers whose work is performed each season come to the Festival to be in residence and participate in the rehearsals and performances of their work, as well as to participate in public panel discussions, lectures, and concert introductions. The Festival also presents guest artists and ensembles known for contemporary music performance, such as Kronos Quartet or eighth blackbird. History The Festival was founded in 1963 by the composer Lou Harrison and collaborators from the Santa Cr ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Scottish Chamber Orchestra
The Scottish Chamber Orchestra (SCO) is an Edinburgh-based UK chamber orchestra. One of Scotland's five National Performing Arts Companies, the SCO performs throughout Scotland, including annual tours of the Scottish Highlands and Islands and South of Scotland. The SCO appears regularly at the Edinburgh, East Neuk, St Magnus and Aldeburgh Festivals and The Proms. The SCO's international touring receives support from the Scottish Government. The SCO rehearses mainly at Edinburgh's Queen's Hall. History The SCO was formed in 1974, with Roderick Brydon as its first Principal Conductor, from 1974 to 1983. The founding leader of the SCO was John Tunnell, and by 1977 he had been joined by Carolyn Sparey as principal viola, and Haflidi Halgrimsson as principal cello. With Michael Storrs managing the orchestra for much of its first decade, the schedule, which for a while included work as the orchestra for Scottish Opera, offered a full diary of concert performances, recordings a ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Royal Philharmonic Society
The Royal Philharmonic Society (RPS) is a British music society, formed in 1813. Its original purpose was to promote performances of instrumental music in London. Many composers and performers have taken part in its concerts. It is now a membership society, and while it no longer has its own orchestra, it continues a wide-ranging programme of activities which focus on composers and young musicians and aim to engage audiences so that future generations will enjoy a rich and vibrant musical life. Since 1989, the RPS has promoted the annual Royal Philharmonic Society Music Awards for live music-making in the United Kingdom. The RPS is a registered UK charity No. 213693, located at 48 Great Marlborough Street in London. The current chief executive of the RPS is James Murphy, and its current chairman is John Gilhooly. History In London, at a time when there were no permanent London orchestras, nor organised series of chamber music concerts, a group of thirty music professional ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Cello Concerto (MacMillan)
The Cello Concerto is a composition for solo cello and orchestra by the Scottish composer James MacMillan. It is the second of three interrelated compositions in MacMillan's Easter triptych ''Triduum'' commissioned by the London Symphony Orchestra. The piece was first performed at the Barbican Centre on October 3, 1996 by the cellist Mstislav Rostropovich and the London Symphony Orchestra under the conductor Colin Davis. The work is dedicated to Mstislav Rostropovich. Composition The Cello Concerto has a duration of roughly 41 minutes and is composed in three movements: #The Mockery #The Reproaches #Dearest Wood and Dearest Iron Instrumentation The work is composed for solo cello and an orchestra comprising two flutes (2nd doubling piccolo), two oboes, two clarinets, (2nd doubling E-flat clarinet and bass clarinet), bassoon, contrabassoon, four horns, three trumpets, three trombones, tuba, timpani, three percussionists, piano (doubling celesta), harp, and strings. Reception Rob ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Mstislav Rostropovich
Mstislav Leopoldovich Rostropovich, (27 March 192727 April 2007) was a Russian cellist and conductor. He is considered by many to be the greatest cellist of the 20th century. In addition to his interpretations and technique, he was well known for both inspiring and commissioning new works, which enlarged the cello repertoire more than any cellist before or since. He inspired and premiered over 100 pieces, forming long-standing friendships and artistic partnerships with composers including Dmitri Shostakovich, Sergei Prokofiev, Henri Dutilleux, Witold Lutosławski, Olivier Messiaen, Luciano Berio, Krzysztof Penderecki, Alfred Schnittke, Norbert Moret, Andreas Makris, Leonard Bernstein, Aram Khachaturian and Benjamin Britten. Rostropovich was internationally recognized as a staunch advocate of human rights, and was awarded the 1974 Award of the International League of Human Rights. He was married to the soprano Galina Vishnevskaya and had two daughters, Olga and Elena ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Veni, Veni, Emmanuel (composition By James MacMillan)
''Veni, Veni, Emmanuel'' is a concerto for percussion and orchestra by James MacMillan. MacMillan began composing it on the first Sunday of Advent 1991 and completed it on Easter Sunday 1992, dates that are significant to the work itself. The work was commissioned by Christian Salvesen PLC. It received its premiere on 10 August 1992 at the Royal Albert Hall, London, performed by Evelyn Glennie and the Scottish Chamber Orchestra under Jukka-Pekka Saraste. The work is in one movement, and lasts around 25 minutes. The music draws on the Advent plainchant of the same name, which appears in its full form only at the end. There are five main sections to the work: after the introduction is a 'heartbeat' section (representing, according to the composer, "the human presence of Christ"), followed by a 'hocket' dance; transition sequences lead in and out of the central Gaude, after which the dance reappears. The piece reaches its climax with the unfolding of the plainchant in choral ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Evelyn Glennie
Dame Evelyn Elizabeth Ann Glennie, (born 19 July 1965) is a Scottish people, Scottish percussionist. She was selected as one of the two laureates for the Polar Music Prize of 2015. Early life Glennie was born in Methlick, Aberdeenshire in Scotland. The Scottish traditional music, indigenous musical traditions of north-east Scotland were important in her development as a musician. Her first instruments were the piano and the clarinet. Other influences were Glenn Gould, Jacqueline du Pré and Trilok Gurtu. She studied at Ellon Academy, Aberdeenshire and the Royal Academy of Music, London. She was a member of the National Youth Orchestra of Scotland and the Cults Percussion Ensemble which was formed in 1976 by her school percussion peripatetic teacher Ron Forbes. They toured and recorded one album, which was re-released on Trunk Records in 2012. Career Glennie tours all over the world performing as a soloist with a wide variety of orchestras and eclectic musicians. She conducts ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Percussion Concerto
A percussion concerto is a type of musical composition for a percussion soloist and a large ensemble, such as a concert band or orchestra. Two notable figures in the genre are the percussionists Colin Currie and Evelyn Glennie, who have separately commissioned and premiered numerous entrees to the repertoire. Two common subsets of the percussion concerto are the timpani concerto and the marimba concerto. List of percussion concertos * Kalevi Aho ** ''Sieidi'' (2010) * John Corigliano ** '' Conjurer'' (2007) * Michael Daugherty ** ''UFO'' (1999) * Avner Dorman ** ''Frozen in Time'' (2007) *Helen Grime **Percussion Concerto (2018) * Jennifer Higdon ** Percussion Concerto (2005) * Alan Hovhaness ** '' Fantasy on Japanese Woodprints'' (1965) * James MacMillan ** '' Veni, Veni, Emmanuel'' (1992) ** Percussion Concerto No. 2 (2014) * Einojuhani Rautavaara ** ''Incantations'' (2008) * Ned Rorem ** Mallet Concerto (2003) * Christopher Rouse ** '' Der gerettete Alberich'' (1997) * St ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Scotland
Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, the North Sea to the northeast and east, and the Irish Sea to the south. It also contains more than 790 islands, principally in the archipelagos of the Hebrides and the Northern Isles. Most of the population, including the capital Edinburgh, is concentrated in the Central Belt—the plain between the Scottish Highlands and the Southern Uplands—in the Scottish Lowlands. Scotland is divided into 32 administrative subdivisions or local authorities, known as council areas. Glasgow City is the largest council area in terms of population, with Highland being the largest in terms of area. Limited self-governing power, covering matters such as education, social services and roads and transportation, is devolved from the Scott ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Witchcraft
Witchcraft traditionally means the use of magic or supernatural powers to harm others. A practitioner is a witch. In medieval and early modern Europe, where the term originated, accused witches were usually women who were believed to have used malevolent magic against their own community, and often to have communed with evil beings. It was thought witchcraft could be thwarted by protective magic or counter-magic, which could be provided by cunning folk or folk healers. Suspected witches were also intimidated, banished, attacked or killed. Often they would be formally prosecuted and punished, if found guilty or simply believed to be guilty. European witch-hunts and witch trials in the early modern period led to tens of thousands of executions. In some regions, many of those accused of witchcraft were folk healers or midwives. European belief in witchcraft gradually dwindled during and after the Age of Enlightenment. Contemporary cultures that believe in magic and the superna ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Isobel Gowdie
Isobel Gowdie was a Scottish woman who confessed to witchcraft at Auldearn near Nairn during 1662. Scant information is available about her age or life and, although she was probably executed in line with the usual practice, it is uncertain whether this was the case or if she was allowed to return to the obscurity of her former life as a cottar’s wife. Her detailed testimony, apparently achieved without the use of violent torture, provides one of the most comprehensive insights into European witchcraft folklore at the end of the era of witch-hunts. The four confessions she made over a period of six weeks include details of charms and rhymes, claims she was a member of a coven in the service of the Devil and that she met with the fairy queen and king. Lurid information concerning carnal dealings with the Devil were also provided. A combination of demonic and fairy beliefs, the narratives were used by Margaret Murray as the basis for her now mostly discredited theories about cult ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The Proms
The BBC Proms or Proms, formally named the Henry Wood Promenade Concerts Presented by the BBC, is an eight-week summer season of daily orchestral classical music concerts and other events held annually, predominantly in the Royal Albert Hall in central London. The Proms were founded in 1895, and are now organised and broadcast by the BBC. Each season consists of concerts in the Royal Albert Hall, chamber music concerts at Cadogan Hall, additional Proms in the Park events across the UK on the Last Night of the Proms, and associated educational and children's events. The season is a significant event in British culture and in classical music. Czech conductor Jiří Bělohlávek described the Proms as "the world's largest and most democratic musical festival". ''Prom'' is short for ''promenade concert'', a term which originally referred to outdoor concerts in London's pleasure gardens, where the audience was free to stroll around while the orchestra was playing. In the conte ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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