MacMillan at the Proms

Synopsis

August may seem an unlikely time for Advent music, liturgically speaking, but it was on today’s date in 1992 that a remarkable work entitled Veni, Veni, Emmanuel received its premiere at Royal Albert Hall in London. This was during the 1992 Proms at a concert by the Scottish Chamber Orchestra showcasing the talents of virtuoso Scottish percussionist Evelyn Glennie.

The music with the Advent title was a concerto for percussion and orchestra by the Scottish composer James MacMillan, who explained that the work was started on the first Sunday of Advent in 1991, and completed on Easter Sunday the following year, and based on the ancient Advent Latin plainsong Veni, Veni, Emmanuel or, in its more familiar English translation: O come, O Come Emmanuel.

Many of the orchestral works of James Macmillan are based on religious or liturgical themes, a reflection of the Scottish composer’s own deep Catholic faith, and his percussion concerto Veni, Veni Emmanuel was no exception.

“There’s very strong and powerful analogies between religion and music, and between music and spirituality,” MacMillan said. “It’s because of those connections that I’m determined to explore what the connections might be and for that reason I’m entirely at ease with giving space in my music for these considerations.”

Apparently percussions, orchestras, and audiences are willing to spend some time with MacMillan’s musical considerations. Veni, Veni Emmanuel has been performed over 300 times since its 1992 premiere.

Music Played in Today's Program

James MacMillan (b. 1959): Veni, Veni, Emmanuel; Evelyn Glennie, percussion; Scottish Chamber Orchestra; Jukka-Pekka Saraste, conductor; BMG/Catalyst 61916

On This Day

Births

• 1813 - American composer and journalist, William Henry Fry, in Philadelphia. Some earlier sources list August 19 as Fry’s birth date.

• 1865 - Russian composer Alexander Glazunov, in St. Petersburg (Julian date: July 29)

• 1893 - American opera composer Douglas Moore, in Cutchogue (Long Island), New York

• 1932 - German-born English composer Alexander Goehr, in Berlin

• 1935 - Georgian composer Giya Kancheli, in Tbilisi, former USSR

Deaths

• 1806 - Austrian composer Michael Haydn (younger brother of Franz Joseph), in Salzburg, 68

• 1970 - German composer Bernd Alois Zimmermann, 52, commits suicide in Königsdorf, leaving behind his posthumous Requiem

• 1997 - American composer Conlon Nancarrow, 84, in Mexico City

Premieres

• 1949 - Milhaud: Octet for Strings, at Mills College in California, by the combined Budapest and Paganini Quartets

• 1965 - Wm. Schuman: Philharmonic Fanfare, by the New York Philharmonic conducted by William Steinberg, at the orchestra's first outdoor concert in New York’s Central Park

• 1968 - Grofé: Virginia City: Requiem for a Ghost Town, in Virginia City, Nevada

• 1981 - John Tavener: Akhmatova: Requiem, at the Edinburgh Festival in Scotland

• 1992 - James MacMillan: Veni, Veni, Emmanuel (Percussion Concerto), at Royal Albert Hall in London, with soloist Evelyn Glennie and the Scottish Chamber Orchestra, Jukka-Pekka Sarsate conducting

• 2001 - Per Norgard: String Quartet No. 9 (Into the Source), at the Sante Fe Chamber Music Festival, by the Orion String Quartet

Others

• 1778 - Mozart finishes his Eine Kleine Nachtmusik Serenade in Vienna

• 1788 - Mozart finishes his Jupiter Symphony in Vienna

• 1825 - Mendelssohn, 16, finishes his opera Camacho’s Wedding

• 1895 - The late-summer Promenade Concerts (better known as The Proms) are launched in London by Henry Wood and Robert Newman