Usher Hall, EdinburghThe latest symphony from the pre-eminent Scottish composer, a meditation on the Holy Spirit featuring a striking 20-voice motet, received a rapturous response
Scotland’s pre-eminent composer, Sir James MacMillan, turns 60 this year, a landmark celebrated by the Edinburgh international festival with a series of concerts culminating in the premiere of a major new work: his Fifth Symphony.
It is three decades since the composer burst onto the
British music scene with the premiere of his searing, visceral Confession of Isobel Gowdie at the
BBC Proms. In that time, his work has undergone a major stylistic evolution.