9 December 2020 18:00 in Online

We are delighted to welcome for this lecture Sir James MacMillan. MacMillan is one of today’s most successful composers. His musical language is flooded with influences from his Scottish heritage, Catholic faith, social conscience and close connection with Celtic folk music, blended with influences from Far Eastern, Scandinavian and Eastern European music.

MacMillan first became internationally recognised after the extraordinary success of The Confession of Isobel Gowdie at the BBC Proms in 1990. His prolific output has since been performed and broadcast around the world. His major works include percussion concerto Veni, Veni, Emmanuel, which has received close to 500 performances, a cello concerto for Mstislav Rostropovich and four symphonies.

MacMillan completed his BA and PhD at Durham University in the 1980s and is Professor of Theology, Imagination, and the Arts at the University of St Andrews.

In this lecture, MacMillan will discuss the relation between Catholicism and music. He will talk about his own music, music of the past, music from previous centuries which has been employed in liturgy, and the religious traditions and heritage of Catholicism. But because Catholicism is a religion which has not shied away from the world, and has sometimes set out deliberately to engage with events and developments in culture, ethics, aesthetics, society and philosophy, he will also discuss politics – politics of the past, the present and indeed the future.

Respondents: Dr George Corbett and Prof. Bennett Zon

All welcome!

How to enrol: Details and registration are available via the Centre for Catholic Studies’ Eventbrite page – https://centreforcatholicstudies.eventbrite.com

Photo credits © Genesis Foundation 2018. Photo: Adrian Myers.