James MacMillan

Scottish music and culture is playing second fiddle to an increasingly nationalist and socialist agenda

My attempt to emulate Tallis was initially terrifying, but now that the work is finished I am quite bereft

Scottish nationalists seem out to destroy a precious musical heritage built up over many generations

To hear my Stabat Mater sung in Michelangelo’s chapel was the high point of my musical life

Religion plays an integral role in modern music even when it is composed by non-believers

Ernest Newman’s towering biography of Wagner helped to shape my own view of the composer

Look to Beethoven to answer Adorno’s famous post-Holocaust critique of Western culture

Many composers, including me, love football so much that we are inspired by the beautiful game

Dumbing down church music and liturgy has emptied the pews. Our tradition deserves better

Thomas Wode’s part-books show the centrality of music in Scottish life just before the Reformation