Eveliyn Glennie - James MacMillan: Veni, Veni, Emmanuel (1993)

Much of James MacMillan's orchestral music is concerned with matters of Christian theology, and his concerto for percussion and orchestra, Veni, Veni, Emmanuel, may be counted among his most religiously inspired pieces. Outwardly, though, it is ambiguous and difficult to distinguish from purely secular music. Since all of MacMillan's motives and chords are derived from the plainchant hymn for Advent, some will listen for its permutations in the complex network of overlapping fragments. Others will be more interested in the elaborate percussion part, which Evelyn Glennie brings off with ferocious virtuosity and potent force -- always front and center, and fully audible, even when the Scottish Chamber Orchestra, under Jukka-Pekka Saraste, is at its loudest and most strident. The remaining selections on this CD are more personally quirky, mundane, and decidedly less cosmic in scope. After the Tryst, ...as others see us..., Dawn Rituals, and Untold are variously ironic, mysterious, sentimental, and whimsical. Selected members of the SCO, conducted here by the composer, play these chimerical pieces with abundant enthusiasm and involvement; but MacMillan's chamber music is too desultory and unfocused to compete with the dynamic Veni, Veni, Emmanuel.