Listening in Advent: “Veni, Veni, Emmanuel,” James MacMillan’s First Percussion Concerto

written by Chelle Stearns

James MacMillan’s first percussion concerto, “Veni, Veni, Emmanuel,” was written for Scottish Percussionist, Evelyn Glennie. The premiere was at the BBC Proms in Royal Albert Hall, London on August 10, 1992 by the Scottish Chamber Orchestra, conducted Jukka-Pekka Saraste. This work was so popular that it was soon heard in concert hall around the world.

In his composer’s notes, MacMillan comments that this concerto was started at Advent in 1991 and finished on Easter 1992, which is reflected in the shape of the entire work.¹ Interwoven in the work is the ancient hymn, “Veni, Veni, Emmanuel.” From this hymn comes the heartbeats, which MacMillan says represents “the human presence of Christ.” The heartbeat emerges from the titular ancient hymn to the rhythm of “rejoice, rejoice” (“gaude, gaude”), “short, long, short, long.” As he says, “I have used human heartbeats in a number of pieces but it seemed to be absolutely central to a piece that dealt with the humanity of God, or the interaction of the Divine and the human, to make the human heartbeat the absolute central focus of the music, and therefore that pulse, that dyadic pulse, is omnipresent one way or another throughout the piece.”² The concerto then ends with the Gloria of the Easter Vigil, with the resurrected heartbeats of the Risen Christ.³

The first video is of the 1992 BBC Proms, with short interviews and commentary with MacMillan and Glennie. Unfortunately, the sound it is a bit off in the video…

The second video is from 1994: Evelyn Glennie with DSO Berlin, conducted by Sian Edwards:

Footnotes:

1. James MacMillan, “Veni, Veni, Emmanuel: Composer’s Notes,” Boosey & Hawkes website, 1992, accessed January 3, 2019, www.boosey.com/cr/music/James-MacMillan-Veni-Veni-Emmanuel/3051.
2. James MacMillan, and Richard McGregor, “James MacMillan: a conversation and commentary,” The Musical Times 151:1912 (Autumn 2010), 80.
3. James MacMillan, “Veni, Veni, Emmanuel: Composer’s Notes,” Boosey & Hawkes website, 1992, accessed January 3, 2019, www.boosey.com/cr/music/James-MacMillan-Veni-Veni-Emmanuel/3051.

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