Knighted in the Queen's Birthday Honours, Sir James MacMillan is a Patron of the Latin Mass Society.Our heartfelt congratulations for this much-deserved honour. He was made a CBE in 2004.
Sir James is a composer of international reputation, and his passion for Catholic sacred music is reflected in his tireless work in his own parish in Glasgow. He is an inspiration for all Catholic musicians.
This photograph shows him speaking to a meeting of the Gregorian Chant Network, an umbrella group for chant choirs sponsored by the Latin Mass Society.
Support the work of the LMS by becoming an 'Anniversary Supporter'.
For Pope Benedict's visit Sir James did a Mass setting for general use in which he said he was trying to get away from the usual soupy folk style of such things. To me it sounded like … the usual soupy folk style, pleasant enough but I don't think it has been much used since. He also did a Mass setting which included chants for the preface and - Eucharistic Prayer 2 that used was sung at Westminster Cathedral a few times and which I thought was very good. Now of course with the changed English text it cannot be used - along with much other fine music written for the older words. This is not the least of the unfortunate effects of the imposition of the current "English" version of the Mass, not to speak of the cost of replacing all the books. What the benefits may have been I have no idea.
ReplyDelete