Ninian (Concerto for Clarinet and Orchestra) (1996) — James MacMillan @expilectakunai

Uploaded December 2022 | Updated September 2026, 1 week ago

One of the very prolific, acclaimed composers working today, James MacMillan wrote his clarinet concerto in 1996. He writes about the piece:
"Composed in 1996, this work was premiered in 1997 as part of the celebrations of the Year of Ninian, one of the founding father of Christianity in Scotland. St. Ninian, the first bishop of Whithorn, was believed to have arrived in Galloway in the south-west of the Country in 397 AD, nearly two centuries before St Columba landed in Iona. I grew up in the south-west of Scotland, where over the centuries people have had a special devotion to Ninian, continuing to the present day. The concerto has links geographically and musically with the congregational Galloway Mass which I wrote in 1996 for one of Ninian's successors, the Rt Rev Maurice Taylor, Bishop of Galloway. The three movements are based on three of the so-called Miracles of Ninian, strange and evocative tales about the saint and his followers, documented in a Latin poem written a few centuries after his death. As well as being a concerto, the work is therefore also a collection tone-paintings which give an impression of these ancient tales."

COMPOSER: James MacMillan
CONDUCTOR: Alexander Lazarev
CLARINET: John Cushing
ORCHESTRA: Royal Scottish National Orchestra

TRACKLIST:
0:00 - I. The Reiver and the Bull
9:34 - II. The Dream of Pectgils
18:04 - III. A Mystical Vision of the Christ-child

Please be aware that all of the music (and images) featured in this video belong to their respective owners, and I or this channel does not claim any right over them. I upload these solely for archiving purposes, and for the sharing and enjoyment of great music. Monetization is not enabled. If you are the rightful owner of copyrighted material used and would like the video removed from YouTube, please, instead of reporting/striking my channel, leave a comment below with your statement and I will take the video down effective immediately.

Ninian (Concerto for Clarinet and Orchestra) (1996) — James MacMillan

Concerto for Violin and Orchestra (1999) — Edgar Meyer

The Well of the Moon (2005) — Derek Bourgeois

Collateral Damage (Concerto for Clarinet and Orchestra) (2000) — Nikola Resanovic

Symphony No. 4 (1990) — Shinichirō Ikebe

$American Triptych (2018) — Jake Runestad This is Jake Runestads gorgeous 3-movement choral work American Triptych for SATB choir and piano, in which the texts span the USA from East to West featuring authors Henry David Thoreau (Massachusetts), Wendell Berry (Kentucky), and John Muir (California). Each movement expresses an aspect of our human connection with the natural world and journeys through a rushing river, a peaceful lakefront, and a wind storm in the Western Sierra mountains. COMPOSER: Jake Runestad POETS: Henry David Thoreau, Wendell Berry, John Muir CONDUCTOR: Craig Hella Johnson CHOIR: Conspirare PIANO: Michael Jones TRACKLIST: 0:00 - I. Reflections 7:15 - II. The Peace of Wild Things 12:32 - III. Come to the Woods TEXTS: I. Reflections (Henry David Thoreau) We live but a fraction of our life. We do not fill all our pores with our blood; we do not inspire and expire fully and entirely enough, so that the wave of each inspiration shall break on our farthest shores, rolling ’til it meets the sand which bounds us, and the sound of the surf comes back [to us]. Why do we not let on the flood, raise the gates, and set all our wheels in motion? There is the calmness of the lake when there is not a breath of wind; so it is with us. Sometimes we are clarified and calmed as we never were before. We become like a still lake of purest crystal and without an effort our depths are revealed to ourselves. All the world goes by us and is reflected in our deeps. Such clarity! Obtained by such pure means! By simple living, by honesty of purpose. To be calm, to be serene! II. The Peace of Wild Things (Wendell Berry) When despair for the world grows in me and I wake in the night at the least sound in fear of what my life and my children’s lives may be, I go and lie down where the wood drake rests in his beauty on the water, and the great heron feeds. I come into the peace of wild things who do not tax their lives with forethought of grief. I come into the presence of still water. And I feel above me the day-blind stars waiting with their light. For a time I rest in the grace of the world, and am free. III. Come to the Woods (John Muir) Another glorious day, the air as delicious to the lungs as nectar to the tongue. The day was full of sparkling sunshine, and at the same time enlivened with one of the most bracing wind storms. The mountain winds bless the forests with love. They touch every tree, not one is forgotten. When the storm began to sound, I pushed out into the woods to enjoy it. I should climb one of the trees for a wider look. The sounds of the storm were glorious with wild exuberance of light and motion. Bending and swirling backward and forward, round and round, in this wild sea of pines. The storm-tones died away, and turning toward the east, I beheld the trees, hushed and tranquil. The setting sun filled them with amber light, and seemed to say, “Come to the woods, for here is rest.” Please be aware that all of the music (and images) featured in this video belong to their respective owners, and I or this channel does not claim any right over them. I upload these solely for archiving purposes, and for the sharing and enjoyment of great music. Monetization is not enabled. If you are the rightful owner of copyrighted material used and would like the video removed from YouTube, please, instead of reporting/striking my channel, leave a comment below with your statement and I will take the video down effective immediately.$

François Rabbath — Two Miniatures for Double Bass and Piano (1992) [w/ score]

Mobile Suit Gundam: Hathaway (2021) (FULL SOUNDTRACK) by Hiroyuki Sawano

Nahre Sol — Little Fishy Upstream Swimming (2020) (piano version) [w/ score]

Chichester Psalms (1965) — Leonard Bernstein (Atlanta Symphony Orchestra)