Stuart MacRae

b. 1976

British

Summary

Stuart MacRae studied at Durham University with Philip Cashian and Michael Zev Gordon, and subsequently with Simon Bainbridge and Robert Saxton at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama. By his mid-twenties he was writing astonishingly original and powerfully expressive works, and was receiving commissions from organisations such as the BBC and the London Sinfonietta as well as being appointed Composer-in-Association with the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra. Often inspired by aspects of the natural landscape, MacRae’s style draws on various strands of European modernism, including the music of Stravinsky, Carter, Xenakis and most significantly Maxwell Davies.
Critical Acclaim
Stuart MacRae's music was crafted with great dedication and skill. It was sensitive to every possible nuance of the words, beautifully written... expertly scored... - David Johnson, Tempo

The style is doggedly atonal but authentic and lucid, coming from a vivid aural imagination. It seems that the composer’s early, rather gentle manner has been superseded by a high seriousness. - Raymond Monelle, The Independent

Biography

Stuart MacRae was born in Inverness, Scotland, in 1976. After reading Music at Durham University with Philip Cashian, Sohrab Uduman and Michael Zev Gordon, he studied composition at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama with Simon Bainbridge and Robert Saxton. Often inspired by aspects of the natural landscape, MacRae’ musical style draws on various strands of European modernism, including the music of Carter and Xenakis as well as Maxwell Davies.

MacRae came to public attention as a finalist in the 1996 Lloyd’s Bank Young Composer’s Workshop when the BBC Philharmonic gave the first professional performance of Boreraig, a piece inspired by a visit to a deserted village on the Isle of Skye. From 1999 to 2003, MacRae was Composer in Association with the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra. He was Edinburgh Festival Creative Fellow during 2005/6 and held a residency at Villa Concordia in Bamberg from 2006-7.

The premiere of his Violin Concerto in 2001 brought MacRae wider public recognition. Following its premiere by Tasmin Little at the BBC Proms, it was performed at the Edinburgh Festival and at the Festival Musica in Strasbourg, and it has subsequently been recorded by Christian Tetzlaff on NMC Records. The Violin Concerto proved a catalyst for further success, beginning with Ancrene Wisse (2002), a setting of Middle English texts for soprano, female chorus and orchestra. Hamartia (2003), for cello and strings, explores the ancient Greek concept of a ‘tragic flaw’. The piece was premiered by the Scottish Ensemble and Liwei Qin on its 2004 spring tour and performed again at the BBC Proms in 2005.

Three Pictures
, commissioned by the Scottish Chamber Orchestra in 2004, depicts a series of imaginary landscapes, whilst in Two Scenes from the Death of Count Ugolino (2004) a mezzo soprano soloist brings to life two grotesque passages from Dante’s Inferno. A second work for the Scottish Chamber Orchestra, Birches (2007), draws its inspiration from closer to home, recalling elements of the landscape of the Scottish Highlands. The premiere of Gaudete at the 2008 BBC Proms demonstrated a significant development in MacRae’s musical language. The piece, a 28 minute setting of poetry by Ted Hughes, was performed by the BBC Symphony Orchestra and soprano Susanna Andersson conducted by Edward Gardner. Following the premiere, The Times wrote that "MacRae has thrillingly given Hughes’s work a new incarnation. Blood, granite, oak and bone were imprinted anew on the imagination though the heightened experience of music.” Recent years have also seen the creation of a number of works for the stage.

The one-act opera The Assassin Tree (2006) was co-commissioned by the Edinburgh International Festival and Royal Opera House. Featuring a libretto by Simon Armitage, its premiere production was directed by Emio Greco and Pieter Scholten. Echo and Narcissus - MacRae’s first work for dance, a collaboration with choreographer Cathy Marston - was premiered at the Linbury Studio of the Royal Opera House in May 2007. 2009 saw the premiere of Remembrance Day, a fifteen-minute chamber opera to a libretto by Louise Welsh, commissioned as part of Scottish Opera’s Five:15 series. Writing in Opera magazine, Andrew Clark commented: "Poignant, farcical and grotesque, Remembrance Day is a minor masterpiece, full of moods and murmurs and post-Bergian mosaics”. 
The music of Stuart MacRae is published by Novello & Co.
www.stuartmacrae.com

News

  • Ghost Patrol wins South Bank Sky Arts Award 2013
    • Ghost Patrol wins South Bank Sky Arts Award 2013
    • 18th March 2013
    • Stuart MacRae's emotional Ghost Patrol has won a highly-coveted South Bank Sky Arts Award in the opera category. The awards celebrate the best in British culture and achievement with a ceremony that was attended...
  • Edinburgh Operas
    • Edinburgh Operas
    • 26th August 2012
    •  Stuart MacRae’s war-themed Ghost Patrol and Craig Armstrong’s The Lady from the Sea are both being unveiled at this summer’s Edinburgh Festival. Performing these works is the culmination of a five-year plan by...
  • New Opera by Stuart MacRae – Ghost Patrol
    • New Opera by Stuart MacRae – Ghost Patrol
    • 3rd April 2012
    • Ghost Patrol by Stuart MacRae receives its world premiere this summer at the Edinburgh International Festival. Commissioned jointly by Scottish Opera and Music Theatre Wales, the work will tour later this year and...
  • Poems for Angus
    • Poems for Angus
    • 15th October 2010
    • Mezzo soprano Susan Bickley and musicians will give the world premiere of Poems for Angus by Stuart MacRae on October 18. The piece, settings of Scottish poet Norman MacCaig, will be performed in the Crush Room of the...
  • Stuart MacRae choral music
    • Stuart MacRae choral music
    • 11th January 2010
    • Stuart MacRae’s haunting carol Adam lay y-bounden features on the latest CD release from the Choir of Gonville and Caius College, Cambridge, conducted by Geoffrey Webber. The disc combines Medieval and Renaissance...
  • Scottish Opera premieres MacRae drama
    • Scottish Opera premieres MacRae drama
    • 11th February 2009
    • Remembrance Day, a one-act opera by Stuart MacRae, receives its world premiere in Glasgow on February 20. The piece has been commissioned by Scottish Opera for its acclaimed Five:15 series of new chamber operas. ...

Performances

There are no upcoming performances

Photos

Discography

    Earth, Thy Cold is Keen

    Earth, Thy Cold is Keen
    • Label
      Delphian
    • Catalogue Number
      DCD34297
    • Ensemble
      Sequoia duo
    • Soloist
      Lotte Betts-Dean, soprano
    • Released
      28th July 2023
    • Works

    Ursa Minor: Chamber Music by Stuart MacRae

    Ursa Minor: Chamber Music by Stuart MacRae

    A Celtic Prayer

    A Celtic Prayer
    • Label
      Priory
    • Catalogue Number
      PRCD1234
    • Conductor
      George McPhee
    • Ensemble
      Paisley Abbey Choir
    • Soloist
      David Gerrard, organ
    • Released
      2nd October 2020
    • Works

    Time to Time

    Time to Time
    • Label
      Meridian Records
    • Catalogue Number
      CDE 84603
    • Soloist
      Mark Stone (baritone)
    • Released
      15th August 2011
    • Works

    Into this World the Day did come

    Into this World the Day did come
    • Label
      Delphian
    • Catalogue Number
      DCD34075
    • Conductor
      Geoffrey Webber
    • Ensemble
      Choir of Gonville / Caius College, Cambridge
    • Released
      1st November 2009
    • Works

    The NMC Song Book

    The NMC Song Book

    MacRae Violin Concerto

    MacRae Violin Concerto

    The Jerwood Series 1

    The Jerwood Series 1
    • Label
      London Sinfonietta Label
    • Catalogue Number
      SINF CD1-2006
    • Conductor
      Heinz Karl Gruber
    • Ensemble
      London Sinfonietta
    • Soloist
      John Wallace, Trumpet
    • Released
      11th January 2006
    • Works

    In Nomine

    In Nomine
    • Label
      KAIROS
    • Catalogue Number
      0012442KAI
    • Ensemble
      Ensemble Recherche
    • Released
      11th October 2004
    • Works

    Lasair Dhe (Flame of God)

    Lasair Dhe (Flame of God)
    • Label
      macmeanmna
    • Catalogue Number
      SKYECD19
    • Ensemble
      Massed Gaelic Choirs
    • Released
      2002
    • Works
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