Â鶹Éç

All Things Considered on Sunday 2 September 8.31am, comes from the Wales Millennium Centre in Cardiff Bay where Welsh National Opera are rehearsing for the premiere of what they're describing as a landmark production.

The Sacrifice, set in a future society but based on the ancient Welsh folk tales in the Mabinogion, is the work of James MacMillan, acclaimed as one of the world's greatest living composers.

And it's James MacMillan that Roy Jenkins meets this week.

His prolific output includes three symphonies, a concerto for the great cellist Msitslav Rostopovich, a percussion concerto for Evelyn Glennie, which has had more than 300 performances around the world, and an enormous amount besides.

His work is infused by his Scottishness, an acute social awareness, and a deep commitment to the Roman Catholic faith, which was nurtured, along with a love of the trumpet and the cornet, in the Ayrshire coalmining community where he grew up.

He became a controversial figure with outspoken criticism of anti-Catholic sectarianism in Scotland; but through a lengthy and bruising public debate, he has continued to compose material which many find deeply spiritual.

In a break in rehearsals, he talks to Roy Jenkins about the ongoing controversy, the place of art music in contemporary culture and his understanding of the spiritual dimension of music.

Related websites: