Hamish MacCunn

Infobox musical artist
Name = Hamish MacCunn


Img_capt = Portrait of Hamish MacCunn, 1889, by John Pettie
Background = non_performing_personnel
Birth_name = Hamish MacCunn
Born = 22 March 1868
flagicon|SCO Greenock, Scotland
Died = 2 August 1916
flagicon|ENG London, England
Genre = Romantic
Occupation = Composer, Conductor
Years_active =
Notable_instruments =

Hamish MacCunn (22 March 1868 – 2 August 1916), Scottish romantic composer, was born in Greenock, the son of a shipowner, and was educated at the Royal College of Music, where his teachers included Hubert Parry and Charles Villiers Stanford.

MacCunn's first success was with the overture "The Land of the Mountain and the Flood" in 1887 at the Crystal Palace, and this was followed by other compositions, with a characteristic Scottish colouring. From 1888 to 1894 he was a professor at the Royal College of Music. In 1888, he married Alison Pettie, daughter of John Pettie, RA, who had painted MacCunn's portrait several times. They had one son. John Pettie was an enthusiastic musician, who helped MacCunn build up his career by organising concerts of his work. The production of his opera "Jeanie Deans" at Edinburgh, soon followed. He was for some years conductor to the Carl Rosa Opera company, and subsequently to other companies. His opera "Diarmid" was produced at Covent Garden in 1897.

His other music includes cantatas, overtures, part-songs, instrumental pieces, and songs, all markedly Scottish in type. He had a genuine love of Scottish folksong, and although he lived in London he was a lifelong champion of Scottish music and of the country’s musical life.

A hectic programme of composing, conducting and teaching brought about a gradual deterioration in MacCunn's health, and he died aged only 48.

References

*1911

External links

* [http://www.britishclassicalmusic.com/maccunn.html Biography from the British Musical Society]
* [http://special.lib.gla.ac.uk/collection/maccunn.html MacCunn Collection, University of Glasgow]
* Digitised scores can be viewed through the [http://ahds.ac.uk/performingarts/collections/five-centuries.htm Five Centuries of Scottish Music] collection hosted by [http://www.ahds.ac.uk/performingarts/index.htm AHDS Performing Arts]

See also: McCunn