The Confession of Isobel Gowdie
Saturday 8 January 2005 14:00-15:00 (Radio 3)
With Stephen Johnson.
In 1662 Isobel Gowdie, from Nairn in Scotland, was strangled at the stake and burned in pitch after having confessed to being a witch and consorting with the devil.
Composer James MacMillan was drawn by the dramatic potential of this horrific event to compose what he has described as a "complicated act of contrition - the requiem that Isobel Gowdie never had".
James MacMillan joins Stephen Johnson to reveal how the work was composed and the ways in which he has tried to capture the soul of Scotland in music.
The composer also conducts the BBC Philharmonic in extracts and a complete performance of the work.
First broadcast November 2003.
Macmillan - The Confession of Isobel Gowdie (The online audio for this programme is truncated for rights reasons. Dur. 36 mins)
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