Cybernat fury as maestro attacks SNP’s stance on arts
Composer dubs it ‘vile and parochial’
A CELEBRATED composer has launched an extraordinary attack on the SNP’s approach to the arts, calling it ‘vile, venal and parochial’.
Sir James MacMillan claimed Leftwing politicians shunned the opera for fear of being seen as elitist and losing votes.
He said that, under the Scottish Nationalists, mediocre art was praised as long as it was by a Scot or showing the country in a positive light.
With the Edinburgh Festival and Fringe in full flow, he said visiting critics were baffled by the gushing praise lavished on ‘so-so’ Scottish acts.
His article, published in the Spectator magazine, sparked a furious backlash on Twitter, with one Scottish Nationalist calling it ‘spiteful, petty and cringe-induced’.
The 57-year-old composer from Ayrshire, who conducted with the BBC Philharmonic for nine years, wrote: ‘Scottish Opera routinely invite Scotland’s politicians to their productions and their invitations are routinely ignored.
‘The feeling is that there are votes to be lost in being seen supporting elitist culture.’
He blamed the SNP Government for fostering such an unhealthy arts world, highlighting threats by politicians to axe opera funding and attempts to force schools to teach more Scottish texts in English classes.
Teachers complained when the then Education Secretary Mike Russell tried to force them to abandon Shakespeare and Dickens in favour of ‘dire’ modern Scottish works in 2012.
Sir James wrote: ‘Culture and education are being weaponised by political voices.
‘Scottish works are treated as simultaneously sublime and neglected.
‘JD Fergusson is greater than Matisse; Hamish MacCunn is greater than Mahler; Alasdair Gray is greater than James Joyce.’
He claimed English critics had been baffled by the esteem in which average Scottish performers were held north of the Border, pointing to the experience of Guardian arts writer Lyn Gardner in 2013, who asked: ‘So what’s going on? Are Scottish critics protecting their own?’
Sir James wrote: ‘The pathology runs deep. Anyone praised by London is dubious.
‘There is a vile, parochial, kleinstadtisch [small town] perspective from some of our cultural commentators which outwardly eschews elitism, but is profoundly motivated by an ideology of resentment and grievance.’
Creative Scotland declined to comment on the article, but Nationalists raced to condemn Sir James on social media.
DJ Johnston-Smith, a failed SNP Holyrood candidate who stood in East Lothian in May’s Scottish election, wrote: ‘My word, this is a spiteful, petty, cringe-induced piece, dripping in hate and bile, from composer James MacMillan.’
His comment was retweeted by Nationalist MP Pete Wishart, who added: ‘It’s actually quite sad too. You wonder how someone can get so alienated from what’s happening in Scotland.’
As Sir James noted in his article, many Scots artists were outspoken supporters of independence during the 2014 referendum campaign – although cybernats were quick to condemn any, such as JK Rowling, who dared to speak up for the Union.
Pro-independence singer Eddi Reader tweeted about Sir James’ piece: ‘He wishes us artists to ignore what’s under our noses.’
Nationalist MSP James Dornan wrote: ‘As a politician who regrets that he doesn’t get to see enough opera because of his job, I sigh when I read him.’
The SNP insisted the Scottish arts world was not hostile to outsiders, citing the success of the Edinburgh Festival and Fringe in attracting visitors from abroad. A spokesman said: ‘It’s ironic this suggestion is being made as Scotland hosts the world’s largest arts festival, attracting huge numbers of international artists and visitors.
‘The idea the Scottish cultural scene is anything other than outward looking, internationalist and inclusive simply isn’t borne out by the facts.’
In 2012, author Alasdair Gray caused controversy by describing English people who are appointed to Scotland’s top arts jobs as ‘colonists and settlers’ who only move north of the Border to further their careers before returning back south.
‘Resentment and grievance’