James Dillon

Circe (Pharmakeia : 3), small orchestra (16 players), 2017

Tanz/Haus: triptych 2017, flute, clarinet, electric guitar, violin, cello, double bass, piano, accordion, percussion, 2017

The Louth Work: Orphic Fragments, soprano, clarinet, viola, cello, piano, percussion, 2016

Stabat Mater Dolorosa, 12 mixed voices, 12 players, live electronics, 2014

Introitus – Nine Rivers 8, 11/12 strings, fixed media, live electronics, 1989–90

L'ÉCRAN parfum – Nine Rivers 2, 6 violins, 3 percussion, 1988

La Femme invisible – Nine Rivers 4, flute (+ piccolo), alto flute (+ bass flute), oboe, English horn (+ oboe), clarinet, bass clarinet, 2 soprano saxophones (2nd + alto saxophone), piano, 3 percussion, 1989

L'Œuvre au Noir – Nine Rivers 6, bass flute (+ alto flute, piccolo, triangle), bassoon (+ contrabassoon, crotales), tenor-bass trombone, bass trombone, harp (+ sleigh bells), 2 cellos (1st + rainstick, 2nd + crotales), double bass (+ sleigh bells), 2 percussion, live electronics, 1990

éileadh sguaibe – Nine Rivers 7, 2 French horns, 2 trumpets, tenor-bass trombone, bass trombone, tuba, 2 percussion, live electronics, 1990

La Coupure – Nine Rivers 5, percussion, live electronics, film, 1989–2000

Viriditas – Nine Rivers 3, 16 mixed voices, 1993–94

Oceanos – Nine Rivers 9, 16 mixed voices, orchestra, live electronics, 1985–96

Oslo/Triptych, flute (+ piccolo, bass flute, shortwave radio), clarinet (+ E-flat clarinet, bass clarinet, contrabass clarinet, shortwave radio), 2 violins, viola, cello, piano (+ harmonium/synthesizer), percussion (+ shortwave radio, voice transformer), 2011

New York Triptych, flute (+ piccolo, alto flute, bass flute), oboe (+ English horn), clarinet (+ E-flat clarinet, bass clarinet), violin, viola, cello, piano (+ electronic keyboard), percussion, shortwave radio, fixed media, 2011–12

torii, small orchestra (17 players), 2009–10

The Leuven Triptych, flute, oboe, clarinet, bassoon, trombone, harp, guitar, cello, double bass, piano (+ synthesizer), percussion, live electronics, 2008–09

Theatrum: figuræ, oboe (+ English horn), clarinet (+ contrabass clarinet), bass clarinet, trumpet, trombone, 2 percussion, 2007

Andromeda, piano, large orchestra (80 players), 2005–06

Physis I & II, large orchestra, 2004–05

The Soadie Waste, piano, string quartet, 2002–03

Concerto, violin, large orchestra (79 players), 2000

Vapor (text by Titus Lucretius Carus), 4 mixed voices, string quartet, 1999

His major works include choral and vocal music, including the cycle L'évolution du vol (1993) and the opera Philomela (2004), the orchestral works helle Nacht (1987), ignis noster (1992), Via Sacra (2000), and La navette (2001), as well as a violin concerto for Thomas Zehetmair (2000) and the piano concerto Andromeda (2006) for his partner, Noriko Kawai, all showing an ease of writing for large forces. From 1982–2000, Dillon worked on the Nine Rivers cycle, a 3-hour work for voices, strings, percussion, live electronics and computer-generated tape. The epic work was first performed in full in Glasgow, November 2010. Andrew Clements of The Guardian awarded it a full five stars, describing the last movement (“Oceanos”) as having a “Wagnerian grandeur” and stating, “The cumulative power of [Nine Rivers] is massive, the range of musical experience vast.”

l'ascension, 2 percussion, 1993 (section of L'Évolution du vol; may be performed separately)

le vent, l'arbre et le temps, double bass, 1993 (section of L'Évolution du vol; may be performed separately)

Vernal Showers, violin, ensemble (flute [+ piccolo, alto flute], oboe, harp, guitar, mandolin, viola, cello, double bass, harpsichord, percussion), 1992

ignis noster, large orchestra (100 players), 1991–92

nuée, bass clarinet, 2 percussion ad libitum, 1991 (section of L'Évolution du vol; may be performed separately)

L'Évolution du vol, female voice (+ hurdy-gurdy), E-flat clarinet (+ bass clarinet, contrabass clarinet), double bass, piano (+ harmonium), 2 percussion, 1991–93 (sections 2–7 of its eight sections may be performed separately: l'homme et la vérité, female voice, piano; l'ascension; l'être-ange, female voice [+ hurdy-gurdy], E-flat clarinet; nuée; descente/désir, female voice, bass clarinet, double bass; le vent, l'arbre et le temps)

Blitzschlag, flute, large orchestra (66 players), 1988–96

Überschreiten, small orchestra (16 players), 1986

helle Nacht, large orchestra (90 players), 1986–87

Windows and Canopies, small orchestra (20 players), 1985

Le Rivage, flute (+ piccolo, alto flute), oboe, clarinet (+ bass clarinet), French horn, bassoon, 1984

His considerable body of chamber music, often written expressly for a performer's individual abilities, includes solos for clarinet, drumkit, cello, flute, piccolo, guitar, violin, viola, and accordion, alongside eight string quartets (1983, 1991, 1998, 2004, 2008, 2010, 2013, 2017), the five-part Book of Elements for piano (1997–2002) and the soadie waste for piano and string quartet (2002/3). In 2013, Tom Service referred to the Book of Elements as “the most significant contribution to the pianist's repertoire since György Ligeti's Études.” His fourth string quartet received the 2005 Royal Philharmonic Society Music Award for Chamber-Scale Composition. He won the same award in 1997 (for Traumwerk, Book 1), 2002 (for The Book of Elements 5), and 2017 (for Tanz/Haus: triptych 2017).

Zone (...de azul), clarinet, French horn, trumpet, trombone, violin, viola, cello, piano, 1983

His music has been published by Edition Peters since 1982.

Time Lag Zero (text from the Song of Solomon), female voice, viola, 1982

Come live with me (text from the Song of Solomon), female voice, flute (+ piccolo, alto flute), oboe (+ oboe d'amore, English horn), piano, percussion, 1981–82

A Roaring Flame (texts by Alexander Carmichael, Clara d'Anduza), female voice, double bass, 1981–82

...Once upon a Time, alto flute (+ piccolo), oboe (+ English horn), clarinet, bassoon, French horn, trumpet, trombone, double bass, 1980

Who do you love, female voice, flute (+ piccolo, bass flute), clarinet, violin (+ viola), cello, percussion, 1980–81

Dillon was born in Glasgow, Scotland. Honours include first prize in the Huddersfield Contemporary Music Festival in 1978, the Kranichsteiner music prize at Darmstadt in 1982, and five Royal Philharmonic Society composition awards, most recently for his chamber piece Tanz/Haus: triptych 2017. Dillon taught at Darmstadt from 1982 to 1992, and has been a guest lecturer and composer at various institutions around the world. He taught at the University of Minnesota School of Music in Minneapolis, Minnesota from 2007 to 2014.

James Dillon (born 29 October 1950) is a Scottish composer who is often regarded as belonging to the New Complexity school. Dillon studied art and design, linguistics, piano, acoustics, Indian rhythm, mathematics and computer music, but is self-taught in composition.