<<  -- 5 --  Robert Hugill    EMOTIONAL CONTOURS

A sense of faith is obviously important to him, but he prefers being described as spiritual rather than religious -- 'certainly my Christian faith was particularly important in my formative years -- it shaped me and my outlook and ideals. It only affects my music in the most general way, since that is an expression of who I am, but I hardly ever set out to write an overtly Christian work -- how can there be such a thing without text, anyway?'

Coming from Northern Ireland, inevitably the subject of politics will crop up in the interviewer's mind; but for Wilson, 'growing up in Northern Ireland can turn you off politics for life.' In fact, he owes his politicisation to a period he spent in Belgrade; the latter half of his two year stay there coincided with the 'situation' there and he left three days after the NATO bombing started. This has resulted in a violin concerto, Messenger, but though politics are important to him he can't say that 'politics really plays any role in my work, unless in the way it impinges on the human condition, which is always more of an interesting subject for me'.

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