Klasicna muzika

The Berserking is a concerto for solo piano and orchestra by the Scottish composer James MacMillan. The work was commissioned by the Musica Nova Festival and was premiered in Glasgow on 22 September 1990 by the pianist Peter Donohoe and the Royal Scottish National Orchestra under the conductor Matthias Bamert.

The Berserkers was inspired by a group of Norse warriors called Berserkers, who were reported to have fought in an uncontrollable, trance-like fury. MacMillan wrote in the score program note:

Although deadly in combat, the berserking process was paradoxically a suicidal one since, having lost their senses, they were vulnerable to a more stealthy attack. As a Scot living in the modern world this behaviour seems very familiar! I see its pointlessness as resembling the Scots' seeming facility for shooting themselves in the foot in political and, for that matter, in sporting endeavours. (In fact the initial burst of inspiration for The Berserking came in 1989 after watching a soccer game in which Glasgow Celtic turned in a characteristically passionate, frenzied but ultimately futile display against Partizan Belgrade!).