ABSTRACT
The Royal College of Music (RCM) has turned out a number of brilliant pupils. While the RCM was created to address the lack of educational opportunities and professional training for native musicians, MacCunn and other first-generation RCM students reveal its initial shortcomings. Musically, MacCunn was a product of late nineteenth-century Romanticism, and he retained a musical style that remained largely based upon its tenets throughout his career. The lack of development in MacCunn's musical style may be due to his early successes. The London-centered musical culture of Britain was not ready for a group of composers promoting a Scottish rather than English or British identity. Poised to be one of the "great men" at the beginning of his career, MacCunn's inability to evolve as a composer and rise above his patriotic reputation meant he gave up his seemingly high position. His love of Scotland and obliviousness to the changes around him ensured a difficult path.
