Cantata-Widely admired as one of MacMillan’s finest achievements this promises an absorbing and moving experience in concert for performers and audience alike. This cantata follows Christ’s final utterances at the Crucifixion meditating on each to form a dramatic and emotional sequence. Content Father forgive them for they know not what they do Woman behold thy Son!... Behold thy Mother! Verily I say unto you today thou shalt be with me in Paradise Eli Eli lama sabachthani I thirst It is finished Father into Thy hands I commend my Spirit
SKU: HL.48025186
ISBN 9781784545147. UPC: 196288116479. 9.0x12.0x0.28 inches.
A setting of passages from the Book of Revelation, with particular reference to the angels who appear with seven trumpet blasts, heralding a series of apocalyptic scenes. Commissioned by Jeffrey Skidmore, director of Ex Cathedra, and first performed by them at Birmingham Town Hall in 2015. The composer states, “There is a vividness and strangeness in these dramatic texts, which are endlessly fascinating and disturbing. The instruments used here are based on the various instrumental types mentioned throughout scripture - trumpets, harp, bells, cymbals, tabor, rebec.” These are scored for mostly in their modern forms, but shofars (Jewish ritual temple trumpets) and early trumpets are also used. The choral writing shows a similar contrast between traditional and contemporary scoring, with polyphony and homophony alongside extended vocal techniques, including Sprechstimme. Leading choral director Paul Spicer comments, “This is an extremely dramatic work which draws the listener into the apocalyptic story line...The ending is cataclysmic.”.
SKU: HL.48024526
ISBN 9781784544409. UPC: 888680925765. 9x12 inches. Text: Jacopone da Todi.
Composed in 2015, Stabat Mater was commissioned by the Genesis Foundation for Harry Christophers and The Sixteen. Scored for mixed chorus and string orchestra it is a long-awaited sequel to the early masterpiece Seven Last Words from the Cross (1993), for the same forces; indeed, the later work begins with the pianissimo 'dying breaths' with which the earlier score so unforgettably closes. Cast in four movements Stabat Mater has a duration of 53 minutes. Following the première London's Financial Times commented that the composer “speaks of a 'painful world of loss, violence, and spiritual desolation' [...]. Both sides of MacMillan are to be found here,the devotional and the painter of bold, dramatic canvases - the former in the ethereal writing for solo and ensemble voices, the latter in the lacerating blows and feverish anxieties depicted in the string ensemble.&rdquo.
SKU: HL.48024551
ISBN 9781784544393. UPC: 888680916695. 7.25x10.0x0.472 inches. Text: Jacopone de Todi.
Composed in 2015, Stabat Mater was commissioned by the Genesis Foundation for Harry Christophers and The Sixteen. Scored for mixed chorus and string orchestra, it is a long-awaited sequel to the early masterpiece Seven Last Words from the Cross (1993), for the same forces; indeed, the later work begins with the pianissimo 'dying breaths' with which the earlier score so unforgettably closes. Cast in four movements, Stabat Mater has a duration of 53 minutes. Following the premiere London's Financial Times commented that the composer speaks of a 'painful world of loss, violence, and spiritual desolation'. Both sides of MacMillan are to be found here, the devotional and the painter of bold, dramatic canvases - the former in the ethereal writing for solo and ensemble voices, the latter in the lacerating blows and feverish anxieties depicted in the string ensemble..
SKU: HL.48024806
ISBN 9781784543792. UPC: 888680978648. 8.25x11.75 inches.
Scored for baritone solo, small 'narrator' chorus, large chorus and orchestra, MacMillan's first Passion setting was composed in 2007. Lasting 87 minutes the work is divided into two parts, with 10 movements overall. As Paul Spicer has commented, “The originality of the St John Passion lies in MacMillan's ability to mix old with new, rather in the manner of Bach in his day. There are passages of sumptuous polyphony and there is a fresh look at the text where passages of Latin are interspersed with the Gospel story in English. In movement seven ('Jesus and his Mother'), MacMillan introduces not only part of the Stabat Mater but also his own words ('Lully, lulla, my dear darling'). The final movement, which is purely orchestral, is a kind of via doloroso march with a Scots lament over quite brass chords. The string writing here, with its elegiac cello lines, is deeply reminiscent of the early 20th-century English school. This should be the War Requiem of the 21st century.&rdquo.
