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JAMES MacMILLAN : Alleluia
(for unaccompanied SSAATTBB choir)
Saturday 6 July, 2013
Hult Center for the Performing Arts, Eugene, Oregon
Berwick Chorus of the Oregon Bach Festival,
cond. Matthew Halls
Boosey & Hawkes Music Publishers Ltd., 2013
“This work for large choir is based on allusions to some quotations from Bach. It opens with some chordal progressions, hummed quietly, the harmonies being 'smudged' to create an impressionistic blur. Eventually the word "Alleluia" emerges in the basses, before the music settles to its main middle section, where a famous Bach chorale underpins a decorative and imitative counterpoint.
Gradually, a more declamatory treatment of the word appears, leading to a homophonic climax, which then gives way to some fast, virtuosic, running passagework. The opening humming music returns for the piece to end serenely and quietly.”
– James MacMillan
“... This is a work for expert choirs, and at a thirteen minute duration, is a tour de force of a cappella singing over a large timespan. As always, choirs need to be able to respond to the demands of colour and texture demanded by the composer which bring the music alive. It is notable that this work uses only one word (besides humming), and it is a testament to MacMillan’s imagination that interest is not only maintained but positively demanded throughout.”
– Paul Spicer
JAMES MacMILLAN : Alleluia
(for unaccompanied SSAATTBB choir)
Saturday 6 July, 2013
Hult Center for the Performing Arts, Eugene, Oregon
Berwick Chorus of the Oregon Bach Festival,
cond. Matthew Halls
Boosey & Hawkes Music Publishers Ltd., 2013
“This work for large choir is based on allusions to some quotations from Bach. It opens with some chordal progressions, hummed quietly, the harmonies being 'smudged' to create an impressionistic blur. Eventually the word "Alleluia" emerges in the basses, before the music settles to its main middle section, where a famous Bach chorale underpins a decorative and imitative counterpoint.
Gradually, a more declamatory treatment of the word appears, leading to a homophonic climax, which then gives way to some fast, virtuosic, running passagework. The opening humming music returns for the piece to end serenely and quietly.”
– James MacMillan
“... This is a work for expert choirs, and at a thirteen minute duration, is a tour de force of a cappella singing over a large timespan. As always, choirs need to be able to respond to the demands of colour and texture demanded by the composer which bring the music alive. It is notable that this work uses only one word (besides humming), and it is a testament to MacMillan’s imagination that interest is not only maintained but positively demanded throughout.”
– Paul Spicer