MacMillan: Mass and other sacred works

Track Listings

1. A New Song

2. Mass: Kyrie

3. Mass: Gloria

4. Mass: Alleluia

5. Mass: Sursum Corda and Preface

6. Mass: Sanctus and Benedictus

7. Mass: Eucharistic Prayer and Acclamations

8. Mass: Agnus Dei

9. Christus vincit

10. Gaudeamus in loci pace

11. Seinte Mari moder milde

12. A Child's Prayer

13. Changed

Editorial Reviews
Amazon.com
This recording of James MacMillan's Mass is an intense, emotionally charged 70 minutes reflecting the composer's deeply held religious beliefs. These are beliefs that, as he has said in commenting on the mood of his Mass, are not immune to doubts and fears and an awareness of the "tragedies and uncertainties of our age." So don't expect an easy listen. The music featured on this album unfolds slowly, patiently, seeming to exist outside time, and yet is colored by extremes of pitch and dynamic requiring great virtuosity and control. The Mass, which is written in Latin and incorporates priest and congregation in liturgical use, could have been written for the singers of the Westminster Cathedral Choir featured here, who know its contours intimately. The traditional hard-edged sound of the Westminster Cathedral trebles cut through the vast acoustic like a knife, right up until the wonderfully imaginative hold-your-breath ending of the "Agnus Dei." A range of other British cathedrals and churches that boast connections with MacMillan's works are included, among them St. Paul's Cathedral and King's College Chapel, Cambridge. The Scottish accents of "A New Song" beguile and bewitch, while the moving "A Child's Prayer" commemorates the 1996 Dunblane tragedy. Among the soloists, treble David de Winter provides some breathtaking moments in "Christus Vincit." --Andrew Green

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‘MacMillan knows that his background' – his deeply held Catholicism – ‘will divide, and that while some will be drawn closer, others will be pushed away by the religious underpinning of so much of his choral work.' I quote from James Whitbourn's booklet notes accompanying this new release. The premise is false: you don't have to share MacMillan's beliefs to respond to his music any more than you are required to conform to Palestrina's outlook – or, indeed, sympathize... read more

MacMillan: Mass and other sacred works

MacMillan: Mass and other sacred works, Music, Jonathan Brown, Robert MacDonald, James MacMillan, Martin Baker, Andrew Reid, Clifford Lister, Chamber Music & Recitals, Choral, Choral Music, Classical, Classical Composers, Classical Music, Keyboard, Music for Keyboard

Average customer rating:

stunning masterpieces of faith

Beautiful, Fantastic!

Utterly recommended

The Next Face of Church Music

Wonderful 21st Century setting of the Mass

MacMillan: Mass and other sacred works
Choir of Westminster Cathedral
Manufacturer: Hyperion UK
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

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ASIN: B00005AULF
Release Date: 2001-05-08

Tracks:

A New Song
Mass: Kyrie
Mass: Gloria
Mass: Alleluia
Mass: Sursum Corda and Preface
Mass: Sanctus and Benedictus
Mass: Eucharistic Prayer and Acclamations
Mass: Agnus Dei
Christus vincit
Gaudeamus in loci pace
Seinte Mari moder milde
A Child's Prayer
Changed

Amazon.com

This recording of James MacMillan's Mass is an intense, emotionally charged 70 minutes reflecting the composer's deeply held religious beliefs. These are beliefs that, as he has said in commenting on the mood of his Mass, are not immune to doubts and fears and an awareness of the "tragedies and uncertainties of our age." So don't expect an easy listen. The music featured on this album unfolds slowly, patiently, seeming to exist outside time, and yet is colored by extremes of pitch and dynamic requiring great virtuosity and control. The Mass, which is written in Latin and incorporates priest and congregation in liturgical use, could have been written for the singers of the Westminster Cathedral Choir featured here, who know its contours intimately. The traditional hard-edged sound of the Westminster Cathedral trebles cut through the vast acoustic like a knife, right up until the wonderfully imaginative hold-your-breath ending of the "Agnus Dei." A range of other British cathedrals and churches that boast connections with MacMillan's works are included, among them St. Paul's Cathedral and King's College Chapel, Cambridge. The Scottish accents of "A New Song" beguile and bewitch, while the moving "A Child's Prayer" commemorates the 1996 Dunblane tragedy. Among the soloists, treble David de Winter provides some breathtaking moments in "Christus Vincit." --Andrew Green

Customer Reviews:

stunning masterpieces of faith.......2002-07-08

This is liturgical and religious music at its best. Macmillan is grounded in modern atonal music and in the long tradition of music in the church - plainsong, antiphonal singing, up to and including the great performance masses. This grounding in the music of the Church is in the context of faith not musical history. The result is music for the great cathedrals - music that soars to the heights, that is not muddled by the stone acoustics.

The cd contains a Wallace Stevens poem set for choir "Changed"; that Macmillan recognizes this poem as essentially religious attests to the depth of his faith. The Seinte Mari moder milde which was commissioned for a Lessons and Carols service should become standard Advent/Christmas repetoire.

Great music; great performance ... what more can one ask?

Beautiful, Fantastic!.......2002-03-25

This is some of the most beautiful vocal music I have ever heard (and I have heard a lot!). Actually, I should remove the qualifiier: this is some of the most beautiful music I have ever heard. I was surprised by this CD as I had only previously been aware of MacMillan as the composer of some thorny, albeit interesting, instrumental works. There remains some evidence of his more challenging modernistic aspect especially in some of the organ parts but this music is ageless/timeless in its spirit and character. MacMillan manages to use familiar elements: plainsong, common chords and grounded tonality to achieve wonderfully fresh effects and textures-no easy feat in this day and age when this approach has been "picked over" by many lesser composers. No less an achievment is MacMillan's ability to use very modern quasi-atonal elements and blend them convincingly with "older", more familiar musical elements. In short, this is a stunning triumph of vision and imagination and a wonderful fusion of ancient and modern.
The religious underpinnings of these pieces should not dissuade you from buying and enjoying this CD. The music certainly has a very strong and sincere spiritual quality but one can enjoy this music on its purely musical terms: imagination, craft, beauty of sound, inspiration and ability to connect emotionally with the listener.
Kudos are also in order for the performers. The Westminster Choir sounds absolutely wonderful as does the organist. Hats off to their director for pulling this challenging music (from a performance standpoint) in a seemingly effortless manner. The recording also gets high marks as does absolutely everything about this CD.

Music of the highest order-my highest recommendation!

Utterly recommended.......2001-12-18

James MacMillan has become acknowledged as one of the powerful voices amongst composers of today. His music combines a strong sense of spirituality with genuine earthly passions, and feels true to its time whilst being accessible. This disc brings together some of MacMillan's finest sacred music, by which he is most favourably represented.

Since the departure of James O'Donnell in January 2000, Westminster Cathedral Choir have been under the direction of Martin Baker, formerly Sub-Organist of Westminster Abbey. He is clearly every bit as capable as O'Donnell in bringing out the best from his forces: from the first to the last, the singing of the boys is enchanting and that of the men is very robust indeed!

The centrepiece of the programme is of course MacMillan's "Mass," a setting of the modern vernacular text commissioned by Westminster Cathedral. The liner notes describe it as "extraordinarily complete" - it is indeed difficult to think of any composer who has gone as far as to provide music for the Gospel Acclamation and Eucharistic Prayers in addition to the usual sections of the Ordinary. In this work, MacMillan demonstrates beyond any doubt his vision of God: seething with power over our world, yet adorable and approachable by us. Certain moments are extremely gritty, especially the "Sanctus" which conveys this image more strongly than any other section. The work also owes something to the inspiration of Westminster Cathedral itself; one can almost see the edifice against the ever-bristling background of London in the dark and subtle musical colours of the "Agnus Dei." MacMillan also acknowledges the archaic splendours of plainchant, particularly in his settings of the tropes accompanying the familiar "Kyrie" text and in the Eucharistic Prayer. This is a Mass like no other - deeply felt and gripping, a challenge for any good choir (with some virtuosic organ writing to boot!) that is astonishingly well-met by the Westminster Choir.

The disc opens with the spell-binding anthem "A New Song," with a hauntingly memorable Gaelic-flavoured tune, ethereal drones from the basses and the organ, and some powerful moments involving everyone in a fugue-like outburst that is at once joyful and wistful. The coda for organ is very exciting. Other works in the programme have similarly been adopted as anthems in the repertoires of the 'elite' church and cathedral choirs around the world: "Christus vincit," with its breathtaking and demanding treble solo; "A Child's Prayer," a stark and moving piece written in memory of those who were killed at Dunblane Primary School in 1996; the wonderful carol "Sainte Mari, Moder Milde," commissioned for the 1995 Nine Lessons and Carols Service at King's College Cambridge and giving everyone in the choir (and, again, the organist) something to sink their teeth into. The programme is capped by two works that fall outside of the regular repertoire: "Changed," a setting of secular text with sacred overtones that presents some astonishing choral sonorities, and "Gaudeamus in loci pace," MacMillan's first major solo organ work which is essentially a plainchant antiphon harmonised in slowly unfolding chords and embellished with Messiaen-like bird motifs.

Everything about this disc is utterly commendable: the artwork, the performance, the sound quality, and by all means the music. An incomparably stunning experience!

The Next Face of Church Music.......2001-12-04

James MacMillan is without a doubt the most profound composer of church music writing today. His music is deeply joyous, but without shouting at you. There is tenderness, pathos and in the Mass, an almost otherwordly sense of the Eucharist. Imagine a mixture of Herbert Howells, Messiaen, and Scottish Music and you may get an idea of the effect of this profoundly beautiful music. Highly recommended for anyone who is interested in the revival of modern liturgical music, and anyone interested in recovering the sense of mystery in worship.

Wonderful 21st Century setting of the Mass.......2001-10-19

James MacMillan has done a great thing in composing this Mass for Westminster Cathedral. Since the reforms of the Second Vatican Council, Roman Catholic church music has suffered greatly. Much of post-Vatican II sacred music is trite and banal. Thankfully, the choir of Westminster Cathedral has shown us that this need not be so.

They have commissioned 20th (and now 21st century) works for use in the liturgy. James MacMillan's setting of the Mass is marvelous and example of what Roman Catholic church music could be. The setting is in English. Most Roman Catholics are far more likely to encounter the English Mass rather than the Latin. The music is faithful to the texts and enunciates them well.

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1. A New Song
2. Mass: Kyrie
3. Mass: Gloria
4. Mass: Alleluia
5. Mass: Sursum Corda and Preface
6. Mass: Sanctus and Benedictus
7. Mass: Eucharistic Prayer and Acclamations
8. Mass: Agnus Dei
9. Christus vincit
10. Gaudeamus in loci pace
11. Seinte Mari moder milde
12. A Child's Prayer
13. Changed