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Macmillan's Seven Last Words from the Cross

with works by Elgar, Williams and Allain

Add to my Calendar 04-03-2017 19:30 04-03-2017 21:30 36 Macmillan's Seven Last Words from the Cross Commotio join forces for the first time with Oxfordshire's A440 Chamber Orchestra to present a concert of sublime music from the British Isles. Widely admired as one of MacMillan's finest achievements, his Seven Last Words promises an absorbing and moving experience in concert, for performers and audience alike. The cantata follows Christ's final utterances at the Crucifixion, meditating on each to form a dramatic and emotional sequence. The traditional text of the Seven Last Words from the Cross is based on a compilation from all four gospels to form a sequential presentation of the last seven sentences uttered by Christ (in English and Latin). The work was commissioned by BBC Television and broadcast in seven nightly episodes during Holy Week of 1994. Introduction and Allegro for Strings, Op. 47, was composed in 1905 for performance in an all-Elgar concert by the newly formed London Symphony Orchestra. Scored for string quartet and string orchestra, Elgar composed it to show off the players' virtuosity. Richard Allain presents a beautifully sombre and gentle setting of the Salve Regina. Allain's close harmonies are set across a staggered texture, creating a seamless continuous halo of sound with each syllable melding into the next. The effect is developed as the density of the music builds, allowing each singer a level of metric freedom that allows a series of repeating phrases to blur into an undulating layer of sound against which the lower voices sing. 40 years after her death, A440 will perform Grace Williams's  Calm Sea in Summer, from Sea Sketches for String Orchestra, written whilst she was living in London during World War II. One of her most evocative works, it surely recalls the coastline of her beloved Barry, where she returned in 1947. SJE Arts - St John the Evangelist Church, Oxford DD/MM/YYYY

Details

SJE Arts - St John the Evangelist Church
109A Iffley Road
Oxford
Oxfordshire
OX4 1EH
England

Programme

James MacMillan – Seven Last Words from the Cross
Richard Allain – Salve Regina
Grace Williams – Sea Sketches for String Orchestra: Calm Sea in Summer
Edward Elgar – Introduction and Allegro, Op.47

Performers

Commotio
 A440 Chamber Orchestra

Programme Note

Commotio join forces for the first time with Oxfordshire's A440 Chamber Orchestra to present a concert of sublime music from the British Isles. Widely admired as one of MacMillan's finest achievements, his Seven Last Words promises an absorbing and moving experience in concert, for performers and audience alike. The cantata follows Christ's final utterances at the Crucifixion, meditating on each to form a dramatic and emotional sequence. The traditional text of the Seven Last Words from the Cross is based on a compilation from all four gospels to form a sequential presentation of the last seven sentences uttered by Christ (in English and Latin). The work was commissioned by BBC Television and broadcast in seven nightly episodes during Holy Week of 1994.

Introduction and Allegro for Strings, Op. 47, was composed in 1905 for performance in an all-Elgar concert by the newly formed London Symphony Orchestra. Scored for string quartet and string orchestra, Elgar composed it to show off the players' virtuosity.

Richard Allain presents a beautifully sombre and gentle setting of the Salve Regina. Allain's close harmonies are set across a staggered texture, creating a seamless continuous halo of sound with each syllable melding into the next. The effect is developed as the density of the music builds, allowing each singer a level of metric freedom that allows a series of repeating phrases to blur into an undulating layer of sound against which the lower voices sing.

40 years after her death, A440 will perform Grace Williams's  Calm Sea in Summer, from Sea Sketches for String Orchestra, written whilst she was living in London during World War II. One of her most evocative works, it surely recalls the coastline of her beloved Barry, where she returned in 1947.

Celtic cross: Bevely Lloyd-Roberts

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