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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
Alonso Lobo – Versa est in luctum
Tomas Luis de Victoria – Reproaches
Performers
Benedict Collins Rice – Conductor
Fiona Fraser – soprano
Tara Bungard – soprano
Rebekah Jones – Alto
Helena Cook – Alto
Michael Solomon Williams – Tenor
Toby Ward – Tenor
Gus Perkins-Ray – Bass
The Facade Ensemble
Programme Note
This Lent the Facade Ensemble presents Macmillan's moving cantata for choir and strings . 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 traditional text is based on a compilation from all four gospels to form a sequential presentation of the last seven sentences uttered by Christ;
1. Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do (St. Luke)
2. Woman, Behold Thy Son!…Behold, Thy Mother! (St. Luke)
3. Verily, I say unto thee, today thou shalt be with me in Paradise (St. Luke)
4. Eli, Eli, lama sabachtani (St. Matthew and St. Luke)
5. I thirst (St. John)
6. It is finished (St. John)
7. Father, into Thy hands I commend my Spirit (St. Luke)
"...probably MacMillan's masterpiece... the maturity in this composition is astounding: the tonal structure of the seven settings, harmony which can be spare or lush without ever being overwritten, an inexorable sense of the drama in the text, the baland between voice and strings. A few seconds, in difficult times, when meditation was centre stage, when it was possible to regain optimism." The Guardian
The seven last words will be accompanied by the Victoria Reproaches and Lobo Versa est in Luctum.
£5 Concessions available on the door.
Other performances:
29th February 2020 : St Mary Le Tower, Ipswich
With Ipwich Chamber choir
Tickets available from : www.ipswichchamberchoir.org.uk
25th March 2020: St. Paul's Covent Garden, London
With the Morley Chamber Choir
Tickets available from : www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/seven-last-words-tickets-88650972445
8th April 2020: Ely Cathedral
With spoken meditations for Holy week
Unticketed - Retiring Collection
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Championing the ensemble music of 20th century modernism, The Facade Ensemble was founded by its conductor and artistic director - Benedict Collins Rice. Drawing its members originally from the finest singers and instrumentalists at Cambridge University, the ensemble has since developed as a dynamic collective of young professionals many of whom have been identified as 'rising stars' by institutions like the BBC and The Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment.
The ensemble has a core of 8 or so musicians but one of its strengths is a versatility which enables it to perform music outside the scope of most chamber ensembles.
With a reputation for binging a 'liberal seasoning of vivacity and wit' to performances, the ensemble carefully curates programmes which are both imaginative and accessible. Proving time and time again that music - often sadly dismissed as 'difficult' - can be a richly rewarding experience.
Recent highlights have included sell-out performances of Stockhausen; UK tours of Schoenberg (with Odradek Records) and Arvo Part; and a programme exploring ritual through pairing the Cantatas of Stravinsky and Birtwistle with medieval carols and Medieval inspired music by Bryars and Maxwell Davies.
