Sacred setting of words of St Ephraim (c. 306-373) from 1979 and has only recently been released by the composer. The text reflects on both Christ's coming as a child and his sacrifice on the Cross. F...
Setting of Revelation 21: 1-6a commisioned by Soli Deo Gloria with support from Crossway Bibles and from the University of Chicago, and premiered in June 2011 by the University of Chicago's Rockefelle...
Setting of a prayer by Mother Cornelia Connelly, foundress of the Society of the Holy Child Jesus in 1846 and latterly Mayfield School. In 1863 she was inspired to transform the ruins of the Old Palac...
In its original scoring for mixed voices MacMillan's The Gallant Weaver has become a favourite; this arrangement now extends the setting to upper voices. Paul Spicer comments, 'This ideal introduction...
Composed in 2021 to commission for the Choir of Westminster Abbey and dedicated to Westminster Abbey Choir School. This is MacMillan's fourth mass setting for exclusively choral forces, following the...
This is an approachable and affecting setting of a devotional poem by the revered Carmelite nun St Thérèse of Lisieux (1873-97). The choral writing, marked ‘placid’, comprises simple four-part homopho...
Atmospheric settings of poems in Scottish and in English by William Soutar (1898-1943), a central figure in the Scottish literary renaissance.
14 communion motets for specific liturgical occasions, composed from 2005-10 for performances by Strathclyde University Chamber Choir. Scoring is for mixed voices, many of the pieces with divisi, and...
Setting of the traditional vesper hymn ('Hail, O Star of the ocean'), commissioned by Christopher Gray and the Choir of Truro Cathedral. The texture is homophonic and sustained, with much use of pedal...
Christmas setting for upper voices (three parts) of a traditional 15th-century English text with Latin refrain: 'Gabriel of high degree ...' / 'Ut nova: Ave fit ex Eva'. An explanation of the Latin pu...
A rapt meditation on this sacramental medieval poem, composed to mark the 400th anniversary of the of St John Ogilvie at Glasgow Cross in 1615 in a performance by pupils from six local junior schools....
Composed on commission in 2004 by the Netherlands Chamber Choir and the Chapter of the Winchester Cathedral, this is a setting of text from Canto XXXIII of Dante's Il Paradiso. It was first performed...
This liturgical setting dates from 1977, but has recently been released by the composer. Latin text: Kyrie, Gloria, Sanctus, Agnus Dei, At the conclusion. Taut scoring (with some divisi) contains both...
Birthday tribute piece first performed in 2006 at a Glasgow restaurant by a quartet of students from the Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama. The text is the well-known eulogy To laugh often and...
The Strathclyde Motets are communion motets setting propers of the mass for various Sundays and feasts. The Latin text is taken from the Graduale Romanum. The pieces are suitable for intermediate stan...
A powerful setting for 8-part choir of three of the Good Friday responses at matins: 'Tenebrae factae sunt', 'Tradiderunt me' and 'Iesum tradidit impius'. Commissioned by Cappella Nova (director: Alan...
Introit for the 5th Sunday of Lent. The refrain sets the title text in English and in two parts (unison S & T + unison A & B); in contrast the Latin verse and doxology are chanted in four parts. A sim...
The Strathclyde Motets are communion motets setting propers of the mass for various Sundays and feasts. Latin text from the Graduale Romanum. Suitable for intermediate standard choirs.Pascha nostrum i...
The Strathclyde Motets are communion motets setting propers of the mass for various Sundays and feasts. Suitable for intermediate standard choirs. The Canticle of Zachariah takes Luke chapter I as its...
The setting of Padre Pio's Prayer is after Communion. It was commissioned by the Genesis Foundation and first performed by The Sixteen, conducted by Harry Christophers, in June 2008 at Westminster Cat...
Aus Requiem.
Words from the Stabat Mater and by the composer.
From a 15th-century Canterbury pontifical.
Text from Psalm 51:3-21.
Five-movement work for mixed chorus a cappella with mutiple divisi and semi-chorus.A setting of a poem by Michael Symmons Roberts (English) with Latin text from the mass and an English traditional rhy...
Communion antiphon for Ash Wednesday, from the Strathclyde Motets, set II. Latin text from Psalm 1: 'Qui meditabitur in lege Domini die ac nocte dabit fructum suum in tempore suo'. Suitable for interm...
Antiphon at second vespers on the feast of the Immaculate Conception.
A setting of the final paragraph from Alasdair MacIntyre's book After Virtue, A study in moral theory.
Communion motet for Trinity Sunday.
A touching setting of an anonymous love poem in broad Scots, this part-song was composed for the wedding of some friends of the composer. A welcome addition to the canon of MacMillan's secular choral...
Latin setting composed in 1978. An attractive and accessible work which employs homophonic and polyphonic writing along with solo and a cappella passages and minimal divisi. The organ part is substant...
Composed in 1980 and revised in 2010 this is a setting of verses from Aquinas's Pange lingua in modern English translation. The choral writing is appropriately hymn-like, with one a cappella passage....
Text from 1 John 3:1, and from the baptismal rite.
Orgelauszug - Kantor, einstimmiger Chor (Gemeinde) und Orgel (gemischter Chor SAATB ad libitum) - englisch
Latin setting commissioned by St Patrick's Church, Soho, London, to commemorate its major refurbishment and reopening on the Feast of the Visitation in May 2011. Elaborate, predominantly homophonic, c...
Setting of Latin text combining a versicle at Matins on the Feast of St Andrew with a fragment of a prayer attributed to him.
English setting of Psalm 127 for SSATB a cappella. Commissioned by the Marquess and Marchioness of Salisbury to mark the 400th anniversary of Hatfield House. First performed there on 11 September 2011...
A setting of verses from Psalm 112 (Latin text). The prize-winning work in the composers' competition held in conjunction with the 2nd Norwich Festival of Contemporary Church Music, 1983. Suitable for...
Heart-felt setting for SATB a cappella of words of Our Lady of Guadalupe to St Juan Diego, December 1531 (English), with bass 'cantus firmus' from a 14th Century Marian antiphon (Latin): 'Listen, put...
This is a festive setting and will make a welcome alternative to John Rutter’s ubiquitous setting for similar forces (brass and organ). MacMillan has, as always, been very practical in making a settin...
This mass was commissioned for the glory of God in the Millennium Year of Jubilee, and was first performed on the Feast of Corpus Christi by the Choir of Westminster Cathedral, London, with Andrew Rei...
A significant addition to the composer's repertory of Latin motets, this is a setting of an antiphon on the Feast of the Seven Dolours of the Blessed Virgin Mary. It was commissioned in 2012 by Sacred...
Setting for double SATB chorus a cappella of an anonymous medieval text about Saint Cecilia, patron saint of musicians.
Setting of words from the Armenian liturgy (in English): 'The offered Christ is distributed among us. Alleluia! …”.Particularly suitable for the feast of Corpus Christi and eucharistic occasions in ge...
This 17-minute choral sequence is scored for mixed chorus and organ, with optional percussion, and presents five of the Latin 'motets' which occur at the end of movements in MacMillan's St John Passio...
Scored for chorus, children's choir, organ and chamber orchestra, St Luke Passion adopts a pared-back focus on choral voices over its 75-minute span. Seeking a more spiritual, inward approach to match...
A setting of Psalm 45 (46) in Latin commissioned by the Leeds Festival Chorus and first performed by them in Leeds Town Hall in March 2014, conducted by Simon Wright. The work features a variety of ch...
This work was commissioned by the Friends of Cathedral Music to mark their Diamond Jubilee in 2016, with the intention of performance by as many of the affiliated choirs as possible.Naturally a celebr...
This setting of a verse from Psalm 43 ('Send out your light and your truth; these themselves led me forth, and they brought me to your holy mountain and to your holy place') with a Gloria Patri was co...
This piece was commissioned by Merton College, Oxford for the Merton Choirbook, a collection of choral music composed to celebrate the 750th anniversary of the college in 2014. It is a setting of some...
This setting of a war poem by Charles Hamilton Sorleys was composed for Genesis Sixteen and performed at the 2015 Cumnock Tryst, James MacMillan's own music festival in Ayrshire, Scotland, to commemor...
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...
Diese Vertonung einiger Passage aus der Offenbarung des Johannes besitzt einen besonderen Bezug zu den Engeln, die mit sieben Trompetenstößen erscheinen und verschiedene apokalyptische Szenarien ankün...
Sumptuous a cappella setting of a hymn to the Virgin Mary attributed to Poliziano (15th century). It was commissioned by the Genesis Foundation for Harry Christophers and The Sixteen, whose first perf...
This energetic and danceable setting of Psalm 33, verses 1 - 4 (in modern English), 5 minutes in length, was commissioned by Worth School and Abbey in the UK in 2018. A highly attractive musical inter...
Commissioned for Selwyn College, Cambridge. This is MacMillan's second setting of the sublime poem by John Donne (1572-1631), 'Bring us, O Lord God, at our last awakening into the house and gate of he...
Commissioned by the Cathedral Organists' Association [UK] in celebration of its centenary, and first performed at the Association's annual meeting in York Minster in May 2019. Text: Magnificat and Nun...
This work was composed in 2020 and was commissioned by the Lord Burghley 500 Foundation for a Service of Thanksgiving in Westminster Abbey to celebrate the 500th anniversary of the birth of William Ce...
Especially commissioned by the Dean & Chapter of Westminster for performance at the Funeral Service of Her Late Majesty Queen Elizabeth II at Westminster Abbey on Monday 19 September 2022. The text, f...
Short motet commissioned by St Dominic’s Sixth Form College, Harrow-on-the-Hill, UK, to celebrate its 40th anniversary. MacMillan chose a text which is entirely appropriate to young people about to be...
A welcome addition to this composer’s output of secular choral works, Oh Sleep! is a beautiful and lyrical setting which will be appreciated by choirs both amateur and professional. It was composed to...
Chorpartitur
This double choir anthem setting a text from the 12th century Worcester Acclamations was written for St Paul's Cathedral, London, with the music incorporating breathing space to allow for the cathedra...
Composer's Notes In writing this work I wanted to compose something which was both timeless and contemporary, both sacred and secular. The title (Sacred Songs) is therefore slightly misleading as the...
This ideal introduction to MacMillan's secular choral music is rich in Scottish flavour, appropriate to its Robert Burns text. Characteristic vocal elements are the ornamental inflections drawn from S...
The movements set are Kyrie, Gloria, Sanctus and Benedictus (together), Acclamation and Agnus Dei. With the inclusion of a Gloria this is a more extended setting than the St Anne's Mass, and the canto...
This is an extremely touching tribute piece composed following the horrific slaughter of primary school children at Dunblane in Scotland. The words (traditional) are direct in their simplicity and Mac...
Chorpartitur.
A highly effective and extremely straightforward setting of a text from an inscription over the door into a Jesuit church in Glasgow. The piece begins with a forceful SATB prayer in English (perhaps i...
Gemischter Chor und Orgel, Harfe oder 3 Instrumente.
MacMillan's large-scale festival settings of the Magnificat and Nunc Dimittis can be performed with organ or orchestra. The Magnificat was commissioned by the BBC for the first Choral Evensong of the...
Unlike MacMillan's congregational Galloway Mass and St Anne's Mass, this work is on a grander liturgical scale befitting its commission by Westminster Cathedral for the Millennium. The drama of the li...
This setting was composed for the choir of the Chapels Royal, HM Tower of London, on the occasion of the Queen's Golden Jubilee in 2002. MacMillan approaches this well-known text (1662 Book of Common...
This short meditative motet was commissioned for the dedication service of the Millennium window by Sir Eduardo Paolozzi in the Resurrection Chapel of St Mary's Episcopal Cathedral, Edinburgh. It is i...
This 10-minute a cappella motet is suitable for advanced choirs for both concert and liturgical perfomances. It is a reflective and richly textured work, which uses an anonymous Latin text from a sett...
This beautiful unaccompanied work adapts the translated text of a Gaelic elegy by the 19th century poet Evan Maccoll. The words ‘She has gone' dominate the piece and underline its sense of desol...
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...
This motet was commissioned by the Yale Glee Club with a text from the Gospel according to St John, chapter 8:10-11 where Jesus tells the woman taken in adultery to go and sin no more. This 6-minute a...
This is a modern English language setting incorporating traditional text options, and it is a versatile edition suited for both liturgical and concert use. The Doxology and Great Amen may be performed...
Composed in 1986 for the wedding of friends of the composer's, and first performed by him at the marriage ceremony. The manuscript recently came to light as the couple celebrated their Silver Wedding...
Extended instrumental solo taken from MacMillan's 70-90-minute Since it was the day of Preparation … for voices & ensemble, commissioned by the Hebrides Ensemble, Edinburgh International Festival, Sol...
