{"id":474,"date":"2011-01-26T09:30:02","date_gmt":"2011-01-26T09:30:02","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blogs.kent.ac.uk\/cantusfirmus\/?p=474"},"modified":"2011-01-26T09:30:02","modified_gmt":"2011-01-26T09:30:02","slug":"north-of-the-wall-weaving-macmillan-and-counting-in-jacksons-edinburgh-mass","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.kent.ac.uk\/cantusfirmus\/2011\/01\/26\/north-of-the-wall-weaving-macmillan-and-counting-in-jacksons-edinburgh-mass\/","title":{"rendered":"North of the wall: weaving Macmillan and counting in Jackson’s Edinburgh Mass"},"content":{"rendered":"

It was going to be a challenging rehearsal, I thought: two pieces by Scottish composer James Macmillan, the canonic Gallant Weaver<\/em> and heart-rending A Child\u2019s Prayer<\/em>, and the \u2018Gloria\u2019 from Gabriel Jackson\u2019s Edinburgh Mass<\/em>. These are difficult pieces \u2013 hard enough to realise at the piano when there\u2019s no closed-score piano reduction to aid rehearsing! \u2013 with complicated rhythmic interplay, angular lines that aren\u2019t necessarily leading where you might expect them to go, and modern harmonies rich in added-note chords and eight-part vertical sonorities. I expected it to be something of a difficult rehearsal.<\/p>\n

It just shows how wrong one can be.<\/p>\n

\"\"Having kicked off in lively fashion with Perspice Christicola<\/em>, better known as Sumer is icumen in<\/em> but with a sacred Latin text, to get everyone warmed up, we sojourned north of Hadrian\u2019s Wall with Macmillan\u2019s A Child\u2019s Prayer. <\/em>This has been a favourite piece of mine for a while \u2013 it\u2019s one of those pieces that, at first hearing, reaches straight into your soul. We built the three main chords from the basses upwards to get them balanced and in tune, and practiced moving from one chord to the next to make sure the singers knew where they were going. And then \u2013 we sang them as written. It\u2019s one thing to know and love a piece that you\u2019ve listened to many times, but to be in the midst of the sound the first time it comes off the page and into the air is a thrilling moment. We then added the two (patient!) solo sopranos, and set off through the whole piece. In the rich and resonant acoustic of the Cathedral Crypt, it will be overwhelming…<\/p>\n

Macmillan\u2019s Gallant Weaver<\/em><\/a> is a richly polyphonic treatment of a Scottish folk-song, with a three-part canon in the sopranos \u2013 no closed-score, what a challenge to play! \u2013 literally weaving the melody amongst the divided upper voices; the lower three voices provide gently lulling sustained chords beneath, before the whole choir burst out into individual part-writing for a sumptuous second verse. It\u2019s certainly difficult, the sopranos having to have the confidence to sustain their own lines against not only the same melody in canon but the colourful harmonies beneath. And it worked very well.<\/p>\n

The Jackson Gloria<\/em><\/a> represents the greatest rhythmic difficulty in the entire programme; leaping between 5\/8, 3\/8 and 2\/4 or \u00be bars is taxing; added to which\u00a0are the tumbling lines in the sopranos and altos like bells pealing, and the\u00a0fact that the tenors and basses move at\u00a0different times\u00a0to both\u00a0soprano and alto lines.\u00a0We\u2019re two-thirds of the way through the movement; there\u2019s still work to do, but the effort will be worth it if we can capture the luminous colour and brightly-lit harmonies of the piece as it comes off the page.<\/p>\n

Some hard work last night, and some excellent results; quicker than I thought possible. Here\u2019s hoping it continues over the coming weeks; with only five rehearsals left before the concert, we can\u2019t afford to waste a single moment.<\/p>\n

(Preview clip via LastFM).<\/p>\n