James MacMillan St Luke Passion, Barbican Centre, London

James MacMillan's new St Luke Passion is unusual. No longer does the Passion story end in the death of its principal character; there's a postlude that sees Christ resurrected. Neither is it peopled with singers acting out the traditional confrontations between Christ, Pilate and the High...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published inTempo Vol. 69; no. 274; pp. 65 - 66
Main Author Stein, Robert
Format Journal Article Book Review
LanguageEnglish
Published Cambridge, UK Cambridge University Press 01.10.2015
Subjects
Classical music
Composers
FIRST PERFORMANCES
Musical criticism
Online AccessGet full text

Cover

More Information
Summary:James MacMillan's new St Luke Passion is unusual. No longer does the Passion story end in the death of its principal character; there's a postlude that sees Christ resurrected. Neither is it peopled with singers acting out the traditional confrontations between Christ, Pilate and the High Priest; it starts instead with a brief setting of the Annunciation text found at the opening of St Luke's gospel. Unusual too is the small size of the orchestra – no trombones or tubas, one set of timpani as the sole percussion and an organ. Perhaps most surprising, however, is that the roles of Christus and Pilate, and indeed everyone else, are given to the choruses: a children's chorus for Christ, the other choirs acting as narrator.
ISSN:0040-2982
1478-2286
DOI:10.1017/S004029821500039X