SKU: LO.30-2423L

UPC: 000308120899.

This compelling reflection upon Jesus’ final days is viewed through His eyes and the eyes of those surrounding Him: Mary, sister of Martha; an officer to Caiaphas; Judas; Peter; Jesus Himself; Pilate; Mary, the mother of Jesus; Mary Magdalene; and Thomas. A sequence of dramatic, scripture-based monologues tells the story, alternating with Lloyd Larson’s masterfully inspired music as the “voice of the believer” responds. Flexibly conceived, this work may be presented as simply or as elaborately as you wish, depending upon your resources and preferences. Performance options range from use as a source of single anthems for your seasonal service needs to a short worship program with monologues and choruses or a special, fully staged production. It is our hope that this work will prompt your own reflections upon the great wonder and mystery of the Incarnate God Who, for the love of His people, humbled Himself, dying for our salvation and triumphing over death.

SKU: HL.48024806

ISBN 9781784543792. UPC: 888680978648. 8.25x11.75 inches.

Scored for baritone solo, small 'narrator' chorus, large chorus and orchestra, MacMillan's first Passion setting was composed in 2007. Lasting 87 minutes the work is divided into two parts, with 10 movements overall. As Paul Spicer has commented, “The originality of the St John Passion lies in MacMillan's ability to mix old with new, rather in the manner of Bach in his day. There are passages of sumptuous polyphony and there is a fresh look at the text where passages of Latin are interspersed with the Gospel story in English. In movement seven ('Jesus and his Mother'), MacMillan introduces not only part of the Stabat Mater but also his own words ('Lully, lulla, my dear darling'). The final movement, which is purely orchestral, is a kind of via doloroso march with a Scots lament over quite brass chords. The string writing here, with its elegiac cello lines, is deeply reminiscent of the early 20th-century English school. This should be the War Requiem of the 21st century.&rdquo.

SKU: HL.48024524

ISBN 9781784542566. UPC: 888680925741. 8.25x11.75x0.212 inches.

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 three poems are concerned with political repression in Latin America and are deliberately coupled with traditional religious texts to emphasise a deeper solidarity with the poor of that sub-continent. It was my interest in Liberation Theology which made me combine the poems of the Mothers of the Plaza de Mayo in Argentina with the texts of the Latin mass in Búsqueda (an earlier music-theatre work) and has now led me to attempt a similar synthesis of ideas in Cantos Sagrados. The voices in Ariel Dorfman's poems belong to those who suffer a particular type of political repression: the 'disappearance' of political prisoners. Ana Maria Mendoza's poem about the Virgin of Guadeloupe tackles the same problem by asking a more fundamental cultural and historical question.”.