MacMillan: The Strathclyde Motets: Factus est repente

Continuing their work with Scotland’s most prominent living composer, James MacMillan, Harry Christophers and The Sixteen will release the premiere recording of his exquisite new work Miserere for the CORO label in November.

The Sixteen’s UK premiere of the Miserere at the 2010 Spitalfields Festival won both public and critical acclaim. Based on Psalm 51, the Miserere mei has been set to music many times over the centuries but few composers have tackled the complete text. Allegri was one such composer, whose reputation rests on that single work. CORO is delighted to release the first recording of James MacMillan’s 21st-century take on the text.

The group is renowned for its work with the Scottish composer, and his O bone Jesu - a piece composed especially for The Sixteen and written in emulation of his countryman Robert Carver’s 19-voice O bone Jesu - was part of the ensemble’s 2002 and 2009 Choral Pilgrimage tours and features on this new CD.

The disc also contains a selection of The Strathclyde Motets and the Tenebrae Responsories.

This CD represents some of the popular music sung at Guildford Cathedral by the choirs, favourite anthems which reflect different seasons of the liturgical year, written for many diverse occasions. It includes Parry’s I was Glad and Dyson’s exuberant setting of the Magnificat in D major.

A glorious collection of choral works from Britain and America, including works by Macmillan, Howells and Bingham. Also featured on this recording is an American composer, Whitacre, who has been taking the Choral world by storm. His compositions have been described as “works of unearthly beauty and imagination…with electric, chilling harmonies” This disc will surely bring this wonderful music out of the darkness and into the light.

Now, in its 13th year, The Choral Pilgrimage stands as testament to Harry Christophers’ ongoing mission to bring a wide variety of sacred music back to the kind of buildings for which it was written. Thanks to the enthusiasm and support from audiences, the project continues to thrive and some 20,000 people are expected to attend concerts on this year’s tour.

The 2013 tour began on 2nd March in Guildford Cathedral, and will take in a total of 34 concerts around the UK and Ireland before a concluding concert in Greyfriars Kirk, Edinburgh on the 26 October.

Allegri’s Miserere is the single most famous piece of sacred music ever written. Although it is instantly recognisable with its haunting tones, mythology surrounds it, and this year’s Choral Pilgrimage allows Harry Christophers to explore its evolution and enduring appeal.

James MacMillan dedicated his powerful and emotional setting of the Miserere to Harry Christophers and The Sixteen who premiered the work in 2010 and recorded it shortly afterwards. Alongside Allegri, MacMillan is one of the few composers to ever set the full Miserere to music.

His exquisite version is one of the highlights of this year’s programme.

Arguably the greatest composer of liturgical music of all time, Giovanni Pierluigi da Palestrina is often billed as ‘The Prince of Music’ and by some ‘The Saviour of Church Music’. Palestrina was a towering figure in Renaissance polyphony and shines out amongst the many great composers of the time for his immaculate craftsmanship and sheer output of works. The Sixteen have recorded three volumes of Palestrina’s works on their own label CORO, the latest of which includes repertoire from the 2013 tour and is included in this special collection.