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James Macmillan LSO Live James MacMillan St John Passion Sir Colin Davis Christopher Maltman London Symphony Chorus London Symphony Orchestra James MacMillan St John Passion Page Index Sir Colin Davis conductor 3 English notes Christopher Maltman Christus 5 French notes London Symphony Chorus 7 German notes London Symphony Orchestra 9 Composer biography 10 Text Part I 14 Conductor biography 15 Artist biography 1 i. The arrest of Jesus 10’17’’ 16 Chorus personnel list 2 ii. Jesus before Annas and Caiaphas. Peter disowns him 12’11” 17 Orchestra personnel list 3 iii. Jesus before Pilate 24’42” 4 iv. Jesus is condemned to death 6’58” 18 LSO biography Part 2 5 v. The Crucifixion 5’34’’ 6 vi. Christ’s garments divided 4’10’’ 7 vii. Jesus and his Mother 6’24’’ 8 viii. The Reproaches 6’27’’ 9 ix. The death of Jesus 3’02” 10 x. Sanctus Immortalis, miserere nobis 10’19” Total time 90’20’’ Recorded live April 2008 at the Barbican, London James Mallinson producer Daniele Quilleri casting consultant Classic Sound Ltd recording, editing and mastering facilities Jonathan Stokes for Classic Sound Ltd balance engineer Ian Watson and Jenni Whiteside for Classic Sound Ltd audio editors A high density DSD (Direct Stream Digital) recording Published by Boosey & Hawkes Music Publishers Ltd. © 2009 London Symphony Orchestra, London UK P 2009 London Symphony Orchestra, London UK 2 Matt Stuart A foreword by Dr Rowan Williams, MacMillan’s imagining of the Passion is the James MacMillan (b 1959) a Latin text which takes something of the Archbishop of Canterbury recurrent theme in John’s gospel of Jesus St John Passion (The Passion of Our Lord general theme and development of the story, proclaiming, ‘I am’: that is, Jesus defining his Jesus Christ According to St John) and allows time for a more objective and James MacMillan’s setting of the Passion own life as the measure of truth. For us to detached reflection. The final movement is according to St John is in many ways the most imagine this, even if only for the duration of After writing my Seven Last Words from purely instrumental – a song without words. ambitious work he has produced, utilising large this massive and challenging work, is for us to the Cross in 1993, I always knew that the and varied forces, both vocal and instrumental. recognise that the world can – and we must – inevitable next step would be a setting of one I have a love of liturgical music, and specifically, Without a doubt it is a landmark in his own be changed. of the Gospel Passion narratives. It has since of the cool purity of chant. As well as this, I love work, but also a landmark for contemporary been my ambition to tackle such a project. I opera, and the composition of this Passion has music. While he has used an austere register © Dr Rowan Williams, Archbishop of decided on St John’s text, as it is the version come immediately after my new piece for Welsh for much of the narrative itself, he has not Canterbury, 2008 with which I am most intimately acquainted, National Opera, The Sacrifice. I was aware of followed Pärt or Tavener in restricting himself to hearing it recited or sung every Good Friday in the inevitable effect that this piece was having consciously archaic and ascetic musical idioms the Catholic liturgy. In fact, since my student on the progress of my St John narrative. In – as if to insist that the history of Christ’s death days in Edinburgh, I have regularly participated fact some of the opera music has drifted quite is something that has to be evoked ‘inclusively’ in the Gregorian or Dominican chanting of the naturally into the new sphere. I was also aware as well as ‘exclusively’ in terms of emotional Crucifixion story on that day. This simple music of the paradoxical tension created between and imaginative range. has had an overriding influence on the shape the two highly contrasted musical contexts – and character of my own Passion setting. liturgical chant and music drama. Balancing, This is, after all, the story of an event which creating opposition sometimes, and at other embraced the most extreme points of human The scoring is for one principal soloist, Christus times elisions and cross-fertilisations between sensibility; and whose telling is bound to reach (a baritone), a chamber choir which carries the the two, became the delight in composing this for every resource available, simply because it Narrator’s words, a large chorus which takes work. is the story of the all-powerful and ever-living all the other text, including the characterisation reality, on which all things depend, acting of the other main players in the drama, and My St John Passion is dedicated to Sir Colin through passivity, failure and death, so as to orchestra. The instrumental approach was Davis in his 80th birthday year, as a token establish the meaning and character of that to make a sparse and lean texture, (so there of my admiration and appreciation for one eternal power by effecting change through what is limited percussion, no harps or the usual of this country’s greatest musicians, and for can only be seen as defeat in human terms. keyboards, although there is a chamber organ), the wonderful music-making he has given us while maintaining the potential for full dramatic throughout his life. Whether the listener shares that faith or climaxes where necessary. not, the gospel narrative of the Passion puts Programme note © James MacMillan, 2008 before us the question of how we conceive I have divided the work into ten movements. At power, victory, truth, reality itself. Central to the end of movements 1–9, I have interpolated 3 A Short History of The Passion two famous settings by JS Bach (St Matthew and St John). This was the height of their popularity Musical settings of the suffering and Crucifixion and, in fact, Bach’s prolific son, CPE Bach, wrote of Christ, based either on biblical texts or over 20 Passions. poetic elaborations, can be traced as far back as the fourth century. The original template Passion settings went out of fashion during the consisted of three parts sung by three deacons Classical and Romantic periods, although there in plainsong: Christ (the lowest notes), the are a few Victorian works in the same tradition, Evangelist (middle range) and the other such as John Stainer’s The Crucifixion. There characters and ‘crowd’ – known as the turba has been a resurgence in the late 20th century (top voice). including Krzysztof Penderecki’s St Luke Passion (1965), Arvo Pärt’s St John Passion (1982), Sofia In the 13th century the Passions became Gubaidulina’s St John Passion (2000, premièred more dramatic – two versions are found in the at the 2002 BBC Proms with Valery Gergiev) and famous German manuscript Carmina Burana now, James MacMillan’s St John Passion brings – before becoming longer and more complex. the genre up to the present day. By the 15th century Passions blossomed throughout Europe. Plainsong alternated with polyphony and the ‘crowd’ was now sung by a choir; wealthy patrons were keen to commission works for their own private choirs. Both Victoria and Palestrina composed settings and are possibly the first well-known exponents of the form. German Lutherans unexpectedly embraced the Passions wholeheartedly. Although it had become the fashion for the whole Passion to be sung by a choir, it was the Lutherans who kept the tradition of using solo singers, and from 1640 Lutheran settings used recitative, arias and choruses, the form we recognise today from the 4 Alberto Venzago Avant-propos de Dr Rowan Williams, Que l’auditeur partage cette foi ou non, le récit James MacMillan (né en 1959) orgue positif), tout en préservant la possibilité archevêque de Canterbury de la Passion fait par l’Evangile nous met face à Passion selon saint Jean (La Passion de de puissants sommets d’intensité lorsque c’est la manière dont nous concevons le pouvoir, la Notre Seigneur Jésus-Christ selon saint nécessaire. En mettant en musique la Passion selon saint victoire, la vérité et la réalité elle-même. Dans Jean) Jean, James MacMillan a composé à bien la façon dont Macmillan imagine la Passion, J’ai divisé l’œuvre en dix mouvements. A la fin des égards sa partition la plus ambitieuse, une idée est centrale : le thème, récurrent dans Après la composition de mes Sept Dernières des mouvements 1 à 9, j’ai interpolé un texte recourant à un effectif vaste et varié, tant l’Evangile selon saint Jean, de Jésus proclamant Paroles sur la Croix en 1993, j’ai toujours su que latin qui reprend en gros le thème général et vocal qu’instrumental. Sans aucun doute, cette « Je suis » ; c’est-à-dire Jésus définissant sa l’étape suivante, inévitable, serait de mettre en le développement du récit, tout en donnant pièce marque une étape importante dans propre vie comme l’aune à laquelle mesurer musique l’un des récits de la Passion qu’offrent le temps d’une réflexion plus objective et son œuvre, mais également dans la musique la vérité. Pour nous, imaginer cela, ne fût-ce les Evangiles. Dès lors, j’ai eu l’ambition de détachée. Le dernier mouvement est purement contemporaine. La majeure partie du récit que pour la durée de cette œuvre massive et m’atteler à un tel projet. J’ai opté pour le texte instrumental – une chanson sans paroles. proprement dit adopte un ton austère ; pour exigeante, c’est reconnaître que le monde peut de saint Jean, car c’est la version avec laquelle autant, MacMillan n’a pas suivi l’exemple de – et que nous devons – changer.
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