Rapturous reports have been coming out of Britain about James MacMillan's Symphony No. 5: Le grand inconnu, or The Great Unknown. The reports are true. This is a sacred choral symphony unlike anything that has been heard for many years, and it is of great interest to listeners of any spiritual outlook. MacMillan's sacred music has mostly had a personal and devotional tinge, but the Symphony No. 5 is something else entirely: a sprawling, sonically vast work embodying, as the title suggests, the most abstract of Christian ...
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Rapturous reports have been coming out of Britain about James MacMillan's Symphony No. 5: Le grand inconnu, or The Great Unknown. The reports are true. This is a sacred choral symphony unlike anything that has been heard for many years, and it is of great interest to listeners of any spiritual outlook. MacMillan's sacred music has mostly had a personal and devotional tinge, but the Symphony No. 5 is something else entirely: a sprawling, sonically vast work embodying, as the title suggests, the most abstract of Christian concepts, the Holy Spirit. Mahler might come to mind for the sheer sweep of the thing, but Holst is a better comparison, with his valiant attempts to slip the surly bonds of earth. MacMillan's three movements are titled "Ruah," "Zao," and "Igne vel igne" (Hebrew, Greek, and Latin, respectively, for "Breath," "Living Water," and "Fire or Fire"). Conductor Harry Christophers' The Sixteen choir intones these terms at the beginnings of the three movements, which then expand into biblical...
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