I was able to sing in two of the Cathedral Chamber Choir’s services at St. Mary Redcliffe today. Some of the repertoire was very familiar – by Palestrina and Stanford – but we also sang at Mattins the Britten Te Deum in C (which we used to do every term at my Cambridge college) and Walton’s jolly Jubilate.
The new piece was ‘Changed’ by James MacMillan. The only other time I’ve performed any of his music was in the same church a few months ago. As in the third of the Canticos Sagrados there is a long introduction in slow notes (in this case a 3-part canon on a three-note figure which continues throughout the piece) before the choir comes in singing in much shorter note values. Perhaps because of having to think in much shorter rhythmical units, almost like setting a new tempo, this looks easier on the page than it is in practice to perform!
The words of ‘Changed’ are not liturgical or even sacred, though I was told that MacMillan feels they could be given a religious interpretation and hence that his setting is suitable for a church service. I hope to see him in person tomorrow (he is conducting a concert in the Bath Festival) though I won’t get a chance to ask him about this!