10 hours ago
3
Many composers today maintain a safe distance from the intimidating associations of “symphony”, “concerto”, and other venerable classical genres. Scottish composer James MacMillan is not among them. His vast catalogue includes multiple symphonies, concertos and two passions – St Luke and St John – as well as his Christmas Oratorio, which was premiered in 2021. JS Bach’s 1734 version has become a festive classic, but MacMillan’s piece is no homage: although this 21st-century Christmas Oratorio speaks many musical languages, Bach’s is emphatically not among them.
Instead, it flits from delicately scored passages of chamber music to full-throttle climaxes for choir and orchestra, from percussive modernist spikiness to smooth, Brittenish almost-tonality, from pastiche renaissance polyphony to surging Hollywood film score. “I’m getting a lot of Harry Potter,” reported a bemused friend during the interval.
While portions of this take on the Christmas story sound disconcertingly innocuous, MacMillan’s choral writing is demanding. In this performance conducted by the composer, the BBC Symphony Chorus were initially tentative. They were at their atmospheric best in the unaccompanied and quieter sections showcasing their excellent diction and silky blend. The upper voices’ slow unfolding of “O magnum mysterium” was especially magical, floating over barely audible passagework in the woodwind and lower strings and the periodic throb of muted brass.
The two vocal soloists were ideally matched, with Roderick Williams’ warm, malleable baritone balanced by Rhian Lois’s harder, narrower soprano. The latter provided a luminous gilding in the large-scale ensembles, while Williams’ peerless capacity for storytelling made his second aria a highlight, his declamation a kind of stentorian recitative, compelling amid flutter-tongued flute, dabs of muted trumpet and a sprinkle of vibraphone.
There were numerous other moments of fleeting beauty and irresistible forwards momentum from the BBC Symphony Orchestra: a chiming harp; icy string tremolo; orchestral chords balanced to sound uncannily like an organ; a flash of what sounded like Shostakovich performed at double speed, driven along by an off-beat high-hat. Despite such pleasures, MacMillan’s Christmas Oratorio remains a strange shape, its ending peculiarly abrupt. But this was a ferociously committed performance that left the large audience roaring with approval.
English (US)