Seven Last Words from the Cross / Te Deum

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MUSICWEB RECORDINGS OF THE YEAR (2005)

'In an ideal world, Hyperion's August disc of the month would sell by the truckload. The sheer quality of James MacMillan's Seven Last Words, the intensity of Stephen Layton's interpretation and the unrestrained, heartfelt performances of Polyphony and the Britten Sinfonia should guarantee critical acclaim'
(Music Week)

'an intense, deeply felt interpretation, full of beautiful and affecting singing, with all the elements - string orchestra, featured violin, choir and soloists - nicely balanced … As ever, MacMillan incorporates all his allusions, including those to Scottish traditional music, into an utterly individual style. The performance confirms Polyphony's place in the front rank of choirs'
(Gramophone)

'This splendid new performance from Polyphony also conveys dignity, and a sense (hard to explain) that the suffering is, in some mysterious way, redemptive. Easier to quantify, the singing is also remarkably secure technically, the ensemble near perfect. Beautiful, powerful playing too from the Britten Sinfonia'
(BBC Music Magazine)

"This is a magnificent and very important disc. I know it will feature as one of my Recordings of 2005 in due course. For now I congratulate Hyperion and the performers on an issue, which is an unqualified success, and I recommend this CD not just enthusiastically but urgently."
(MusicWeb)

This really is one of the choral masterpieces of our time. MacMillan's portrayal of the ultimate dramatic event in history - the Crucifixion of Jesus Christ - is mesmerizing, from the opening cadences to the final disturbing hammer-blows of the nails being driven into Christ's hands and feet. Two first recordings are also on this disc: On the Annunciation of the Blessed Virgin and Te Deum.

His Seven Last Words from the Cross, first commissioned and screened by the BBC in 1994, depicts the final seven short sentences Jesus uttered, from the mesmerizing opening cadences to the final disturbing hammer-blows of the nails being driven into Christ's hands and feet, leaving the listener to wonder at one of the choral masterpieces of our time.

Many years ago the same choir recorded this work on the BMG Catalyst label - the recording was nominated for a Mercury Music Prize. Now ten years later their interpretation has developed and proves that Polyphony has risen to rank amongst the world's finest professional choirs.

Also presented on this disc are two premier recordings by the same composer. On the Annunciation of the Blessed Virgin for five-part choir and organ was written for the choir of Gonville and Caius College Cambridge in 1997 and is set to the stunning poetry about transformation by the seventeenth-century poet Jeremy Taylor; the Te Deum was written in 2001 to celebrate the Queen's Golden Jubilee. In both works we have much of the essential MacMillan to savour making this issue indispensable for followers of both MacMillan and Polyphony.