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Track(s) taken from CDA67970

After Virtue

First line:
It is always dangerous to draw too precise parallels
composer
2006; SSAATTBB unaccompanied; dedicated to Alasdair MacIntyre
author of text
from After Virtue: A Study in Moral Theory (Gerald Duckworth & Co, London, 1981; third edition, 2007)

Westminster Cathedral Choir, Martin Baker (conductor)
Studio Master FLAC & ALAC downloads available
CD-Quality:
Studio Master:
CD-Quality:
Studio Master:
Recording details: July 2012
Westminster Cathedral, London, United Kingdom
Produced by Adrian Peacock
Engineered by David Hinitt
Release date: June 2013
Total duration: 4 minutes 59 seconds

Cover artwork: Angels Supporting a Dial which Indicates the Hours of the Different Scenes of the Passion, an illustration for The Life of Christ. James Tissot (1836-1902)
Brooklyn Museum of Art, New York / Bridgeman Images
 

Reviews

‘The combination of Westminster Cathedral Choir and MacMillan is irresistible. We are drawn immediately into their complicity by the jaw-dropping Tu es Petrus … its simultaneous celebratory character and clear rootedness in liturgical tradition make it far more than a one-off firework. Quite different are the extraordinary Tenebrae Responsories … the sound of the Westminster choristers adds something unique and the building's resonance buoys up MacMillan's arching lines (carefully shaped under Baker's direction) and dazzling, often bitingly dissonant choral pillars … the performances throughout are outstanding, and beautifully recorded’ (Gramophone)

‘James MacMillan creates a magnificent effusion of sound, over which the trebles of the Westminster Cathedral Choir soar dramatically … the three movements of Tenebrae Responsories are remarkable for different reasons … this is an intensely concentrated sequence visiting dark, lonely places of the spirit. Of the nine shorter pieces, the ebullient Edinburgh Te Deum is particularly valuable, further attesting to MacMillan's reputation as one of the finest living composers of ecclesiastical music. Martin Baker's direction is masterly’ (BBC Music Magazine)

‘MacMillan is proof that Catholic composers need not be conventional … the three Tenebrae Responsories are an excellent example of that … this is honesty not often heard in sacred music … it's hard not to be impressed by the committed and well-disciplined singing of the Westminster Cathedral Choir, particularly by its boys, who negotiate MacMillan's difficult melismatic writing with confidence’ (International Record Review)

‘MacMillan has a close relationship with Westminster Cathedral, seeing it as a beacon of musical professionalism to which other Catholic churches should aspire. The performance is correspondingly electric: a perfect balance of voices, topped with a searing, steely treble tone, delivering such perfectly consonant harmonies it’s often goosebump-inducing. An additional draw is the cavernous acoustic of Westminster Cathedral itself—particularly in the joyful noise that is Summae Trinitati, you could be standing in its late-Victorian splendour as the brass and percussion reverberate around you. It's glorious’ (Sinfini.com)
Of After Virtue MacMillan writes: ‘This is the only secular work on this recording but its message is a warning about how certain readings of the secular can lead us to barbarity. It is a setting of the last page of Alasdair MacIntyre’s book of the same name, a landmark tome in moral philosophy and a profound criticism of modern moral discourse. He claims that older forms of moral discourse, especially Aristotle and Aquinas are a better guide for the common good. MacIntyre’s revival of “virtue ethics” has had a big impact on me.’ The intensely rhythmic nature of this setting, the imaginative humming colours, the ferocity of expression, the impetus given by streams of moving quavers hummed above the pounding text, and the wholly unexpected and mesmerizingly beautiful utterances of ‘Saint Benedict’ with which the piece ends, all add up to a remarkable tour de force.

from notes by Paul Spicer © 2013

MacMillan écrit à propos d’After Virtue: «C’est l’unique œuvre profane de ce disque, mais son message nous met en garde contre le fait que certaines lectures profanes peuvent nous mener à la barbarie. Elle met en musique la dernière page d’After Virtue, ouvrage d’Alasdair MacIntyre qui marque un jalon dans la philosophie morale et est une profonde critique du discours moral moderne. Il affirme que les formes anciennes de discours moral, surtout celles d’Aristote et de saint Thomas d’Aquin, sont de meilleurs guides pour l’intérêt commun. La renaissance de l’«éthique des vertus» de MacIntyre a eu sur moi un impact énorme.» Le caractère intensément rythmique de cette mise en musique, l’inventivité de ses couleurs bourdonnantes, la férocité de son expression, l’élan donné par ses flots de croches mouvantes fredonnées par-dessus le texte tambourinant et ses «saint Benoît» conclusifs, totalement inattendus, ensorcelants de beauté, tout cela ajoute à un remarquable tour de force.

extrait des notes rédigées par Paul Spicer © 2013
Français: Hypérion

Über After Virtue schreibt MacMillan: „Dieses ist das einzige weltliche Werk in der vorliegenden Aufnahme, seine Botschaft ist jedoch eine Warnung davor, dass gewisse weltliche Auffassungen uns in die Barbarei führen können. Das Stück ist eine Vertonung der letzten Seite von Alasdair MacIntyres Buch, das denselben Titel trägt—ein bahnbrechendes Werk in Moralphilosophie und eine profunde Kritik an dem modernen Diskurs über Moral. Er behauptet, dass die älteren Formen des Moraldiskurses, besonders bei Aristoteles und Thomas von Aquin, bessere Anleitungen für das Gemeinwohl bieten. MacIntyres Wiederbelebung der „Tugend-Ethik“ hat großen Eindruck auf mich gemacht.“ Die intensive Rhythmik dieser Vertonung, die phantasievollen summenden Klangfarben, die Wildheit des Ausdrucks, der Impuls, der von den dahinströmenden Achteln ausgeht, die über dem pochenden Text summen, sowie die völlig unerwarteten und faszinierend-schönen Äußerungen „Saint Benedict“, mit denen das Werk endet, verbinden sich alle zu einer bemerkenswerten Glanzleistung.

aus dem Begleittext von Paul Spicer © 2013
Deutsch: Viola Scheffel

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