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Track(s) taken from CDA67219

Changed

composer
author of text

Westminster Cathedral Choir, Martin Baker (conductor), Andrew Reid (organ)
Recording details: July 2000
Westminster Cathedral, London, United Kingdom
Produced by Mark Brown
Engineered by Antony Howell & Julian Millard
Release date: April 2001
Total duration: 3 minutes 2 seconds

Cover artwork: Photograph by Dorothy Burrows.
E & E Picture Library
 

Reviews

‘Powerful liturgical music from one of today's most admired composers, performed with passionate intensity … performances throughout are exceptionally fine and the recorded sound radiantly atmospheric’ (Gramophone)

‘A sublime disc’ (BBC Music Magazine)

‘A striking issue well worth the investment of all interested in recent choral literature’ (American Record Guide)

‘It is hard to think of any recent music that conveys religious ecstasy as intensely as James MacMillan's Mass … music of high voltage from first to last … the singing of Westminster Cathedral Choir is electrifying’ (The Guardian)

‘This music, the Mass in particular, is virtually guaranteed a passage into the central repertoire of choirs around the world; it could hardly have had a better springboard than this recording’ (International Record Review)

‘A busy railway carriage is probably not the ideal environment in which to listen to James MacMillan’s music. But the fact that it transported me to another place is proof of the power of his music’ (Classic FM Magazine)

‘Long life to James MacMillan and a plentiful supply of pens and ink’ (Fanfare, USA)

‘Anyone familiar with the ambience of Westminster Cathedral from the sound of the choir and organ to the pungent scents of wax polish and incense will feel at home immediately and it is difficult to imagine this music sounding as good in any other place. Highly recommended, these performances of this powerful music will repay concentrated listening and repetition’ (Organists' Review)

‘Outstanding performances. Gaudeamus in loci pace is a breath-catching bonus’ (HMV Choice)

‘A programme of exceptional quality and interest, which no genuine lover of cathedral music should ignore’ (Cathedral Music)

‘From the moment this CD begins, the senses tingle with the magical, spiritual nature of the music’ (Sunday Herald, Scotland)
Changed is a secular work composed for the Cunningham Chamber Choir, and with members of the North Ayrshire Youth Silver Band providing the accompaniment at the first performance. But the composer himself points to its connection with the Eucharistic theme, that of transformation—or even transubstantiation, in which something palpable and visible belongs with some deeper and hidden. In the final chord of the piece, when the choir hums the notes of the open strings of a guitar, the very common sound which might be heard as anyone picks up the instrument is given new expression in its transformation into a choral texture. A sense of timelessness is represented by the rotating notes of the ground bass in the organ part which runs through the whole piece.

from notes by James Whitbourn © 2001

Changed fut écrite pour le Cunningham Chamber Choir qui était accompagné lors de la première par les membres du North Ayrshire Youth Silver Band. Le compositeur lui-même souligne les similitudes avec le thème de l’Eucharistie à savoir une transformation—voire une transsubstantiation—où quelque élément palpable et visible est associé à quelque chose de plus profond et caché. Lors du dernier accord de la pièce, quand le chœur fredonne les notes des cordes à vide d’une guitare, la sonorité habituelle que l’on entend lorsque l’on prend cet instrument reçoit une expression nouvelle dans sa transformation à travers une texture chorale. Un sentiment d’intemporalité est représenté par la rotation des notes de la basse obstinée à la partie d’orgue qui perdure durant toute la pièce.

extrait des notes rédigées par James Whitbourn © 2001
Français: Isabelle Battioni

Changed war komponiert für den Cunningham Chamber Choir und Angehörige der Youth Silver Band von North Ayrshire, die bei der Uraufführung die Begleitung übernahmen. Der Komponist selbst weist auf den Zusammenhang mit dem Thema der Eucharistie hin—das der Verwandlung oder auch Transsubstantiation—, in dem sich etwas Greifbares, Sichtbares mit etwas Profundem, Verborgenem verbindet. Im Schlußakkord des Stücks, wenn der Chor die Töne der leeren Saiten einer Gitarre summt, gewinnt der ganz gewöhnliche Klang, den man zu hören bekommt, wenn jemand das Instrument zur Hand nimmt, durch die Übernahme in ein Chorgefüge neue Ausdruckskraft. Ein Gefühl der Zeitlosigkeit vermitteln die rotierenden Töne des Basso ostinato im Orgelpart, der das ganze Stück hindurch beibehalten wird.

aus dem Begleittext von James Whitbourn © 2001
Deutsch: Anne Steeb/Bernd Müller

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