Soli Deo Gloria

Photo: Philip Gatward

James MacMillan
Alpha and Omega

A cappella choral work (SSSAATTBB) based on Revelation 21:1-6a: "Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth." James MacMillan, who has been called "the most powerful voice in British music today - by a mile" (The Times) is a person of strong faith, and the resonance of this can be heard in the rich sonoroties and echoing harmonics of this richly textured work. Duration: 7 minutes, 38 seconds. 

World Premiere
June 4, 2011

Rockefeller Chapel Choir
University of Chicago Motet
James Kallembach, conductor
Rockefeller Memorial Chapel
University of Chicago
Chicago, IL

Rockefeller Memorial Chapel
(Photo: Megan Dulkinsy)

Regarded by many as Scotland’s greatest living composer, James MacMillan is an artist whose work is programmed around the world by such noted ensembles as the London Symphony Orchestra, the New York and Los Angeles Philharmonics, the Boston Symphony and the Cleveland Orchestra. His interpreters include soloists Evelyn Glennie, Wayne Marshall and Colin Currie; and conductors John Nelson, Leonard Slatkin, Mstislav Rostropovich, Sir Colin Davis, Sir Andrew Davis and Osmo Vänskä. Through worldwide performances and an extensive discography, MacMillan’s music, which is celebrated for its spiritual and emotional power, has achieved a broad following rare among modern composers. His percussion concerto, Veni, Veni, Emmanuel, has received over 400 performances. James MacMillan is also a member of Soli Deo Gloria’s Advisory Board of Directors.

For this SDG commission project, James MacMillan set the text of Revelation 21:1-6a as it appears in the English Standard Version (ESV) Bible, published by Crossway:

1 Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and the sea was no more.
2 And I saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband.
3 And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, "Behold, the dwelling place of God is with man. He will dwell with them, and they will be his people, and God himself will be with them as their God.
4 He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away."
5 And he who was seated on the throne said, "Behold, I am making all things new." Also he said, "Write this down, for these words are trustworthy and true."
6 And he said to me, "It is done! I am the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end.”
- Revelation 21:1-6a (ESV)

James MacMillan with Dr. Lane Dennis
after the premiere of Alpha and Omega
(Photo: Megan Dulkinsy)

The vision for the project was inspired by Dr. Lane Dennis, President and Publisher at Crossway, whose idea it was to foster a great musical work in celebration of the 400th anniversary of the creation of the King James Bible in 2011. Dr. Dennis has noted a fitting connection between the historical grounding of the ESV Bible and the musical language of James MacMillan: "One reason that James MacMillan’s work is so powerful is due to his high respect for the historic stream of Christian (and non-Christian) music, which he integrates into his work to create a brilliant, completely original, new contemporary work. The English Standard Version stands in the historic Christian stream of Bible translations going back to the King James Version (1611); and before the KJV, to the Bishops’ Bible (1568), the Great Bible (1539), and the Tyndale New Testament (1526). It is a tremendous thing to see this historic stream carried forward in a new work by James MacMillan setting this ESV text.”

University of Chicago choirs
performing MacMillan's Alpha and Omega
(Photo: Megan Dulkinsy)

Conductor James Kallembach, Director of Choral Activities at the University of Chicago, led the Rockefeller Chapel Choir and the University of Chicago Motet in the premiere of Alpha and Omega on a "Best of Rockefeller" program that included several of MacMillan's works, including Changed, based on a poem by Wallace Stevens, and Heycoka Te Deum, which uses a Lakota text. Additional works on the program included Benjamin Britten’s Antiphon, as well as other works for organ and carillon.

Post-concert Q&A with James MacMillan
(Photo: Megan Dulkinsy)

Post-concert, the audience had an opportunity to ask questions of James MacMillan, who was in attendance for the premiere. MacMillan spoke spontaneously on such topics as the importance of dreams to an artist, the inclusion of theological concepts in his compositions, the impact of the "numinous" on listeners, and his interest in reviving ancient forms. When asked what he was thinking about when he composed Alpha and Omega, MacMillan replied, "The idea of the Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end, is at once a time-related concept and also a numinous state. There is a contradiction at work in this piece: a heavenly, cosmic perspective that is timeless within a time-constraining piece. To deal with these baffling concepts within a piece of music is a challenge." For James MacMillan, music points to something beyond human constraints. To hear more of MacMillan's insights, view the video clips in the sidebar.

Conductor James Kallembach and
composer James MacMillan enjoy a post-concert conversation

Soli Deo Gloria’s work on this commission project was made possible
through generous sponsorship from Crossway and from the University of Chicago.

Scripture quotation is from The Holy Bible, English Standard Version^® (ESV^®),
copyright © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers.
Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Review

"Alpha and Omega is a concise setting for a cappella choir on a text from Revelations (21:1-6). It begins fortissimo with a high statement by the full choir (“Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth”), followed by a decrescendo as the notes likewise cascade downward. In the middle section, the choir sections are divided with just the women’s voices in “Behold, the dwelling place of God is with Man.” The male voices return, and as the work reaches its climax with “I am the Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end,” the choir ascends to a full volume, coming full circle to where it began.

Though brief at just six minutes, Alpha and Omega is a lovely miniature surely crafted and distinctive in the vein of MacMillan’s music. Under the direction of James Kallembach, the University of Chicago Motet Choir and Rockefeller Chapel Choir gave a rich and polished performance and the Scottish composer was on hand to share in the warm applause."

Lawrence A. Johnson
Chicago Classical Review
(Reprinted by permission)