MacMillan - Seven Last Words From the Cross (movements 6 - 7): Score and Analysis

Описание: Graham Ross & The Dmitri Ensemble
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The sixth movement depicts exhaustion and sorrow like no other piece of music. At the end of the fifth movement, we were already with no strength left, just for the sixth movement to impale us on the cross. The choir is full of sighing figures and sorrowful lines, and just as we think the choir might be allowed to stand up again, the nails return and bring devastation to the already defeated music.

The final movement starts with the choir exclaiming in pain for one last time, after which the strings are left on their own. They start playing a beautiful chorale, again full of sighing, even gasping gestures, and of desire to continue living. But little by little, the chorale recedes, and soon enough only gasping breaths are left in the orchestra, trying to hold on for life. And just as we're anxiously waiting for another jump scare from the choir and the orchestra (a technique we grew very familiar with throughout the piece), we slowly start to come to the terrifying realization that all there's left is silence.

Here, I want to touch on how masterfully MacMillan engages us in the music. He knew how movements 4 - 6 completely exhausted us with their emotional rawness and overwhelming expressive power. The music was constantly held back by the unstable rhythm, dissonant harmonies, and dense textures. And now in the seventh movement, he uses this knowledge to produce one of the most moving sections in all of music. With the string chorale, we finally get a stable rhythm, consonant harmonies, clear textures, and insanely beautiful counterpoint. This change is so refreshing, that we, just as much as the music itself don't want it to ever end. And at that point, silence starts to take over...


6. IT IS FINISHED
0:00 - The strings play a series of cluster chords, representing the hammering of nails. This completely exhausts the music.
0:52 - The choir enters with sighing gestures which are barely able to form into phrases, with an exhausted ostinato below.
2:41 - The strings join the choir with the ostinato figure. The violins tortuously attempt to pick up the pace, but the exhaustion of the music doesn't allow them.
3:06 - The choir returns to the sighing lines over an ostinato.
6:01 - As we were at the brink of exhaustion the nails return and rip apart the sighing gestures, forcefully ending the movement.

7. FATHER, INTO THY HANDS I COMMEND MY SPIRIT
6:49 - The movement opens with the choir exclaiming in anguish three times, over long sections of silence, before the music descends in resignation. The rest of the movement is played by the strings.
8:08 - The strings start with an incredibly moving chorale, full of sighing and gasping gestures, longing for life. We're again treated with stable harmony and rhythm, but also with extremely beautiful counterpoint.
11:42 - Having exhausted itself, the chorale starts to slowly recede. The violins try to continue the chorale, but they're answered by silence.
12:46 - The gestures in the violins turn into painful gasps for breath, which with time become less and less frequent.
13:58 - ...


Seven Last Words playlist:    • MacMillan - Seven Last Words from the Cros...