James. MacMillan – Chosen – SAATTB Choir and Organ (2003)
Chosen was written in 2003 for George McPhee’s 40th anniversary as Director of Music at Paisley Abbey. The piece sets an unusual text by MacMillan’s long term collaborator Michael Symmons Roberts.
Most of the piece is extremely simple and uses melodic and ornamental figures with which we have become familiar in other MacMillan works. MacMillan uses the grace notes at the start of phrases to great effect here, creating a somewhat ‘rustic’ sound world reminiscent of folk music. In the first half of the piece the individual voice parts sing alone or in unison with another part. MacMillan gradually increases the intensity of the music by layering up the voice parts whilst also increasing the contribution the organ makes. The full choir is employed together for the first time around the half way point to great dramatic effect. The climactic fortissimo cries of The world is rich and full lead to the open-ended question Why was my chosen one chosen?.
