BBC Singers / James MacMillan

Few composers write so beautifully for the human voice as Scottish composer James MacMillan. He hones this craft each week, writing for his local parish choir in Glasgow – a collection of untrained singers of all ages who happen to attend the same church as him. Central to his music is his Catholic faith – this, intertwined with his Scottish heritage forms the bedrock of his musicality.
Macmillan has a long affiliation with the evergreen BBC Singers, and together they’re to play what’s to be a stunning concert together in the Barbican’s Milton Court Concert Hall. They’ll play a variety of MacMillan’s choral pieces, including a UK premier of his ‘Alleluia’.
The programme contains another real treat: the UK premier of late Polish composer Gorecki’s recently unearthed ‘Church Songs’. They’re likely to be a little more leftfield in their style – the composer had a penchant for crunchy, dissonant sound worlds, despite his hugely popular ‘Symphony of Sorrowful Songs’ catching the imagination of music lovers across the world.
We’re very excited about this evening – heavenly music performed with panache.