MacMillan, James: Little Mass

Non-liturgical setting of the Kyrie, Sanctus and Agnus Dei from the Latin Mass, scored for 4-part children’s choir and full orchestra. The composer states that “each movement is reasonably substantial, with much space for the orchestral music to grow and develop […] a lot of the vocal writing was imagined as an extension and enhancement of the orchestral palette where the young voices are ‘smudged’ into the orchestral sound in an impressionistic manner.” Little Mass (2014) was commissioned by the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Society for its 175th Anniversary, the Royal Scottish National Orchestra and the Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra. Supported by Sally, Mary and Jonathan Groves to mark the centenary of Sir Charles Groves, in the month he would have celebrated his 100th birthday. Suitable for intermediate standard voices and advanced standard orchestra.