for mixed voices (SATB) a cappella, with optional S Solo
Text: English (St Catherine of Siena)
Duration: c6 minutes
Difficulty: 1/5

Commissioned by St Dominic’s Sixth Form College in celebration of their 40th anniversary. First performed on 30 June 2022 at St Dominic’s Sixth Form College, Harrow-on-the-Hill, UK by The Choir of St Dominic’s Sixth Form College with the BBC Singers, conducted by Abigail Gorton.

For this short motet, MacMillan chose a text which is entirely appropriate to young people about to be let loose on the world to fulfil their potential: ‘Be who God meant you to be and you will set the world on fire’. But where another composer might have made this a fanfare MacMillan writes with the gentleness of sincerity. The music is very straightforward and in wanting a solo soprano line he outlines all the ways this can be achieved: soloist, group of sopranos, or all the sopranos if the altos can be split into two. The choir repeats the mantra text above throughout the motet, while the soprano solo line is given the prayer which follows. Only at the very end do they all join together in the words ‘Jesus, love, Jesus, love’ with a lovely E major ending.

Text
Be who God meant you to be and you will set the world on fire. Holy Spirit, come into my heart; draw it to thee by thy power, O my God, and grant me charity with filial fear. Preserve me, O beautiful love, from every evil thought; warm me, inflame me with thy dear love, and every pain will seem light to me. My Father, my sweet Lord, help me in all my actions. Jesus, love, Jesus, love.

St Catherine of Siena (1347–80)

James MacMillan
Born in Scotland in 1959, James MacMillan studied at Edinburgh and Durham Universities and now lives in Largs. His early successes as a composer in the 1990s included The Confession of Isobel Gowdie, premiered at the BBC Proms, and the percussion concerto Veni, Veni, Emmanuel written for Evelyn Glennie. MacMillan has a special interest in choral composition, ranging from simple liturgical settings for use in church services, to major works for choir and orchestra including Seven Last Words from the Cross, Quickening and St John Passion. His music has been championed and recorded by leading choirs and vocal groups including Cappella Nova, Polyphony, The Hilliard Ensemble, The Sixteen, Westminster Cathedral Choir and the Netherlands Chamber Choir. With their Gaelic inflections and characteristic mixing of ancient and modern, his works have also proved popular with amateur chamber choirs around the world.