Elysian Ode

Robert Herrick (1591-1674) 'To Music - A Song'

I loved setting this poem. It’s the second time I’ve done it. The words by Robert Herrick seem to be an invocation of the divine and the sacred. It implies that music has the power to calm and soothe human suffering. The poet suggests that music can even embrace and tame the wildness of nature and is a kind of bridge between earth and heaven.

These are my instinctive feelings about music too - there seems to be something sacred about the art form itself which opens a door to something beyond ourselves. For that reason, setting these words gets right to the heart of why I have been entranced by the power of music since boyhood.

The work is for double choir and cello. The antiphonal conversation between the two choral groups throws up some polytonal interaction between different chords while the cello explores the spectral harmonics of the lower strings. Sometimes the solo cello emerges from the fuller sound to play on its own momentarily, sometimes it partakes in passages where downward falling melodies leave cluster chords in its wake. The work is dedicated to Sam Laughton and his wonderful Elysian Singers who give the first performance. It has been a delight for me that they have performed and recorded my music over the years, and I am honoured that they asked me to write this piece for their 40th birthday.

James MacMillan - 2026