For a thousand years

Psalm 90: 4 (E)

Choral level of difficulty: 2-3 (5 greatest)

The text of this motet from Psalm 90 was a perfect choice for the millennial celebrations of St Bene’t’s Church in Cambridge in 2020. Set for unaccompanied SATB choir dividing at points into eight parts it is a moving and imaginative interpretation of these beautiful words where MacMillan emphasizes the very timelessness of ‘a thousand years’ which he repeats in an almost mantra-like way. He treats the word ‘yesterday’ similarly, and then ‘when it is past’ – and so on, so that the endless repetitions of ensuing generations seem to underline the simple steadfastness of God.

This is a fairly straightforward setting with the challenges being, as so often, the successful clustering of chords, but more, the interpretation which treats the many repetitions with an imaginative interpretation which draws us into MacMillan’s own sound world and feeling for the imagery.

Repertoire Note by Paul Spicer