Page 206 - FINAL_The Sixteen Coverage Book 40th Anniversary Year

Subtitled “Le grand Inconnu”, the work is a meditation on the nature of the Holy Spirit –
the “great unknown” of Catholic theology. It is cast in three sections representing breath, water
and fire. The work opens on whispered breaths, the sound coalescing into chanting of the Hebrew,
Greek and Latin words for breath amid mysterious rustlings in the orchestra. Later this explodes
into a series of dramatic, ecstatic climaxes. It’s heady stuff brimming with ideas, the result of what
MacMillan describes as a compositional process lead by “stream of consciousness”.

There are many striking sections, particularly the 20-voice motet that ends the second movement,
MacMillan’s homage to Tallis’s mighty Spem in Alium. MacMillan’s writing for voices is utterly
assured – a reminder that this has become his medium in recent years. It’s difficult, however, to
make sense of the greater whole on first hearing. But this didn’t stop it from earning a rapturous
reception at the Edinburgh premiere, or a standing ovation for its composer.

• Read all our Edinburgh festival reviews.

• This article was amended on 20 August 2019. The Fifth Symphony was commissioned by, not for,
the Genesis Foundation, as an earlier version said.

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