Handel and MacMillan | Exultate Singers

Exultate Singers is joined by the Exultate Chamber Orchestra to perform two powerful and virtuosic works for choir and string orchestra.

Widely admired as a masterpiece, James MacMillan’s Seven last words from the Cross follows Christ’s final utterances at the crucifixion, meditating on each to form a dramatic and emotional sequence. The vocal writing is at times dramatic and intense, at others plaintive and tender. MacMillan’s use of vocal and instrumental is always mesmerizing and deeply moving.

One of the most exhilarating of all his choral works, Handel’s Dixit Dominus was written when the composer was just 22 years old. The piece displays youthful vitality and energy throughout with strong Italian influences. One of the highlights is the duet for two solo sopranos De torrente in via bibet, whose lines weave in and out of each other in exquisite, heartrending counterpoint.