Seattle-based composer
Andrew T. Miller's cantata The Birth of Christ received its premiere in Dublin in 2006. Its performance was hailed as a landmark event because it brought together Catholic and Protestant choirs. It would be good to report that its musical quality was as significant as its humanitarian achievement, but as a whole, the music fails to fulfill that promise. The 70-minute piece is lyrical from beginning to end. The vocal contours are often graceful, and
Miller knows how to build surging, emotionally charged climaxes, but it has few genuinely memorable moments. Its harmonic and melodic conventionality would not be reason to dismiss it, because originality isn't essential for a piece to be inventive and imaginative, but most of the movements have a second-hand feeling to them; you can hear some
Philip Glass, some Garrett Fischer (another Seattle-based composer, but with a genuinely distinctive voice), some Morten Lauridsen, an embarrassing imitation of an operatic interchange, but mostly, the lyrical, pop-inflected contemporary religious anthem that flourishes in many American Protestant churches. That said, The Birth of Christ is obviously a work of sincere spiritual devotion, and its lyricism and earnestness may make it appealing to some audiences who share the composer's convictions, and who aren't concerned about its place in the larger picture of contemporary choral music. The choirs sing with fullness and the uncredited orchestra plays colorfully. The soloists sing with conviction and are frequently effective, although most have some technical deficit that makes them sound more like talented amateurs than professionals, but soprano Amy Bils and tenor Robert McPherson perform with more skill. Actor Liam Neeson reads Luke's account of the Nativity story in one movement. The sound of the live performance is clear, but lacks the aural polish or a carefully engineered studio recording.