Easter known as Holy Week, is very special in the Christian tradition. The Sunday before Easter is Palm Sunday, with the Wednesday before Easter being known as Spy Wednesday. The last three days before Easter are Maundy Thursday, Good Friday and Holy Saturday (sometimes referred to as Silent Saturday). Palm Sunday, Maundy Thursday and Good Friday respectively commemorate Jesus' entry in Jerusalem, the Last Supper and the Crucifixion. Maundy Thursday, Good Friday, and Holy Saturday are sometimes referred to as the Easter Triduum (Latin for "Three Days"). Many churches begin celebrating Easter late in the evening of Holy Saturday at a
The World's Ransoming Ransoming" was the first of three pieces comprising MacMillan's Easter triptych "Triduum", which would later include the composer's Cello Concerto and his Symphony: 'Vigil'. In the score program notes, MacMillan wrote, ""The World's Ransoming" focuses on Maundy Thursday and its musical material includes references to plainsongs for that day, "Pange lingua" and "Ubi caritas" as well as a Bach chorale ("Ach wie nichtig") which I have heard being sung in the eucharistic procession to the altar of repose." The title of the piece comes from the words of Thomas Aquinas's hymn "Pange Lingua". The work is scored for a solo