I was invited to write a choral work to celebrate the 900th anniversary of Cirencester Abbey. I used a line by Alexander Neckham, one of the first Abbots from 1215. It was performed by the brilliant choir Dodecantus. The words are: Si suspecta tibi loca sunt solemnia, nostrae intra saepta domus tutior esse potes. (If you mistrust solemn places, you can be safer within the walls of our house.) Click on the video below to listen to the performance (I couldn’t get to the front in time so filmed it from behind the choir!)
