Plainsongs for Peace and Light

Predominantly hushed and serene, Plainsongs for Peace and Light proved to be Jonathan Harvey's final work. It sees Harvey re-examining the very fundamentals of his craft - superimposing lines of plainsong, relishing the simple clash of note against note and creating rich, otherworldly sonorities through an elaborate use of canon. Harvey was a composer who always embraced and sought-out the very latest in musical technologies but the simplicity of the a cappella choir became something of a constant to which he returned throughout his life. Writing in Tempo, Paul Conway noted this work's `understated but extremely affecting, numinous power'. The piece is for mixed voices of SATB in 16 parts.