ALL SHALL BE WELL

One of the remarkable things about putting together ‘The Glad Giver’ was the way in which creative people came forward to offer their work in support of it. Even before I had auditioned the actors, a writer friend had introduced me to her recorder group, called (and I love the Scots wordplay) Thistle Doo. The leader of the group, Jacqueline Fitzgibbon, read the script I sent and the next day offered to compose a piece of music especially for it.  The piece would be inspired by the music of Hildegard of Bingen, herself a 12th century German polymath and composer of sacred music. It was rehearsed and recorded in the small town of West Kilbride in Scotland by five members of Thistle Doo, and afterwards we shared some excellent cake in celebration.

When I first heard this music, I knew that it would be perfect, evoking both the calm of Julian’s cell and the poignancy of a life lived essentially alone. Parts of the piece are used throughout the play itself to separate scenes, and to help transport the listener to a church in medieval Norwich. I thought that you might like to hear the whole thing, with the voice of Zanna Foley-Davies as Julian, speaking her calm, assured message just as the composer intended.