Out Now: Visions

A brand-new recording of Visions is out now, recorded by King’s College Choir, Britten Sinfonia and violinist Hannah Perowne, directed by Daniel Hyde, in the matchless acoustic of King’s College Chapel in Cambridge.

Visions is a four-movement piece based on the theme of Jerusalem, the Holy City of prophetic imaginations. It was composed in 2016 at the invitation of the Menuhin Competition. The track listings are as follows:

  • I. Processional and Prelude: Jerusalem the blessed
  • II. Arise, shine
  • III. Lament for Jerusalem
  • IV. Finale. The Holy City

John writes:

‘Jerusalem’ is of course more than the name of a middle-eastern city: it stands as a symbol both of God’s people and of a utopian ideal of heavenly peace and seraphic bliss in store for redeemed humanity. I chose four biblical texts which express different aspects of this vision – (1) an introductory description of the imagined city in the words and Gregorian melody of a medieval hymn familiar in the English version beginning ‘Blessed city, heavenly Salem’; (2) Isaiah’s prophetic vision of the coming of Messiah, followed by a lively section which might be a dance of the daughters of Jerusalem; (3) a lament for the desolation of Sion, using a transmuted fragment of both text and melody line from William Byrd’s anthem Bow thine ear, O Lord; and (4), a beatific vision of the holy city as seen by St John in the Book of Revelation.

John talks more about this new release, alongside soloist Hannah Perowne, and some of the choristers, in this video:

Visions is available to download or to stream on all major streaming platforms.