first performed by TONUS PEREGRINUS in 1995; UK première in 1997; recorded by TONUS PEREGRINUS and released on Hyperion in June 2005 (CDA67507); duration: c.4'30"

"I have always found the respond structure of some settings by Sheppard, Tallis etc rather odd (in musical, not liturgical terms); in particular, the way the polyphony is shortened both times it is repeated (schematically: ABC, BC, C). In works such as Tallis's Loquebantur this places an unwelcome emphasis, it seems to me, on the less interesting sections. However, the drive towards the end of the piece which the structure engenders is undeniable.

In O Holy of Holies - the text of which is an eighth antiphon to go with the series of seven advent antiphons I set in 1991, O Wisdom of God - I decided to try this structure out for myself, but not to specify what should go in-between the repeats. Since 1995, O Holy of Holies has been performed on its own, in alternation with the Nunc dimittis (plainchant), interspersed among the pieces in the first half of a recital, and, perhaps most successfully, in alternation with one of its polyphonic models, Sheppard's Reges Tharsis."

O Holy of Holies, spotless mirror of the majesty of God and image of His goodness: Come Thou, that iniquity may be blotted out and eternal righteousness be brought in. Come, Lord Jesu!