Sleep Canticle

Sleep Canticle was writtenin 1974 for the Conference of the National Federation of Gramophone Societies in Norwich. The texts are drawn from the two famous Norwich writers, the lady Julian (1343-1443) and Sir Thomas Browne(1605-82). Browne's two verses - from the poem in Religio Medici beginning: 'The night is come, like to the day' - are set for all the voices, the prose that frames them set as a tenor solo, sung by Gordon Pullin. Julian's words,overriding the verse ends, are given to a solo soprano, Alison Furniss.