Seven Mercies

song cycle for mezzo-soprano and piano

2022

20’

commissioned by the Ryedale Festival

premiered by Kathryn Rudge and Christopher Glynn

libretto by Emma Harding

in seven movements:

  1. Prologue

  2. Eva

  3. Tina / Cathy

  4. Maryam

  5. Sal

  6. Madeleine

  7. Angela

I’ve always been fascinated by the murals at St. Peter and St. Paul’s Church in my home town of Pickering, North Yorkshire. Mystical and ancient, these paintings have echoed through time for the instruction of successive generations. In Seven Mercies, librettist Emma Harding and I sought to bring their images to life in a 21st century context.

Each song in this cycle depicts a character from the mural of the Seven Acts of Corporal Mercy: 1. to shelter the homeless; 2. to feed the hungry; 3. to give water to the thirsty; 4. to clothe the naked; 5. to visit the imprisoned; 6. to visit the sick; 7. to bury the dead.

part of Seven Mercies (complete)