The Voice of the Spirits

for SATB unaccompanied The text is taken from Shelley's epic poem Prometheus Unbound. Skempton sets passages in which a Chorus of Hours and a Chorus of Spirits celebrate in ecstatic language the unshackling of the human spirit through the enlightenment of science. Written in his customary style of great simplicity, Skempton's hypnotic score beautifully captures the visionary lyricism of the poetry: long lyrical sections in two different keys distinguish the hopes and fears of the Hours and the Spirits, before they are united in song at the end of the piece.