Through Crecy Window

This composition was written for the bells of Gloucester Cathedral. The inspiration for the music was taken from looking through the Cathedral’s largest stained glass window, often referred to as Crecy Window.

The cathedral has an unusual system of electromechanically controlled bells, which can be played remotely by a computer. Writing for these bells introduced some novel challenges; for example there are a restricted set of notes that can be played, and some bells are naturally louder than others. There was also the issue that the different bells have varying delays when triggered, so the playback of each note was tweaked whilst standing in the cathedral, making sure the rhythms were reproduced as accurately as possible.

The piece has been performed by the bells several times, including during the Three Choirs Festival in May 2016.

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