Last night, there was a performance of Song of Songs in Marlborough Chapel as part of the Summer School Concert Series. The Raven Quartet appeared, along with Claire Jones and the wonderful soprano Natalie Clifton-Griffiths. The choir was the Avebury Vocal Ensemble. I took a rehearsal of the choir on Monday evening and was really impressed with their warmth of tone and enthusiasm. As well as Song of Songs they performed Quanta Qualia, Reflexionem and a couple of my anthems accompanied by Roger Sayer on the mighty chapel organ. There must have been 500 or so in the audience and they gave us a fantastic reception. It was great to meet many of them afterwards.

It is now a month or so since the premiere of the Highgrove Suite. This took place in front of a private audience at Highgrove House and was without doubt the highlight of my career to date. The Philharmonia and Claire Jones played so beautifully and the setting was absolutely perfect. The day after the premiere we all transferred to the Henry Wood Hall in South London to make the recording. This too was a great success, and I am now in the middle of listening to all the edits before we do a final mix the week after next. The recording is to be released in the autumn on the Classic FM label. The build up to the premiere was filmed and is to form part of a BBC2 documentary about the Highgrove gardens. This too is expected to air in the autumn.

I am delighted to announce that I have just completed The Highgrove Suite. There is still some orchestration to do but the four movements are all now in place. I wrote Goddess of the Woods for The Prince of Wales’ sixtieth birthday in November 2008. Now, this piece (inspired by The Stumpery of the Highgrove gardens) has been joined by The Wild Meadow, Sanctuary and The Gladiator. The premiere, which is to take place in June at Highgrove in front of a private audience, will be performed by the royal harpist Claire Jones and the string section of The Philharmonia. The occasion will be in aid of The Prince’s Foundation for Children and the Arts. A London premiere will take place later this year.