Matthew Martin

When David Heard

When David Heard was written as a memorial to the victims of the 2011 terrorist attacks in Oslo and Utoya. It sets the well-known and intense passage from 2 Samuel and intersperses it with a verse from Psalm 39: "Lord, let me know mine end", scored for 3 solo voices. After opening with a powerful declamatory passage, the music switches rapidly between contemplative and more dramatic material, reflecting the mood of the two texts and playing out the musical narrative. This gradually fades over repeated invocations of the Psalm, leaving a solitary tenor voice hanging in the air.