John Rutter

Prelude - Te Lucis Ante Terminum

This short (44 bars) contemplation is dedicated to the memory of Hilary Cornall, and takes the form of a gently-flowing Andante tranquillo with frequently-changing time signatures but with a constant quaver pulse = 126. This gives the work a haunting quality, as if in visual terms - quietly observing the passage of cloud across a balmy summer sky. Tonally, the music gradually descends from an implied A minor to G - the mode subtly indeterminate, but undoubtedly final, as the approach of evening. As with so much music by this composer, the effect is simple but very touching, the constantly flowing open fifths in the right hand adding the principal expression of movement. A most effective miniature. Although dated 2010 on the cover and title page, the composer himself gives 2009 at the end of the final bar. ' -James Palmer