Meditation on 'Adoro te devote"

After the bombast of the Fanfare we move from one of Arthur’s earliest works to one of his last. Adoro te dates from 2005 and was written as a commission for the 70th birthday of the composer Ronald Watson.
In Wills’s music the influence of plainsong & vast ecclesiastical spaces is never far away nor too the influence of the Ely organ. Arthur is always fairly specific in the sounds that he requires….he knew what he wanted & the registration markings, even post-retirement are with the organ he had known for his entire professional career in mind. Anyone with an understanding of the registration schemes of the French Symphonic School will be at one with Arthur’s demands.
This piece draws on a delicate palette of Swell Strings & Great Flute. This is not to be just any flute (certainly NOT a Stopped Diapason) it is an open flute that is required like the glorious Hohl Flute on the Great at Ely.
The best match in all the UK sets at my disposal is St Mary Redcliffe; an instrument that shares a certain kinship with its older brother at Ely. Ely set the standard for the H&H cathedral organ par excellence with the large Solo division with its string chorus, beautiful orchestral reed colours, Pedal Open Woods, massive foundation sound from the Great, fiery Swell Reeds & smooth Great Trombas. These more extreme colours are not explored in this work, rather we can enjoy the beautiful & ethereal Echo strings & heavenly Great Flute.

This will be a standalone recording as the inspiration and realisation are one and the same - Ely Cathedral organ