The Souls of the Righteous was composed for a close friend of David Bednall's, Tom Williams, who was at that time Director of the Bristol University Madrigal Ensemble. It was written immediately following the death of his grandfather, George Ryall, and received its first performance in St Matriana, Tintagel on the Madrigal Ensemble's tour of Cornwall (UK) in 2008. The Latin version of this text is better known, but it has a direct beauty in its English form. The feeling throughout, and particularly in the outer sections, should be one of warm luminescence.
