What is it?

This song is available in both English and Romanian. Be Thou My Vision is of course a well-known song usually sung to the tune known as 'Slane'. It's one of my all-time favourite songs but so often people overlook the very personal and mystic nature of the words. I wanted to match that in music that pays homage to 'Slane' without being bound by it. The result conveys just the right balance of reverence and hope. I know what I believe as a Christian and that belief gives me hope: but I won't know for sure until I meet God face-to-face (or not, as the case may be). I hope that this arrangement gets that across and I know for a fact that people have been blessed by it. Be Thou My Vision is scored for four solo voices and an eclectic array of instruments. A backing track is available as part of the package.

I owe the motivation to do this to the good people of Trinity Evangelical Church choir in Larnaca, Cyprus. They and a locally-based media producer were in the process of planning a music album as a gesture of thanks to their supporters. The producer, a personal friend whom I was visiting in Cyprus, introduced me to them, as a result of which I agreed to prepare a set of professional-quality backing tracks for the album. Be Thou My Vision was to feature and what you hear here is based upon that backing track ... with a difference ...

While preparing the track, I was struck with the realisation that each verse told a different story, requiring music that matched the emotions in the words. So I tried to imagine how Slane might sound had it been written by me in the first place: rhythms to match the words, a shifting melody, full of emotion, and being sung by somebody whom I had met while in Larnaca. Then I harmonised it for four voices and the result is as you hear it.

The scoring is intriguing, reflecting the range of ethnicities represented in the choir itself. A bodhrán and a Celtic harp are used to create a sense of Irishness, but in a very gently way. A bouzouki plays homage to the local Cypriot Greek culture. A bass bamboo flute adds an exotic touch of southeast Asia while a 5-octave marimba mimics a west African Bala played with wooden mallets. Piano, flute, bass guitar and a synth string pad finish it off. It's surprisingly evocative and effective.

But can you buy it? Yes, as a complete package for which I make a nominal charge, most of which I would probably pass on to the Cyprus-based church for whom I wrote this. The package includes:

• A full score, a reduced vocal score and a lead sheet
• A stereo backing track, recorded dry (i.e. without reverb), in MP3 format
• The vocals only, to help you with learning it, in MP3 format
• The complete song, in MP3 format