These famous words have been set by many composers, and I have long loved three very different settings: by Lennox Berkeley, Patrick Hadley and Benjamin Britten. In my own setting I have favoured the luscious tenderness exhibited by Hadley over the overt joyfulness of Britten and the austere purity of Berkeley, but in contrast to Hadley's upper voices and piano texture, I have set the words for mixed voices a cappella. In the rich sonority of the harmonies, I aimed to reflect both, within, the intensely intimate nature of the inner verses and, without, the warmth of our own adoration of the Blessed Virgin and her Son.

The carol is dedicated to my wife, Hatty.