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Antoni Gaudi's monumental temple La Sagrada Familia is a universe within a building. It's mass of stone and metal is bathed in coloured light diffused from dazzling stained glass windows. The colossal structure is supported by great pillars inspired by the shapes of tree trunks that re-inforce the impression of a spiritual forest. Around the main access points to the basilica are three great facades; Nativity, Passion and Glory. Each is a visual world unto itself, stylistically apart yet united by Gaudi's grandiose vision. These three facades are the inspiration of my three-movement La Sagrada Familia Symphony. The visual journey, from the representational to the abstract, is something I also tried to mirror in the music. When I visited La Sagrada Familia in October 2019 there was still scaffolding to support the work on the remaining towers. Whereas my symphony is inspired by that monumental building, I hope that my musical structure can stand alone as an homage to Gaudi in it's own right. The two parts of the cantata begin similarly, presenting first the children of Seth - then in the second part, the children of Noah. Realizing that the aftermath of the destruction of the Tower of Babel could be anti-climactic, I left part of the Noah story unfinished at the end of Part I, and concluded it as an Epilogue. I wanted God's promise to be the note on which the work should end, a message of hope that the divinity would protect His creation throughout the seasons InchWhile earth remains, seedtime and harvest, cold and heat, summer and winter, and day and night shall never cease.Inch These beautiful words are taken up by the choir and soloists contrapuntally and lead directly to the hymn Praise My Soul The King Of Heaven, whose melody was woven into the closing section of Part One. Following Britten's inspiration in Noye's Fludde and St Nicholas, I invite the audience to
