David Owen Norris, celebrated around the world as a pianist and broadcaster, is increasingly recognized as a composer with a distinctive tone of voice. He follows the same guiding principle in composing as he does in broadcasting – to use simple language to say interesting things.

Prayerbook is an oratorio about Tradition and Change. It is written from within the Church of England, but listeners from other religious traditions and from none may find it thought-provoking. Most of the words are from the Book of Common Prayer, whose Prefaces across four centuries are a testament to the inevitability of change, and a witness to our enduring resistance to it.

A full list of the writers is given at the end of the libretto: a potted history of religious and political controversy in England.