Bernard Heyes (b. 1951) — You Sing the Unknown (from Organ Symphony No. 11) (1993)
“Organ Symphony No. 11” (1993) celebrates elements of the natural world. “You Sing the Unknown” was inspired by the call of a single bird that caught the composer’s attention.
English composer Bernard J. D. Heyes (b. 1951) was born in Kent and began his musical studies at age 21. As a composer, he has focused particularly on music for the organ, most especially his extensive cycle of 18 organ symphonies. Heyes’s musical style draws on a variety of influences and diverse sources of inspiration including the natural world (especially gardens and trees), states of transcendence, ancient Greek philosophy, world cultures and places, life, death, and subatomic physics. The result is music of large scale that connects to the organ’s traditional repertoire while also speaking with a profound and individual voice.