The Festal Responses were written a few months after my arrival at St Asaph Cathedral as Assistant Director of Music in 2004. It struck me that there wasn't a huge repertoire of upper voice responses available, and even fewer sets written for smaller treble lines with organ accompaniment.

The organ part should be registered colourfully to depict the dramatic, changing tone of the text. Registrations are generally given in detail; these will need to be varied from organ to organ, but the original intention of colour should be adhered to as closely as possible. The vocal parts are largely straightforward, with the odd tricky corner that would need a little extra work. The livelier responses should be sung with a good sense of articulation and the more reflective parts with a good sense of legato and shape.