The text of When David Heard is taken from the Second Book of Samuel and deals with King David's grief over the death of his son Absalom. The lines are simultaneously both personal and universal, and the intention of this setting is to incorporate both of these elements; the choral techniques used to achieve this end rang from the directness of monodic passages to the complexity of eight-part textures.

For mixed chorus (SATB) with piano accompaniment for rehearsal only. English.