The Stolen Child was a joint commission by the National Youth Choir of Great Britain and The King's Singers to celebrate their 25th and 40th anniversaries, respectively. They asked me to write a piece that they could perform together, and I thought Yeats' exquisite poem (written when he was only twenty) would create a perfect dramatic counterpoint between the two groups. The National Youth Choir would represent the voice of the 'human child, innocent and naive; and The King's Singers would represent the highland faeries of the 'water and the wild', seducing the children away from a world full of troubles with the promise of endless revelry and eternal youth.


Scored for 2 Countertenors, Tenor, 2 Baritones and Bass, with SATB Chorus.