Walker, Lucy - Make me an island

In August 2024, Lucy Walker travelled to Lindisfarne with St Martin’s Voices for a festival of services and music to mark St Aidan’s Day. There the choir premiered ‘Make me an Island’, an introspective and heartfelt setting of Andy Raine’s popular ‘St Aidan’s Prayer’. The music, while simple, captures the timeless essence and rich spiritual lore of the island, with a gentle melodic arc that mimics the ebb and flow of waves on the shore. Imitation and overlap between vocal lines provide momentum, and allow for more exploratory and energised harmonies in the second section, representing ‘the turning of the tide’. The message of the prayer, peaceful solitude in the face of the ‘busy world’, is present throughout in the reflective atmosphere, and a soprano solo in the final section soars above the choir, characterising the one voice among many. This piece has no split parts, and would suit choirs of mixed ability, as an anthem or concert piece, particularly resonating with themes of rest, peace, remembrance, or solace in the natural world.