The première of the first four Sacred Chants was given on 15 February 2003 at Bangor Cathedral by the Altèri Chamber Choir directed by David Jones, with Jonathan Scott, organ. Each Chant had been written to precede the performance of a longer work – Chant I was followed by Hymnus Ante Somnum (choir and organ, 1985), Chant II came before Carmen Paschale (a cappella choir, 1981), Chant III before the organ triptych Esultante. Chant IV was followed by a performance of Recordatio (a cappella choir, 1999). Over the next few months Lewis continued to add to the sequence of Chants, finally arriving at a definitive order given its first complete performance at Manchester Cathedral on 18 February 2006, again by the Altèri Chamber Choir, this time with organist Jeffrey Makinson. Chant III had already been premièred in a revised and extended form a year earlier by Côr Seiriol directed by Gwennant Pyrs; Chants VII and IX had been given a semi-public airing at Imperial War Museum North by the Altèri Chamber Choir in January 2006. Those three unaccompanied Chants have since been given on several subsequent occasions. The complete sequence was performed again by the Royal Northern College of Music Chamber Choir directed by David Jones with Jeffrey Makinson at Manchester Cathedral on 29 October 2012 to coincide with their publication by Cathedral Press.
