Outcry is a protest against the maltreatment of the animal kingdom by man, expressed through settings of poems by William Blake (1757-1827), Thomas Hardy (1840-1928) and John Clare (1797-1864). It was commissioned by the Coventry Philharmonic Society, with Arts Council funds, and first performed on May l0th, 1969, with Meriel Dickinson as soloist with the composer conducting. Outcry is a kind of ritual with stark, sometimes minimal gestures suited to performance in resonant buildings.