Tyto alba (white owl) is the Latin name for the barn owl.

In this miniature I have tried to capture something of the bird's mystical character, it?s silent, graceful, but also extremely agile flight, as well as the sense of the nocturnal suspense felt when watching silently and attentively to catch a glimpse of a barn owl in the wild. The music also carries a Japanese influence (especially the sound of the shakuhachi), as well as a certain elegiac, mournful character stemming from a combination of its screeching call, its plight to survive, and as a lament for an old friend.

Tyto Alba was first performed by Catherine Handley in Kington Church, Herefordshire on 7th October, 2022.