1. London 2. Christian Forbearance 3. The Lamb 4. Cradle Song The first three of these four settings of poems by William Blake were composed in the summer of 1999 to celebrate the 50th birthday of my sister Jane Richards, to whom they are dedicated. I added the fourth setting in May 2003 to mark the birth of my daughter Maria Rowena Copley. The songs may be performed as a cycle or separately. Many previous settings of ‘The Lamb’ treat the poem as a kind of prayer. When I approached the text, I had an irresistible image in my mind of a lamb skipping about and so I decided to set the poem as a jazz waltz instead! The first three songs were originally performed in May 2000 in a Brighton Festival Fringe concert given by New Music Brighton with Jane Richards and the composer accompanying. ‘Cradle song’ was first performed in May 2004 by Lucinda Haughton and the composer. Minor revisions to all four songs prior to publication were made in September 2025.