I love text setting. I love the way words present a structure and shape over which the composer can lay music, intertwining literary meaning with musical connotation. The ‘right’ text elicits a sigh of relief for me – thank goodness I’m not starting with nothing! However, the world of the infamous Sun King, Louis XIV, and 17th-century French monarchy was something I knew nothing about, let alone considered writing about. I’d never even been to Versailles.

Anne Cawrse. Photo © Emma Luker

But then, in 2022, I was approached by John and Irene Garran with the idea of turning The King Walks in the Orangerie, a poem by Irene’s late mother Kathryn Purnell, into a musical work. I was immediately drawn to Kathryn’s poem – an intimate portrait of Louis that captures his loves, vulnerabilities, contradictions and regrets across his life. With John and Irene’s blessing, I collaborated with writer Emma Muir-Smith, who reworked the text, moving, pushing and pulling the words without adding her own, resulting in a cleverly distilled libretto. The core of Kathryn’s work remains, but with space to allow the music to breathe...