speak to them across the ages. They sing, “Our eyes are blinded by the holiness you bear,” and they wish to hear the true story of Nicolas, the man. After being implored to “Strip off [his] glory,” Nicolas responds in a flourish, speaking to the choir, “Across the tremendous bridge of sixteen hundred years…” The first movement ends with a choral prayer. The choral introduction is centred on the pitch class E, prominent as a pedal tone for much of the first movement. Harmonic tension is achieved by brief chromatic meanderings that return to the central pitch; this technique is effective by providing harmonic and melodic interest while remaining accessible to young and/or amateur singers. Nicolas’ response to the chorus departs from the emphasis on E, travelling through many different keys, though generally using diatonic melodies. Nicolas ends his solo on pitch class A, which becomes the new pedal tone for the choral prayer. II. The Birth of Nicolas The second movement begins the depiction of Nicolas’ life, recounting the story of his miraculous birth, when “…from his mother's womb he sprang and cried, 'GOD BE GLORIFIED!’” Stories of his childhood continue, punctuated by the refrain “GOD BE GLORIFIED!”, sung by the boy Nicolas (portrayed by the 'youngest boy in the choir', as specified by the composer.) At the end of the movement, the boy becomes a man, and the movement closes with the full-voiced adult tenor singing the refrain. This movement consists of a tune written in the A-Lydian mode. Britten modulated between A-Lydian and E-Lydian for alternating verses; he did so by altering the Lydian modes into whole-tone-collections, raising the fourth scale degree (as is customary for Lydian) but also raising the fifth scale degree to travel from one mode to the other. The harmonies supporting the modal melodies are tonal and fairly straightforward. At the moment that Nicolas becomes a man, Britten colours the melody's supporting harmonies in a much more dissonant manner, using a semitone clash to darken the simple refrain. III. Nicolas Devotes Himself to God The third movement is sung by Nicolas alone, who recounts how “My parents died … All too soon I left the tranquil beauty of their home … and knew the wider world of men.” Nicolas then bemoans his distress over man's faults and devotes himself to a life of service to God. Britten orchestrated the second movement for just