Dreams in the Garden of Love's Sleep was commissioned by the Bach Choir in 2021 and recorded in St John Smith Square and released on Stone records in 2022.

The commission was part of the choir's 'Bach Inspired' project where six award-winning composers were commissioned to write response pieces to each of the chorales from Bach's St Matthew's Passion.

The piece draws from the text from the poem Song of a Dream by the Indian poet and political activist, Sarojini Naidu (1879-1949), and is in response to the Bach chorale O father, let thy will be done.

The repetition of both melody and pattern creates a mesmerically swirling texture - certainly discombobulatory - until keening vocal phrases and complex chords illuminated from within take us to a different state, one meant to invoke ritual.

'I was drawn to this chorale more because of where it stands in the overall narrative of the Passion. This chorale is immediately followed by Jesus returning to find his disciples asleep a second time, and so I found myself wondering what the disciples were dreaming about during their slumber, before his arrival?

I chose part of a very simple, but evocative, text that, for me, portrays a dream-like state through a visceral depiction of nature, and I liked the idea of including a cross-cultural component.

The meaning of the poem is ambiguous, however, I was drawn to its colourful images. My response piece is intentionally quirky, and I allowed myself to be swept away by Naidu’s words.

'In my mind's eye, I imagined the disciples, lost in a dream of strangeness, beauty and joyful abandon. The music takes on a slightly ominous mood towards the end, which is intended to depict the anxiety of the waking world knocking at the door of the subconscious, and corresponds with Jesus returning to his disciples.

In addition to Naidu's text, the choir articulates several vowel sounds that are very loosely inspired by Naidu's depictions of nature but are not intended to represent specific objects. As with most dreams, not everything in them needs to make sense'
—Des Oliver