Fire in the Blood recieved its world premier at the 'ISB 120' concert at the Royal Albert Hall on 4th June 2011.
With this piece I wanted to acknowledge music that had an impact on me through my Salvation Army upbringing. When thinking of a title for the piece I had no hessitation than to reflect and reword the Salvation Army's motto under their famous crest 'Blood and Fire'.
When composing it I wanted to use three somgs of worship that have been prevalent in the Salvation Army's services over a number of years. Opening with Richard Phillip's setting of Psalm 95, 'Sing for Joy', the music is vibrant and full of energy, I wanted to capture the spirit of the well known words of Scripture. The music then moves into a more reflective section that includes Howard Davies' emotive song melody 'Lord, you know that we love you' and Laurie Klein's worship song 'I love you lord'.
A re-statement of the opening Psalm setting follows and this, in turn, leads into a dramatic and powerful finale that combines two pivotal statements drawn from the slower, reflective section: i love you Lord, and I lift my voice to worship you, O my soul rejoice and Lord, you know that we love you with a final flourish from Psalm 95: Come let us sing joy to the Lord!  PL-C. June 2011